Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We aimed to represent social groups within a British school by including stereotypes such as nerds, sports players, goths and hipsters.

POSITIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF TEENAGERS IN FILM/TV

The film "Little Miss Sunshine" effectively represents teenagers (in relation to their family). Dwayne is first presented as a moody teenager as he refuses to speak, ignores and disregards his family members. However, towards the end of the film he defies these conventions of anti-social teenagers by talking to his uncle and participating in his sister's beauty pageant.

 

Arthur is initially presented as arrogant, but the audience soon realises that he is insecure and not as confident as he appears. We aimed to positively represent certain characters in the school later on in our film despite them being hostile to Arthur in the beginning.

Arthur is shown as meek and nervous as the camera shoots him from a high angle:

NEGATIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF TEENAGERS IN FILMS/TV 

The British TV series "Misfits" portrays teenagers as delinquents and irresponsible. Initially, they refuse to accept the consequences of their crimes and mock the probation workers. Our film similarly shows the indifferent attitude of young people and their ability to judge and disdain the new student. For example, the characters in the background make comments about him, "who even are you" "what is he doing here". The high school setting also gives a negative representation of teenagers in our sequence as they dominate the corridor space and are intolerant of the new student. 

"Misfits" also broaches gritty themes such as conflict with parents, drugs and youth homelessness with elements of comedy included.

A gif from our test shoot showing negative representations of teenagers: (made using Img Flip)

Young people are similarly portrayed as aggressive/violent in "Misfits":

REPRESENTATION OF MALE CHARACTERS IN FILMS AND OUR SEQUENCE

In our film initially, Arthur fits the stereotypical template of a teenage boy by appearing optimistic and self-assured before arriving at school. However, his genuine lack of self-confidence and anxiety is revealed upon his arrival in the school (he glances at other students making offensive comments, and looks nervous when being pushed around by other students). This representation of a boy challenges the egotiscal male stereotype. 

"Forrest Gump" also addresses the concept of  a socially awkward, outcast male character. This is demonstrated particularly in his response to being bullied by other teenagers. Through framing and camera techniques we constructed the representation of Arthur as small and insignificant (below).

Conclusion - We chose to represent a teenage boy as they are often stereotyped as arrogant, violent or badly behaved. This is relatable for our target audience as the unrealistic stereotypes of boys are usually presented in films (such as John in "John Tucker Must Die").