Aaron Alderman - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

1. How does your media product
represent particular social
groups?
By Aaron Alderman

2. • As our film mainly drives toward the coming of age
sub-genre, its primary target audience are
teenagers, particularly in the age range of 13-18.
• Our main character is 17 years old, and from the
outsiders perspective seems like the average
teenage boy. In the opening sequence he is
wearing everyday teenager clothes – Black skinny
jeans, branded trainers and a coat.
• Character relationship with the audience is
important as it helps with the immersion of the film,
especially when lots of the audience can relate with
the character in some form, whether it be age,
appearance, or personality.

3. • The gender of our main character is male, of which
we chose because a significant amount of films also
feature a male protagonist.
• We felt that the storyline and narrative of our film
suited a male character better than a female,
because the story shows the protagonists
progression from weak to strong – a common
stereotype both in the film industry and across the
world as a whole is that males are stronger mentally
and physically than women who are seen as
weaker.

4. • The protagonist in our film suffers from mental
problems, which is a common problem with
teenagers although they may not realise it.
• The narrative of the film shows the protagonist
learning how to deal with his disorder and
eventually begin to overcome it. From watching our
film and seeing the progression of our character,
teenagers that may suffer in real life with any issues
may feel encouraged to speak up about their
problem, which will be taking a large step to
overcoming their own personal problem.

5. • Towards the end of our opening sequence, the
protagonist can be seen to be quite stressed out
and emotionally drained – this is a feeling that a lot
of teenagers go through throughout their teenage
years, especially with school and perhaps other
personal issues.
• The ‘stressed’ atmosphere is created by the variety
of shots we used, such as the extreme close up of
his eyes, as well as the P.O.V.
• Although the music isn’t what teenagers would
listen to, it adds to the stressed and negative
atmosphere we tried to create so that the audience
could engage emotionally with the film.

6. • The protagonist’s social class can clearly be
portrayed as working/middle class in society. He
does not have much of a social role because he is
still a student, and lives with his parents.
• The impression of working class is given by the
average size of the protagonist’s living room, as
well as his choice and style of clothing.
• Having a character within the working/middle class
threshold is important as this allows the audience to
relate more and feel more engaged with the film,
and will be more likely to connect emotionally with
the film.