The document analyzes how different social groups are represented in a post-apocalyptic media product. It discusses the representation of gender as a vulnerable young male protagonist rather than the typical dominant hero. Age is also portrayed through a scared teenage character rather than a masculine adult. Lifestyle is shown as a regular middle class upbringing to make the situation relatable. The setting in Britain appeals to a local audience, using typical scenes and graffiti. Clothing depicts the gritty side of British culture through dark colors and durable military-style attire from 2015, implying they have lasted through hard times.

1. Evaluation question
2
How does your media product represent particular social
groups?

2. Gender
The first representation that will be addressed is gender. Typically in
post-apocalyptic films, a male character is used to attract the main
focus of attention. They act as the protagonist and are portrayed as
powerful and in charge of the situation, the causes them to appear as
the dominant sex. In our film the main charter is not seen as the classic
male figure in films such as I am legend, but actually appears as
vulnerable and scared. This highlights the suggested youthfulness of
the character and suggests early on that the character is not a fully
grown man.

3. Age
Linking in with the previous point, the representation of age in our
film is that the main character is not a full grown man yet but is in his
late teens. This is portrayed by not seeing the character as a masculine
hero but instead a more emotionally and physically weak teenager. By
doing this the audience sympathise with the main character and
automatically take his side. This would not happen is we chose a more
violent character as it is possible opinions on him could be split.

4. Lifestyle
Our character was previously a regular middle class teenager; this is the
style of life that will be relatable to most of the audience. This is the
way we wanted our character to be portrayed. The reason we chose our
character to be of a middle class background is that we wanted to
emphasise that this wasn’t a problem that affected a certain group of
people far away, but instead it affected the average person. This is
similar to the main character from 28 days later where he has no
particular skills or special characteristics. This appeals to the audience
because it makes them feel it could happen to them also.

5. British
When we looked into successful post-apocalyptic movies. The majority
were set in the USA, however we felt that a post-apocalyptic film set in
the UK would be successful to a British audience as it is not a very
common occurrence. We used typical British scenes such as the railway
station. The derelict housed used is also a location that would one day
have been a stereotypical nice British house. But is now run down and
abandoned. This is symbolic of the situation.
In the first scene, the main character is seen walking up to the house.
Graffiti can be seen on the walls. Graffiti is a common occurrence for
an urban British scene.

6. Clothes
The clothes used represent the gritty side of Britain; the colours
used are very dark and unhappy. The khaki jacket connotes
military/hunting. Also the use of black cargo trousers and black
boots imply that the character has a hard time physically that
requires durable clothing. This is symbolic of the harder side of
British culture.
The clothes used are those that would have been used in 2015.
The character wearing clothes that old implies that they have
stood the test of time.

7. Clothes
The clothes used represent the gritty side of Britain; the colours
used are very dark and unhappy. The khaki jacket connotes
military/hunting. Also the use of black cargo trousers and black
boots imply that the character has a hard time physically that
requires durable clothing. This is symbolic of the harder side of
British culture.
The clothes used are those that would have been used in 2015.
The character wearing clothes that old implies that they have
stood the test of time.