Evaluation of Representation of social groups in our film

Representation of Teenagers / Girls in Our Film

• As a chick flick, it seems productive to look at the representation of teenage girls in our film.
• A ‘Popular’ clique and a ‘nerdy group’- two classic teen stereotypes - both in our piece.
• We exaggerated the two different types that we were portraying to help make it easier for the audience to identify what type of character they each were - therefore the stereotyping becomes so obvious the audience is supposed to recognise it and be entertained by it.
• Also by exaggerating it helped to give our film a light hearted feel - comedy can undermine the stereotype by almost mocking it. 
• A prime example of a film that exaggerates stereotypes a lot is 'Mean Girls' where they introduce the different groups and we see the exaggerated stereotypical perception of them, so our use of almost comic stereotypes is linked to our genre.
• By using split screens in places we were able to help show the clear difference between the different characters so the audience could clearly tell who they were/what type of person they were.
• Props and mise-en-scene in the split screen parts of our film helped to make this difference apparent. In Charley’s room/bathroom there was lots of make up and touches of pink and she wears a fluffy dressing gown whereas in Rosie’s room, there are lots of books, plain white sheets and she wears sensible pyjamas.

•  Using mise en scene we were able to create the character that we wanted. Eg. Costume/hair/make up was very girly for the ‘popular’ and like a tomboy for the ‘nerd’
• Dialogue helped to create/ represent them in the way that we wanted. “Move, Ginger” was said by the popular girl to show that she was mean and looked down on people and that this is partly based on physical appearance.
• The way the frames were composed was similar to other films. The person that the audience was meant to feel sorry for is always on their own. Similar to films like ‘Mean Girls’ where the ‘popular’ ones are always in a group to be intimidating and the unpopular one looks vulnerable.

 

• We also used quite a few close ups that are used a lot in chick flicks. It helps to show how the characters feel towards to each other, especially how they feel about the other 'cliques'. A good example is in 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging'

• The non-diegetic music we used in our film made it clear that this film is light hearted and that the stereo types shouldn't be taken seriously even though you are meant to have empathy towards the characters. Again, we think this softens our representations and will position the audience to understand them the way we are intending - as a fun, light-hearted plot device rather than reality.
• In some chick flicks that contrast an unpopular girl and then a popular girl and her boyfriend, it is clear that the boyfriend is ruled by the popular girl but has sympathy for the unpopular girl. This is seen in films like ‘Mean Girls’ and ‘A Cinderella Story’

• We tried to make our film have this aspect, so when Rosie drops her books, Seth goes to help her. This helps to make show that even the popular people are not all bad and can be redeemed. In fact, this classic redemption narrative arc is what makes sure any negative aspects of our representation can be cancelled out. Ultimately all the differences between the teen groups are wiped out at the end. This could be criticised for representing teen life in an unrealistic way that 'real' teenagers cannot aspire to, but our genre needs a happy ending.