Media Studies AS Coursework Evaluation Question 2

1. Question 2 – how does your
media product represent
different social groups?
Ed Chambers – Group 4

2. Social groups that appear in the product:
Two main social groups are represented in our product;
age and gender
Young girl
White
Unidentified
class
Female
Teenage
White
Middle class
male
Class 2
Class 1

3. How The First group is represented
• The first social group is represented as not having an interesting character due to the
lack of dialogue. This conforms with the negative ideological discourse that teenagers
are closed-off and secretive due to lack of communication. However, that is the only
way in which they are negatively represented, as they are seemingly innocent victims,
and are walking outside. This does not conform with the negative stereotype that
teenagers stay inside all day
• They comply to the common ideological discourse set by society, as there are a lot of
scenes in which they are running, showing that they are physically active. Also, the
main teenager left his friend behind, suggesting a lack of morality within his
personality. These are both common stereotypes set for male teenagers
• In contrast to the previous point, the teenagers do not conform to dominant
ideologies set by the horror genre. This is because the lead character is usually female,
however, the main character shown in our intro is a male teenager. Also, male
teenagers are usually depicted as a love-interest of the lead female character, thus
often motivating a sub-plot which is commonly leads to the character being murdered

4. How the second group is represented
• The second group is represented in a negative way, as the young girl is depicted as
the antagonist of the intro, preying on the seemingly innocent male victims, with no
shown motivating, such as revenge for their previous actions.
• This group is shown to be complying with emerging ideological views of the social
class. These emerging stereotypes have emerged in coherence with the abolition of
negative stereotypes. These changes have been motivated by the passing of women’s
rights, improvements in gender equality, and feminism. These emerging views are
almost in binary opposition with the outdated negative stereotypes. For example, the
young girl is shown walking through the mud in bare feet – something that young
girls are negatively depicted as shying away from. It is usually depicted as boy-ish
behaviour.
• Like the previous social group, the dominant ideological discourse of this social group
the horror genre opposes that of those in society. She
• Supernatural – host body as it’s a contrast to their usual behaviour
• Children are somewhat mysterious
• Depicted as innocent – binary opposition when ‘possessed’

5. Constructing these representations
We constructed the representations of the
teenagers through use of c costume, editing,
mise-en-scene and camera. They both looked
like typical middle class teenagers. We made
them prevalent in the intro, by having them take
up the majority of the frame in the start of some
walking shots. This was supported by the fact
that they motivated the cuts, as a pose to the
young girl. These two factors expressed not only
their importance in the plot, but their
importance in terms of characters. We used
camera work to focus on the aspects of mise-en-
scene that made them middle class. This was
done by having the focus of the shot on their
costume. Sound was used to display that they
were middle class. This was less subtle, as it was
their accents in dialogue that conveyed this.
Costume – Typical of
middle class male
teenagers.
Dark clothing
Styled hair
Tight
jeans

6. Constructing these representations
(continued)
Messy, dark hair
Plain white
dress
Bare-feet
We used the aspects of mise-en-scene, sound, editing and camera work more evenly
when conveying the connotations of the girl. The fact that her air is covering her
face was a main point of interest for us. It de-humanises her, letting the audience
know that she is no longer a rationally thinking human being, and is now possessed.
Even though mise-en-scene was a very important part, as her costume was typical of
a possessed girl, we used other methods of representation just as much, and to
equal effect. Editing was used to great effect. Throughout our intro, and in
particular, the first half, shots of the two teenagers are ‘interrupted’ by the
seemingly parallel line of action that is the girl walking through the field. It is as if the
girl’s shots are interrupting the main ones, provoking supernatural implications from
the audience towards the girl. Similar to the camera method used to display the
features of the teenagers, we used camera work to focus shots on
supernatural/abnormal features of the girl. The main example of this is the shot of
her bare feet in the mud, connoting that she does not think like an average person.
We used diegetic sound, such as white noise in conjunction with jump cuts to further
support the supernatural element of the girl.

7. Macro Issues
• Society’s dominant ideological views of teenage boys is supported by our intro, as
they are shown to be physically active when running away. Also, the main teenager
leaves his friend behind, supporting the negative stereotype that people in this social
group have a lack of morals.
• However, the teenagers do not comply with the stereotypes set for male teens in the
horror genre. This is because they are the main characters, motivate the cuts, and are
shown to be innocent and undeserving of their fate.
• All of the ideological values for young girls are opposed in our intro, as she does not
care about her appearance, and is not influenced by disruptive factors of her
surroundings, such as mud on her bare feet.
• Unlike the stereotypes of real life, the young girl completely complies with
stereotypes for her social group set by the horror genre, as she is an innocent
seeming character that becomes possessed and thus de-humanised as a character.