This is the AS Media Studies evaluation question number two!

1. How does your opening sequence
represent particular social groups?
Owen Howard - When The Weekend Comes

2. Sam - Leader
The main actor in our opening sequence is a tall male, the reason for this is because we have used a negative stereotype of the
males being the most powerful and dominant compared to woman. Sam also looks intimidating which is what we tried to do so
the audience don’t know the ideology of the opening sequence when watching. This makes them watch carefully as they are
unsure on whether he is the antagonist or protagonist. Sam is playing a young adult aged between 18-21 so we had to try and
match an actor who looks older than their age but matches the negative stereotype of a male. The age is important in our opening
sequence because football hooligans are nowadays stretched with age starting from teenagers to adults in their 50’s. However,
when we planned our opening sequence we wanted to make sure our characters had the potential to look between 18-21 because
maturity levels are lower at this age compared to middle age adults which meant the audience can still look at characters such as
Sam as a protagonist rather than an antagonist because he is younger and has an excuse to make mistakes and do stupid things.
Sams’ clothing is designed specifically to make him look like a football hooligan which also has the negative stereotype of making
him look intimidating and strong. The baseball cap adds an element of a ‘leader’, as it makes him stand out from his friends in
the firm and shows he has authority. We then decided for Sam to wear a blue and white tracksuit top with a sports logo on the
front. The colours of the tracksuit top represent him as a male because the colour ‘blue’ is often associated with males compared
to women and in my opinion i think that this fits the stereotype of a man being the ‘strong, powerful gender‘ and also refers to the
past because men are often associated with fighting and violence. Adidas trainers are associated with the ‘perfect model‘ of a
football hooligan. Commonly worn in the 80s by hooligans and ever since they have been continuously worn by football
hooligans. The bright blue colour suggests the stereotype of a male once again and the white stripes imply they are adidas. The
symbolic logo represents they are a ‘boys’ model of trainers and often linked to ‘casuals’ (which is another word for a firm) shoes.
Dark blue baseball cap
Bright Blue and white adidas trainers
Blue and white tracksuit top
“Blue is a masculine colour;
according to studies, it is highly
accepted among males”
“Light blue is associated with health, healing,
tranquility, understanding, and softness”
“Dark blue represents
knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness”

3. Jordan and Jake (part of the firm)
Both males are relatively tall acting at an age between 18-21. They are both males and part of the firm because the negative stereotype of
the males being the strongest and associated with violence makes it more enjoyable for the audience as they are already assuming violence
is going to happen which therefore means they will be using the negative stereotype about men. Both look motivated as Jordan (on the
left) is bouncing around suggesting he is excited and Jake (on the right) looks intimidating implying he is drunk or anticipating a fight. We
chose these characters because they are exaggerated, this mens that they are playing up to the negative stereotype of men and using it to
their advantage. As a group we thought the negative stereotype of men should stay throughout because the audience can easily
understand the genre from the exaggerated actors and also it keeps the audience waiting eagerly for violence as they are assuming its
going to happen. The use of mise en scene in my opinion changes the ideology from the audiences perspective because originally they
look innocent and harmless, making them protagonists rather than antagonists but the use of props (alcohol) implies that they are under
the influence of alcohol which is why they are shouting and becoming over-confident. The negative stereotype the audience identify at the
beginning is the main factor in why they change their ideology of the characters because, the audience are waiting for a fight but then
realise the reason it is happening is because the alcohol is making the characters become aggressive and therefore suggests that the history
of a ‘football hooligan fight‘ is not traditional it is mainly due to the influence of alcohol. Therefore, means that Jake and Jordan are
looked upon as an antagonist for creating the violence rather than a protagonist. The clothing is slightly different to Sams because their
very dark in comparison to the majority of Sams clothing being blue. The reason for this is to outline once again who the protagonist is.
Sam stands out and shows he has more power and control than the common members of the firm like Jake and Jordan (above). The
clothing is not as striking or clear that they are part of a football firm. The reason for this is because they are of lower social class and
cannot afford expensive sporting clothing like Sam, this once again shows that Sam is in charge and is no coincidence why the leader of
the firm (Sam) has the best clothes.
Alcohol

