Evaluation: Task 5; Representation of social groups

Representation of groups was something we spent a lot of time planning in Pre-production.

Also the body language and composition of this shot enforces the subversion of stereotypical authority. 

We wanted to both use and subvert stereotypes. In the first scene between the teacher and Jamie we explore the theme of authority, the points that the teacher is making are valid to the insinuated life choices Jamie is making, however with jamie arguing back to the teacher we subvert the stereotype that this authority figure is in fact in power and control. The voiceover furthers this subversion as Jamie challenges the stereotype of the typical "9to5" routined lifestyle. And then the title is brought in to focus at the end "Who are the real wasters here?" to again subvert the social ideology that people who take drugs and live to party are of the worst social group.

Apart from the teacher at the start of the opening sequence this stage dancer is the only other female shown in the production. We chose to conform to Laura Mulvey's theory of "The Male Gaze" which states that women are shown in media products as something for males to look at. Her provocative dancing and minimal costume anchors this connotation.

The meeting scenes show Jamie and his friends as a gang, the graffiti behind them and iconic connotations of stairwells anchor the connotation of these friends being a "gang", conforming to the stereotype of gang culture within urban youth groups. However this initial representation isn't carried on as there is no violence shown, or any other stereotypical "gang" behaviour. In fact the representation we wanted to created for the raving group is that they were just young boys who were only in the pursuit of a good time.

However, this shot at 1:45 of a raver in a bunny mask is quite menacing and could be seen as intimidating to the viewer, signifying that some members of the society are pursuing different things. Although this could be read by the target audience as fun and it could be viewed as a guy just having a laugh and means no harm. This second reading is the one we were going for which was successful from feedback we received from our target audience.

The editing in the first scene between the teacher and Jamie is slow and basic continuity editing, we did this gives the scene verisimilitude. The slow cuts, basic straight on angles, over the shoulder and two shots signify the mundane, boring mood of school life from the perspective of Jamie. This then changes when we meets his friends, the cuts are fast, with jump cuts to insinuate the fast paced, thrill with no fill lifestyle of Jamie and his friends. There is a jump cut (shown above) where Jamie takes a pill, we see the pill go in, this jumps to him drinking, then jumps to shaky footage of a rave. These fast cuts again signify the fast pace of the ravers life and connote the action of the drugs he's taking.