How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Within my media product there are 3 characters included which all come from different social groups, this including the Mother (who fits into the social group of being a woman and single mother), the child (who evidently is part of the social group of children) and the kidnapper who is part of the social group of men. To add on to that, all the actors/actresses within my media product fit into the ethnicity of being black, which is also another social group.

The overall setting and mise-en-scene of the clip is a beach and arcade. This location generally has connation’s of happiness and a fun day which juxtaposes with the event that ends up occurring on there.

The social group of single mothers in my media product are stereotypical, conforming to many stereotypes and being represented as a group of people who are strong, independent, loving/caring however also quite reckless and clueless. Similarly, the social group of women in my media product also conform to a lot of stereotypes such as being naïve & emotional. This is done by the use of mise-en-scene, camera angles, sound and overall behaviour of my female character. For example, my characters costume is a red and white dress; the red colour in her dress not only signifying danger (this also being an enigma code) but also representing her as a victim as red has connotations of being weak and vulnerable. This also links and conforms to the strong/independent stereotype that it attached to single mothers as red is a very powerful colour and used to intimidate/provoke, representing single mothers in this way. However, red also can signify how reckless she is as a mother to let her son get taken on what appear to be very silly circumstances, which conforms to another stereotype that single mothers are, one being that they are very strong clearly as they are raising a child on their own, but also are reckless and unwise as they ‘got themselves’ into that position. This stereotype also is projected in the actual plot and way her son actually became missing. Furthermore, she represents the social group of single mothers as a very caring and loving group of people, conforming to the stereotype - this shown one through her costume again, as symbolically, the colour of love red and also white which but also by her behaviour, such as holding hands with her son and constantly interacting with him.

Moving on, she represents the social group of women as emotional, naïve and vulnerable group of people, conforming to the stereotype – this done now by the use of camera angles and sound. The camera angles used for her consist of mostly medium (such as when the mother & son were playing in the arcade and walking on the pavement), low angle (when she is texting), close up shots and over the shoulder (when she is fixing his shirt near the background). These shots being used to mostly show her facial expressions and body language (reaction shots) but also to highlight her vulnerability as a woman and the fact that someone is watching her and her son, despite the fact she is seemingly unaware of this – this adding more unto her vulnerability and being an example of dramatic irony. The sound included is light, high-pitched, sad piano music, this clearly representing women as weak, and there is also a voice-over included on top of that, in the voice of the mother talking about her heartache over the disappearance of her son, this representing women as very emotional as there are points in the voice over in which her voice starts to break as if she is about to cry and she is also shouting. The voice over can also link to the stereotype that women’s opinion and voice are possibly still supressed and not acknowledged, as the voice over is clearly her thoughts and feelings which she is not addressing out loud.

The social group of children are represented as a very innocent, fragile, blameless and happy group of people. This is done firstly by the use of mise-en-scene. Throughout my media product, the young boy who represents children is constantly playing, smiling, laughing and simply minding his business and not paying much attention to his surroundings, this not only conforming to stereotype that children are very naïve but also representing them as quite an open-minded group of people as he seems to shows no signs that he is uncomfortable till the very end. Adding on to that, there is also a scene where he is playing on his own, quite far away from his mother which represents children as quite in fact independent which goes against the stereotype as children are usually perceived to a very dependent, ‘needy’ social group (clearly because of their age) who need to be protected/guided. The boy in my clip is wearing blue and white, blue having connation’s of trust, loyalty, confidence & faith, this possibly representing the mother-son bond the boy shares with his mother and representing children as overall a happy, content group of people who have little to no worries in life, which clearly contradicts the entire plotline. Meanwhile, white symbolizes purity and innocence, conforming to the stereotype that children are harmless and innocent.

Moving on to camera angles, the majority of the camera angles used project and highlight how weak and vulnerable he is in that situation, this being done specifically with the use of camera angles such as over the shoulder shots, extreme close up, close up. These camera angles all capture his facial expressions and body movement. Extreme close ups being used when he is approached (the one of his eyes) and in the very beginning when he is laying on the floor, this being to allow the audience to enter the character’s intimate space, intensifying feelings that the character is experiencing, allowing us to feel sympathy for him, and also as they add to the dramatic element. This being effective and representing children as very delicate and in need for protection/security. The over the shoulder shots adding to the vulnerability of the child as it gives off the impression/implies that someone is watching him.




The sound is once again non-diegetic sound of the piano playing, but within the middle of the clip you start to hear crying noises when the mother is retelling her nightmares in the voice over and you also start to hear a faint ‘Mummy why did you leave me’ nearer to the end. These represent the social group of children as powerless and helpless as all you can hear is their cries and pleas knowing that nothing cannot be done at the point in time, and because of their physical ability that is all they can do – very much defenceless.  

The social group of men are represented as a malicious, devious, evil, powerful, dominant group of people. My adult male character in the clip is clearly the kidnapper, which evidently already puts him in the box of being the antagonist which instantly represents him and his social group in a negative light. His role as a kidnapper goes against the stereotype that men are the ‘bread-winners’, homemakers and family people as him being kidnapper, means that he is destroying a family and doing the complete opposite of providing. To add on to that, his costume is a very dark tracksuit, dark colours connoting mystery, negativity and evil. Furthermore in the majority of my media product he has his hood up, not revealing his identity (this also shown in his behaviour as he is very secretive and appears to follow them but tries to avoid being seen) indicating that he is up to trouble. This conforming to the stereotype that men are rebellious, trouble makers and also aggressive.

Even though the kidnapper actually does not get much screen-time, the camera angles included for him are extreme close up shots, medium shots and over the shoulder shots. These camera angles all capture and emphasizing the danger as he comes closer and closer to the young boy, representing men as very sneaky. Extreme close ups are used when he puts his finger to his lips (implying the boy needs to be quite), the one of his eyes staring at them and when he puts his hand on the boys shoulder, this representing him now and conforming to the stereotype that men are very powerful and dominant as this all demonstrates how much control he has over the young boy.

The ethnic social group of black people in represents in all different ways. From the mother and son’s perspective, we see the love and family unit within Afro-Caribbean communities as they both clearly have a strong bond and connection with each other with juxtaposes with the kidnapper who conforms with the stereotype that black men are criminals and troubled people. Within my media product the antagonist and protagonist are both Afro-Caribbean therefore this both conforms and goes against a stereotype as the antagonist in media is usually played by a black actor/actress which the kidnapper conforms to whereas the protagonist is usually played by a white/Caucasian actor/actress which the mother goes against. To add on to that, the mother goes against the stereotype that black people are lazy and good for nothing as you can clearly see she has done a lot for herself raising a child on her own, but the fact that she is a single mother unfortunately conforms to the stereotype that black men walk out/neglect their children.

The representation overall and link to genre : The fact that most of the people in my media product conform to the stereotypes of people in their social group is typical for people in the thriller genre, because just like the action adventure genre, most of the characters are very stereotypical (with the exception of action adventure films such as The Incredible and the Hancock) with people of ethnic minorities are represented in a negative or very traditional light, being the antagonist whilst it is the opposite for people of Caucasian decent. This also being the same for the representation of gender and children as it is very traditional and in fact a sexist representation.

For an independent production company however, I feel like this is not the usual as independent companies usually make films which focus on taboo/sensitive topics, going against stereotypical and predictive narratives. So although the narrative of my film fits into one that would be distributed by a independent film company, the fact that the characters in my film conform to the majority of stereotypes within their social group is not typical.