Representation.

1. REPRESENTATION:INTHE
TAKEN

2. AGE
Inmanymid-shots,therearecharactersontheir
phones,whichwasakeypropthatweaidwouldbe
evidentthroughouttheopening.Thislinkstothefact
thatteensarealwaysusingtechnology,whichlinks
tothegenerationalagegap.Thisalsolinkstoour
charactermoodboardsandthearchetypalteenimage.

3. AGE
Thecontinuousshotsinthehousesetting,between
Liv,KatieandJack,showthefriendlyandnotso
friendlyrelationshipsbetweenfamilyandfriends.
Themid-shot/long-shotinKatie’sroom,showsher
franticallyrunningpackingherbag,emphasising
thebusylivesofteens.
Katieisfirstseeninapanofherownroom,
puttingmake-upon,whichlinkstothearchetypal
teengirlimage.

4. AGE
WefirstseeawideshotofSusanandEthanplayingtennisinthepark,
whichrelatestoourquestionnaireas,‘meetingupwithfriends’was
themostpopularchoicefromthehobbyquestion.Thisrepresentation
challengesthemisconceptionthatteensare‘trouble’accordingto
hebdigebyrejectingthestereotypethatteensrarelyexercise.Thisis
anchoredbythenon-diegeticvoiceoverdenoting“theyinsiston
playing”suggestingthecharactersthoroughlyenjoysport.
ThiswideshotcutstoJack’shandstiedtogether,quitequickly,
emphasisingtheyouthfulenergyofteens,whilstaddingmysteryand
danger.Thisalsosuggeststhattheremightbeavillainthatwesee
laterinthefilm,asthemiseenscene-especiallythebodylanguage
encodesthecharacter’sfear.

5. AGE
apanisusedtoshowlola’sroomandkatie’sroom,linkingtothe
archetypalteenandfeaturingbrightandstereotypicalfemininecolours.
bothofthemhavemiseenscenethatsignifiesthethemeoftechnology-the
tvandspeakersforinstance.plus,mirrorsareakeypropinbothofthe
scenes-conveyingthestereotypeofvainteenagers.elementsofmiseen
sceneinkatie’sroomsuchastheemojicushionsencodethecharacteras
‘fun’accordingtohebdige.

6. AGE
AsnotedbyCohen-amoralpaniccanoccurwhenteensrebel
againstthedominantideology.Perhapsourtextcreates
negotiatedreadingonthisinstance.Foramorepassiveaudience;
BlumlerandKatzsaythattheyoftenmissopportunitiestomake
theirownjudgementandanalysetheintendedrepresentationof
mediatexts.So,ononehand;somemembersmayseeJackencoded
asateenindistress.Foranactiveaudience,membersmaybeable
todelveintothenuancesofhegemonicrepresentation.Inother
words,writerslikeHallandGramsciacknowledgethat
representationserveshegemonysoperhapsourchoiceofmiseen
sceneencodesthecharactersasexperiencingdistressfromadults
thatcriticiseteenrebellion.ThisalsochallengesWayneetAl’s
findingsthatseriousissuesareignoredintheteengenre.

7. ETHNICITY
Inouropening,wehaven’tbeenabletouseethnicminorityactors.Intheplanningofourfilmandafterconsidering
themostimportantcodesandconventions-friendshipseemedtobethemostimportantthemetoconvey.Hence,we
optedfora“pre-made”friendshipgroupsoastoavoidanydifficultyinpracticalitiessuchasarrangingatimeto
film.Plus,thishelpedwiththeeaseoffilminginthedynamicofthecharacters.Admittedly,foramoderntextthisis
dissapointingtohaveanentirelywhitecast.But,oneofourmainobjectiveswastobeconvergentoftheteengenre.
Allofthetextswestudied,hadaveryminimalethnicminoritycast:eventhoughthisisn’tsomethingthatshouldbe
strivedfor-wehavetriedtochallengeotherstereotypesinstead.Wedidn’twanttoencouragetokenismbysuddenly
changingourcast,eventhoughoriginallyourcastwasmorediverse.Wehadrepresentedotherethnicitiessuchasmixed
race,butduetoissueswithgettingtothearrangedlocation-wehadtore-castEthan’scharacter.

8. ETHNICITY
Uponcloseanalysis,itmaybe
arguedthatourrepresentation
doesstillchallengesomeofthe
nuancesofrepresentation.Our
character,Susanhasentirelyblack
clothing-encodingherasan
archetypalProppvillain.Hence,
rejectingVanDijk’sclaimthat
onlyblackcharactersare
associatedwithvillainous
characteristics.

9. CLASS
BothLolaandKatie’sbedroomisthatofamiddle-classgirl,astheyarewelldecorated
andincludeatv,whichconnotesthemiddleclasspriveligesofthecharacters.Thisis
reflectedinthevoiceover,whenLolasays“kindofaveragereally”,showingthatshe
doesn’tthinkofherbedroomasamiddle-classbedroomandasmoreofalower-class
bedroom.Inrelationtorepresentation,ourpreferredreadingistopresentthe
charactersinawaythatisnotonlyconvergentbuttypicalinrelationtotheir
positioninsociety.

