Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product represents a group of teenagers, each character has a different personality, which means we are representing a range of social groups so they are therefore made more relatable. 

The 'leader' of the group of friends is the character Jess, she is presented as being an average teenager, but unlike other girls of that age she isn't obsessed with beauty, which could therefore present her as being a tom boy. We decided to present her character like this in order to give her a strong leading character as she takes control of the situation. We have constructed this representation by usually framing her in the center of the shot. The characters costume is casual and could be perceived as 'manly' however she appears to be well prepared for the situation showing that she is a good leader. The props that she is carrying consist of a map, a camera and a bag; these props help present her as the leader as she is well prepared, it conveys a strong, independent character. She challenges the typical feminine stereotypes.

Another social group presented is a 'girly girl' as the character of Kate is obsessed with beauty, and wears dresses and appears to be unprepared for the situation. Her costume strongly conveys that she is a girly girl, as she is wearing a dress. This could also show that she is a 'dopey' character as she didn't dress for the occasion. Her character is constantly interrupted and is shown as being a less dominant character. She conforms to the feminine stereotypes, which allows the audience to be able to relate easily with her character.

We presented two different types of 'girl' characters in order to appeal to a wider range of a female audience, so that they can relate closer to one of the characters. Also it presents clearly the divide between the characters and clearly shows who is a leader.

We created the character of Adam, and decided to represent him using masculine stereotypes. He is a 'lad' character who likes to often be center of attention. He frequently interrupts people. His costume conveys the representations of a masculine character, as he is wearing jeans and a grey jumper, he is also carrying a rucksack. Along with his costume his 'cocky' tone of voice and arrogant presence represents the social group. We decided to construct Adams character like this in order to appeal to a wide range of a male audience, and to make him relatable to teenagers.

The final character is Jack, he is considered as an introvert as he rarely talks and doesn't like to be center of attention. We conveyed this by framing him to the side of the shot or behind everyone else showing that he is behind and pushed away from everyone else. His costume is plain, and dull colours showing that he doesn't like to attract attention. When he speaks his tone of voice is low and he comes across shy. He challenges typical masculine stereotypes which makes his character relatable to.

The male characters appeal to the male audience by allowing them to relate with their characters. As we have two different types of males it appeals to different types of audience by allowing them to relate more closer to someone who is similar to themselves.