1. Question 2 – How does your title
and opening sequence represent
particular social groups?
Niall Armstrong
2. • In my title opening sequence, throughout the sequence the
audience can clearly see the male social group and also the teenage
social group. In my title opening sequence, I have represented
teenagers in a positive fashion. Teenagers are my target audience
and my main character is a teenager to make it more relatable. I
have presented teenagers to be physically fit as in my video the
protagonist is going on a jog on a nice spring afternoon, but
instantly we see him in sports gear [1]. Not only this but at the start
of the video, we see him stretching which illustrates how stretching
is a routine thing and reinforces that he does regular exercise. I
chose this specific costume of Adidas shoes, joggers and Admiral
jacket as it fits the exercise which he will be conducting later in the
video and to also relate to my target audience as these are brands
which teenagers would aim to have in their closet as they are
fashionable.
3. • Furthermore, I have presented teenagers to be fairly materialistic. In my
opening sequence, my protagonist is wearing popular clothing brands,
such as Adidas [2] and Admiral [3]. This conforms to the stereotype that
teenagers and young adults thrive to be stylish and that they are very
brand orientated in order to impress their peers and everyone else in
society.
4. • I have presented teenagers to be technologically abled, as in
my title opening sequence he uses a phone[4]– which,
nowadays is very ordinary for a teenager to be operating a
phone. In general this reinforces the idea that teenagers of
today were brought up in the technological era and therefore
are able to use technology confidently. Furthermore, my
main character is able to handle a camera which he has never
seen be for with ease, as he uses the playback function and
this illustrates a digital native.
5. • In my title opening sequence, instead of using dark lighting to present
teenagers to be moody, as they’re going through a stage of adolescence, I
have opted to use natural, bright lighting [5]. It’s not a true representation
of teenagers as I haven’t used dark lighting. For example, in my opening
sequence, at the start it is clear that the sun is shining radiantly and my
protagonist is clearly enjoying the sun as he has decided to go for a run.
The lighting became darker after finding the camera to represent the
mood of the opening sequence and how it will progress into the film.
6. • I have presented teenagers to be adventurous as he jogs through a forest
instead of sticking to the roads. Teenagers will try discovering new places
as there are curious because they are young and in general they want to
experience everything so they go further afield to try and accomplish
seeing new thing and I have tried to present this adventurousness and
curiosity by my protagonist taking an alternative route to what a jogger
would usually take.
7. • The camera angles I have used, portrays teenagers to be equal as there
are no high angles which show superiority or low angles which show that
teenagers are inferior. Teenagers are in between adults, so this means
they do not possess complete power and are superior in society, and they
are not children, who are always told what to do. Therefore teenagers can
do a lot more than children but not as much as adults. In order to get this
balance of power that teenagers possess, I have used mid angles which
show that teenagers are equal to everyone else. For example, in my
opening sequence when he is exiting his garden, the framing means that
he is at a level angle.
8. • I have presented teenagers to be rather confident through the use of body
language, this conforms to the stereotype that teenagers are prone to
being more outgoing and self-assured, and I have represented this
through the simple fact that he is going on a run as he has the confidence
to change into some gym clothes and legitimately go running for the sake
of running and improving his body image.
9. • Furthermore, I have presented teenagers to have a moderately careless
behaviour because teenagers generally have a care free attitude and have
a tendency to do what they want. This, in my opening sequence, is
presented when he is running down a muddy track and challenging
himself to jump over the large puddles as it entertains him. But also,
curiosity and youthfulness behaviour is prevalent in my opening sequence
as he goes on a little adventure instead of going on pavements. The fact
he is going on a run represents his youthfulness as this creates the sense
that my protagonist is physically fit and evokes the idea that he is young.