4. Conor and Josh (part of the firm)
Both characters are represented as 18-21 year olds and are both tall, the height was purposely chosen to be tall because the actors are
playing a role that requires to be 2-5 years older than they are. Once again the use of make up and clothes makes them look pressuring
and aggressive, this will mean the audience is likely to react to them as antagonists. On the other hand the clothing is not exaggerated
and over the top which means that when they walk down the street together the public would not associate them with ‘football hooligans’.
The gender of them is once again male because I think the negative stereotype of men makes it more believable for the audience and
they can understand whats going on easier because of the stereotype of men being referred to as aggressive, strong, powerful etc. Josh
(right) is seen smoking (above), we used the advantage of him being a smoker as this really sets the tone of how the boys are acting and
what type of social class they are. The audience are meant to see this as a negative stereotype once again because we are associating
recurrent groups (hooligans) with the use of alcohol, drugs and smoking. However, Conor (left) is seen without alcohol or a cigarette
which suggests that the other boys in the group are not encouraging him to have some and this is meant to be seen as a positive thing
because it shows that not all groups influence drugs, alcohol etc to people who refuse to have some. Josh (right) is wearing an adidas
tracksuit top, this implies that he is of higher social class to Conor (right) and can afford expensive clothing. Although, it also tells the
audience that the difference in social classes doesn't mean people of lower and higher don’t interact with each other. On the other hand,
Josh is still only wearing the colour black and white rather than bright colours because we wanted the main characters to be seen in
colour’s such as blue so they can easily be identified but it also implies who has authority and the most power within the group. Conor
(left) is wearing a baseball cap which suggests he is a football hooligan and part of the firm because it’s distinct and in comparison to the
normal public Conor would easily be seen.
Cigarette
Adidas tracksuit top
Baseball cap

5. Kaan and Owen - ‘assistant leaders’
The two characters above are part of the firm but are also ‘main characters’ because they are the ‘assistant leaders’ of the firm. Owen
(right) is the smallest in the group and goes against a negative stereotype of the smaller people not being able to be in charge or have as
much power as the taller people. We have represented Owen as someone who has ‘small man syndrome‘ because he is completely
harmless and the audience will react to him as a protagonist and a ‘fan’s favourite‘ but he shows signs of wanting a fight and encourages
everyone else to get involved on the way to the pub which also implies he is aggressive and excited by the prospect of violence. Kaan (left)
on the other hand, is a tall individual who is represented as a quiet lad and also goes against the negative stereotype of the tall men being
the strongest and most dominant. Kaan, Owen and Sam are looked upon as being the leaders but Sam is represented as the ‘king of the
firm‘ in comparison. When Sam meets Owen and Kaan on the bus where they then meet the rest of the group, this shows that they are the
main characters and will be looked at by the audience as protagonists. Owen (right) is the only other person wearing blue where this is
shown on his adidas tracksuit top and baseball cap. This implies that Owen has enough dominance to wear the colour blue and this could
be seen by the audience as Sam, allowing Owen to wear the colour blue because he has proved that he ca be a ‘top hooligan’. Whereas
Kaan,(left) is wearing a brown tracksuit top, we have done this to show that he has not proved himself to be a top hooligan (like Owen) but
is of higher status than the other members of the group by not wearing black. The audience should react to this excitedly because it
suggests that violence is involved in order to earn rewards to wear the colour blue. Both characters are not seen drinking alcohol or
smoking cigarettes because we wanted them to be seen as ‘protagonists‘ or at least characters that show a positive stereotype of football
hooligans.
Light blue adidas tracksuit top
Dark blue baseball cap
Brown tracksuit top

6. Ben - the ‘lookout’
Ben (above) is a character who is playing his age, this means that he is 2-5 years younger than the other characters
because we wanted the small phone call scene to show that he is working from the bottom of the firm to the top
towards Sams’ level. His clothing suggests that he has a lot to learn because he doesn’t look intimidating or forceful
compared to the other members of the firm however, he plays an important role in the opening sequence because he
tells (the leader of the firm) Sam how many opposing fans their are waiting to fight his firm. The small scene he plays
also shows that he is younger than the others and hasn’t proved himself yet which is why he has the worst job in the
firm. The audience are meant to feel sorry for Ben and feel emotional. Ben is not looked at as a protagonist because
his job in the firm doesn’t suggests he is someone to look up to or is a hero however, he is a likeable character who
the audience will have a soft spot for as they see him chase his dream of one day being like Sam.

7. Ben - the ‘lookout’
Ben (above) is a character who is playing his age, this means that he is 2-5 years younger than the other characters
because we wanted the small phone call scene to show that he is working from the bottom of the firm to the top
towards Sams’ level. His clothing suggests that he has a lot to learn because he doesn’t look intimidating or forceful
compared to the other members of the firm however, he plays an important role in the opening sequence because he
tells (the leader of the firm) Sam how many opposing fans their are waiting to fight his firm. The small scene he plays
also shows that he is younger than the others and hasn’t proved himself yet which is why he has the worst job in the
firm. The audience are meant to feel sorry for Ben and feel emotional. Ben is not looked at as a protagonist because
his job in the firm doesn’t suggests he is someone to look up to or is a hero however, he is a likeable character who
the audience will have a soft spot for as they see him chase his dream of one day being like Sam.