Evaluation question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We decided to heavily base our characters off of stereotypes including the representation of age, having a younger teenager as the protagonist and a young adult as the antagonist.

We made this clear and apparent through the appearance of Grace, having her mostly dressed in scruffy, dark clothes and not looking the smartest to show immediately how a stereotypical teenager is dressed.

Further more, when the audience sees her slouched they get the impression that she clearly despises the current position she is in, almost giving off the chilled, uncaring and board appearance. Further more the fact that it seems as though she is being almost jailed for something indicates that she may have done something bad which also plays off of the stereotype of all teenagers being thugs.

To make sure Grace gave off this appearance we took inspiration from ‘Lisbeth Salander’ from ‘Girl with the dragon tattoo’ as she conforms to the outlook on what a typical teenager may look like, having scruffy and dull clothing.

This first of all represented Grace in a negative manner so that we could make the audience question whether she should actually be trusted or not, on the other hand considering she stayed quite through out the recording despite the voice over she could still be suspected of having goodness inside of her because of her youth. In doing so this enabled the rest of the production to set up the story line around grace and have her stereotypical attitude influence the plot as well as how should would react to Demi as well as the Xaviour.

As for Demi we made sure that she would be presented as the complete opposite of Grace, to then have the characters clash with each other and further enhance the collision of the two, both with personalities as well as representation. In comparison with Grace we made sure that she was in light, white clothes to give off a false lead of purity and as well as goodness. The business wear also gives of the impression that she dresses older than Grace as well as having more higher status that her, both in class as well as power as she is the one keeping Grace in isolation. 

By being a young adult in comparison to her dress code it could also show that she is being used as a beacon for Grace to follow, appealing as a role model for her younger peers however also acting as bait, trying to lure Grace in with false acts of gratitude, which is then used in order to progress the plot. 

We took inspiration from Marissa Wiegler from ‘Hanna’ to bring forth the representation of class as well as age, being dressed in a completely different code to Grace; it further helps to enlighten Demi’s power over the other characters in the film.

Furthermore, Demi’s dress code, with her costume being a contrast of black and white gives off a clinical aspect. This strengthens the outlook on Demi being situated in an institution, studying and identifying the phenomenon which surrounds Grace as well as the Xaviour. It also gives off a sense of panic and many people see lab coats or clinical aspects to be a sign of panic, being linked with medical themes it can sometimes induce the fear of pain. This, in the end, gave Demi a threatening and patronizing tone as throughout the whole opening she was seen as dominating and cold in the situation, having more status over Grace and the rest of the characters.

 By looking at the references for the character we can clearly see that they are both opposites of each other, serving vital plot points within their representation. This enabled us to clearly show which social groups they both came from as well as being able to clearly broadcast how this was done through costume, body language and setting. 

We also made sure to represent the two not only with age but also through class and status. We made it clear through the dress code as well as dialect and setting that Demi was from a higher up class with more power over her co-workers. This was made apparent through the strong and confident body language that Demi carried as well as her attitude towards her assistant and how she addressed Grace through the microphone. This hinted to the audience on how she may act throughout the film and her views on certain situations. It would also have her attitude clash with how Grace may view particular subjects considering she is at a lower status and power as her.

We made this clear and apparent through the costume and body language, very much like we did with Demi, in order to address her status and class; having her lower than where Demi was situated. By having her in darker and scruffy clothes than Demi it immediately gave off the impression of her being in a lower class and her attitude towards being in the situation she is in. Furthermore the camera angles we used made sure that it captured how powerless she was in this predicament by having the audience and Demi consistently towering over her, through the CCTV camera and close ups. 

Graces silence throughout the whole of the opening also strengthens how she is at a lower status as Demi considering she doesn't feel as though she needs to talk or refuses to talk, even when she is being asked a direct question. This emphasise the power Demi has over Grace and how her higher status has influenced Graces response as well as those around her. The only speech we hear from Grace is in the beginning when she is talking directly to the audience, inside her mind almost like a monologue which elaborates further her lower status and feels that she is only comfortable talking to the audience instead of Demi or even the Xaviour.

Furthermore the clash and friction between the characters age would have made their outlook on particular situations differ although this wasn't the only effect we wanted to put forward. We also wanted to represent the sense of vulnerability through age, as Grace being the youngest character in the cast. On the other hand, despite being the youngest she is also the strongest willed character even if she does lack in physical strength. This effect was created through the interrogation scene as she is seen by herself in an isolated place even though the Xaviour is still in the same room as her; the audience as well as Demi and her assistant are unable to see him.  The way the camera is angled to give off the realism of the CCTV camera it makes the room appear more spacious and with Grace being in the centre all by herself it creates the representation of her being alone and vulnerable, which comes into play with a stereotypical teenager being anti-social and self-isolated.