BCAS MEDIA EVALUATION QUESTION 2

1. EVALUATION QUESTION 2:
HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

2. CHARACTERS
The only social group which is represented in my film is teenagers. Most teenagers are associated with
being wild, rebellious and lazy; however these ideologies are changing over time. Gender roles have been
quite prominent in the past, but they are becoming more and more irrelevant in todays society. Females are
associated with being weak and defenceless whilst the males are represented as dominant and strong
however we did not include these stereotypes in our film as we believe it is becoming irrelevant among
todays teenagers.
However there are still stereotypes of characters in films. Vladimir Propp identified many stereotypes in
films such as the villain and hero and Carol Clover identified that there is always a final girl left alive who is
of an innocent state in a structuralist horror movie. We decided we were going to include some of these
stereotypes in our film in order to have diversity and have a character in which each person of our audience
could identify with. If we were to do the rest of the film we would very much challenge certain stereotypes
such as females being weak as it would be interesting change from other generic horror films.

3. ELI HARRIS MALIA MYERS MACKENZIE
LLOYD
RILEY KING JACE HAYES
We decided to have 5 characters, each of them with different traits and
personalities in order to make our film as diverse as possible and to ensure that
we cover most of the stereotypes and different kinds of people in the ‘teenage
social group’.

4. REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL GROUP THROUGH COSTUMES
We decided that we would keep the characters outfits and costumes quite simple as we want to portray
them as normal teenagers in everyday life. Going to overboard on their choice of costume could take away
the realism. Riley King dresses in a crop top and black skinny jeans. A crop top and jeans is a popular
casual trend amongst teenage girls. Wearing such trendy clothing gives connotations of being very stylish
and popular, which helps to reinforce that Riley is the ‘popular girl’. Another character, Malia Myers, also
wears similar clothing however she wears a denim jacket, this gives her an edgy and almost rebellious look
so she could be classed as the ‘rebel’. The last girl in the film, Mackenzie Lloyd is wearing a plain white top,
a green cardigan and jeans. Mackenzie is classed as the ‘nerdy’ and ‘shy’ girl so the fact that she is wearing
a cardigan instead of a stylish or expensive outfit reinforces that.
Both of the boys, Jace and Eli are wearing quite simple casual clothing. The colours of their clothing consist
of black and white which are pretty standard colours this could portray their straightforward (black and
white) attitude towards the Ouija board. Jace is wearing a simple white t-shirt and jeans which are brands
like Adidas and Nike. These types of brands are usually associated with ‘chavs’ in this particular social
group; and sometimes can be associated with a sporty teenager. Jace is represented as quite a sporty
characters but also has a ‘chavvy’ attitude towards life. Eli wears jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket, which is
a stand stereotypical outfit of a teenage boy which shows that Eli is just ‘your average guy’. Eli is meant to
be shown as a little introverted and nerdy in certain situations and the fact he wears glasses in our film
helps to portray that.

5. REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS THROUGH CAMERA ANGLES
We included a lot of high angle
shots looking down on the
characters throughout the Ouija
board scene. We did this to
establish that the characters are
very vulnerable and that they are
powerless in the situation which
they are in. The connotations of
high angles amongst characters is
usually that someone or
something is watching over them
and has control of the situation.
We used two-shots and a few mid-
shots to show the different levels
of friendship in the group. All of
the friends are sat close to one
another which portrays their
closeness and their unity. Two
shots with Riley and Malia are
usually used to show how they are
best friends and are close with one
another.
We used shots to help convey the
personalities and status of each
character. In this scene Mackenzie
is sat on the outskirts of the group
and doesn’t look very involved as
she is on her phone and is not
joining in the conversation. This
shows her shy and introverted
personality.

6. REPRESENTATION THROUGH THE USE OF LIGHTING
The characters are first introduced in natural daylight,
portraying them as regular teenagers. The naturalistic
lighting in the home makes it feel realistic and that it is a
simple standard home. During the Ouija board scene,
you can only see the characters faces and the
background is not lit up which shows that they are
vulnerable and anything come up from behind them.
Throughout the scene, the lighting gets continuously
duller and darker in order to build up tension and show
the situation getting out of control and more
complicated until the final cut to black at the end;
indicating something evil is lurking.

7. REPRESENTATION THROUGH THE USE OF SOUND
We did not use specific music or sounds to indicate
each character as we felt that it would take away the
edge of horror. Instead we incorporated eerie music
which created a tense atmosphere and evoke feelings
of horror from the viewers. The music used at the start
of the film is less terrifying as the situation is quite
calm and collected and nothing has gone wrong yet.
But as soon as it switches to the Ouija board scene, the
tension of the music amps up in order to get a rush of
adrenaline and a feeling of anticipation rushing
through the audience.