How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Q2) Our media product represents a teenage life. Her age, dress-code and action codes form an implied personality and profile of the main character. It is done so in using a white, sixteen year old, naïve, blank canvas like, vulnerable girl. We were especially inspired by the opening sequence of ‘Scream’ (1996, Caven) which features a female protagonist and therefore represents females. She was stereotypical rather than an archetype as we thought this is more likely to give the audience something or someone to relate to. We chose a white female as oppose to white male because females tend to be more vulnerable and more victim like.
One of the representations for our opening sequence is femininity in teenage years. This is shown by the actress dress code, actions and lifestyle. The actress is dressed in a short, silver, metallic dress which signifies she has just come from a wild night out – a life of a stereotypical modern teenager. Her smudged chaotic make up mirrors the chaotic story line and also adds to her vulnerable personality. Her destroyed make up causes the audience to sympathize with her as the film’s protagonist. The mise – en –scene also represents a particular social group (i.e the wine glass beside her) We learn more about Charlotte herself through the state of the citing room – the shoes and bag thrown on the floor, the TV still switched on and the blanket spread across the sofa. It all suggests she is quite a laid back person and not wary of her surroundings. This makes the events that occur even more primitive as we see a relaxed person transform into a person filled with anxiety.
As the opening sequence unfolds we see Charlotte’s action codes change. The sequence starts off with her walking into the kitchen in a relatively steady pace. As soon as she hears the TV switch on her pace quickens as she urges to know what is going on. However towards the end of the sequence, her nerves take control of her as she slows down her pace; clogging the atmosphere with tension. Her naïve personality is exacerbated by her walking upstairs into the dark on her own.
Finally the second main representation of our opening sequence is middle class ‘Britishness’ which is portrayed by the location and the ethnicity of the actress and her accent. .
The empty house, Victorian styled, wooden house, represented a middle class character. The creaky staircase and the dark rooms simply add to the horror of the movie. If it was shot out doors the sequence wouldn’t be as eerie as she could easily run away, however the fact that someone is in HER house makes the story line more disturbing.