10. CLASS
InthelongshotofSusanandEthan
playingtennis,wecanseethatthey
enjoyleisurelyactivities,whicha
lower-classfamilymayalsoengage
with.Hence,rejectingtheperception
thatthereisadeepseparationbetween
thelowerandhigherclass.
Although,thisshotwithnaturalistic
connotationsthencutstothiswide
shotofKatie’sbedroom.Theattached
meaningsalmostjuxtaposeeach
otherasmembersoftheaudiencemay
havenegotiatedreadingasto
whetherthemiseensceneoftheroom
communicatesthenuancesof
representation.

11. CLASS
Thecostumesinallthescenesaresuited
toeachspecificcharacterandtheysuit
thetypicalteenimagewell,making
everycharacterlookstylishandof
middle-class.However,somecharacters
suchasSusanhavedarkercostume-
encodingheraasamorevillainous
character.ThischallengesNewman’s
findingsthatthemiddleclasswere
always representedpositively.

12. Inmostoftheshotswherepeoplearechattingandthe
shotofLolaputtinginherearphones,thereseemsto
bealowcameraangle,whichmakesthecharacters
lookhigherthantheaudience,thereforerepresenting
themasmoreimportantthanotherpeople.Thisisa
typicalrepresentationofclassdivisionand
hierarcy,accordingtomarxists.
Inthefinalscene,whenthegroupiswalking
towardsthecamera,theywalkpastit,whichalmost
symbolisesthattheyareintheirownbubblesand
don’thaveanythingtodowiththeaudiencethatis
watching.Thiscouldsuggestthattheyareofahigher
classthantheaudience,astheyarewalkingthrough
theframewithoutmakingeyecontact.
CLASS

13. GENDER
Inthisscene,bothfemaleandmalecharacters
areshowntobeplayingsport.Thischallenges
Almyetal’sfindingsthatthemediareinforces
traditionalgenderroles.It’sunstereotypical
forafemalecharactertobeplayingsport-so
thisrepresentationischallenged.Although,it
maybearguedthatthemiseenscenereinforces
thedominantideology.Susan’sbodylanguage
isreallyexaggerated(forexamplejumpingin
theair)whileEthanremainscalmandmostly
stationery.Plus,herblackcostumemayencode
herasavillainforchallengingthishegemonic
belief.OurrepresentationalsorejectsNewbold’s
statementthatfemalecharactersaresexualised
whenplayingsport.

14. GENDER
OurcharacterJesshasaveryconventional
teenroomforagirl.Themiseenscene
connotesthetypical‘cultoffeminity’
thatFergusonnotedthroughthepinkand
purpleconnotingthetypicalfeminity.The
flowersandheartsalsoencodeJessasa
“girlygirl”iereinforcingthe
misconceptionofweakandmildwomen.
Lola’sroomisalsofairlyarchetypalofa
teen,showingourrepresenationtoserve
hegemonicpurposesinemphasisingthe
dominantideology.

15. GENDER
Jack’srepresentationchallengesthestereotype
ofonlywomencaringabouttheappearance.
Themiseenscenedepictsthecharactertobe
doinghishair-rejectingthismisconception.
Katie’sanimatedbodylanguagedoesreinforce
someofthenuancesofgenderrepresentation.
Whensheisshowntobeshouting-sheis
encodedasa“dramaqueen”accordingtothe
voiceover.ThisreinforcesTunstall’sfindings
thatwomenareshownas“unstable”whenthey
havepower.Katie’spowermayoccurinher
beingastrongyoungteen.

16. SEXUALITY
Susan’scostumecouldcontribute
tonegativerepresentationof
homosexualrelationships.Ina
way,wehaveencodedherasa
villainduetothebinarydark
connotationsofhercostume.
Withregardtoediting,the
straightcutfromthissceneto
Jackbeingkidnappedmaybean
unintendedmetaphorforthe
threatthathomosexualityposes
tohegemonicpatriarchy.As
Susanispresentedasathreat,the
oppositionalreadingmaybethat
sheisavilain,causingdistress.

17. SEXUALITY
Inthisscene,itwouldseemthatboththeheterosexualcharactersandthehomosexual
charactersarerepresentedequally.KatieandSusandoseemslightlyseparatethough.Our
preferredreadingisthatallrelationshipsareequalbutuponreflection-itmaybe
perceivedthatthelesbianrelationship(KatieandSusan)isfairlyisolatinginthe
friendship.However,wefoundoneofthenuancesintheteengenrerepresentationwasthe
lackofsexualdiversity.Hence,wedecidedthiswouldbeatopicwe’daimtoimproveinour
extract.OurrepresentationchallengesBatchelor’sviewthatlesbianismiscompletely
invisibleinyoungpeople’smedia.

18. SEXUALITY
Inouropening,wehopedthatby
incorporatingarchetypalteencostumewith
ourlesbianrelationship-wewouldchallenge
someofthemisconceptionsabout
homosexuality.Thus,rejectingGerbner’s
findingsthatsexualityisoftenrepresentedas
unrealistic.Everydaycostumeiscertainly
convergent,andweaimedtoconveythateven
thoughKatieandSusan’srelationshipis
differenttotheotherheterosexualcharacters-
theystillplaythesameroleinthefriendship
group.WeaimedtoincorporateGauntlett’s
perceptionofbetter sexualdiversityinour
modernsociety.