2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The two social catergories that are most clearly represented in our clip are Age and Gender. 


Age


All characters featured in the opening sequenced are aged 17; the lack of adult presence suggesting that these are independent individuals who are not dependent on any authority figure.


The cast of Exceptional's opening clip

 In the establishing wide shot we can see that some stereotypical social groups are already emerging - to the right are the two conventional 'jocks', wearing varsity hoodies, which indicates their inclination towards sport. Angus (at the front) is sitting alone, suggesting that he is the outcast figure. His dark clothes connote that he wants to be unnoticed and his hunched over body language suggests a lack of confidence. To the right is Jessica who fills the traditional role of the love interest. We challenged the cliched idea of using a blonde actress for this part, but the flowery dress suggests she is a traditionally feminine character. The extras are of a range of nationalities, connoting that their are no racial barriers in this age-group in the film's setting.


Other action that represents age.
- Sitting quietly during class = a level of maturity
- Laughing at the Paper Throw = Not much empathy, the extras reaction shows the significance of  group mentality
- Bored Expressions = Stereotypical idea of teenagers disliking school.




Gender

Male

Our protagonist is a classic underdog. He is a teenager who doesn't feel accepted by the world around him, and to present this insecurity we represented him as being isolated and unconfident. He would be placed at the bottom of the male social scale because he is quiet - shown by the stronger use of voice-over than actual dialogue. We wanted to show this aspect of insecurity by showing him interacting with girls. The dialogue with Jessica is scripted to be stilted and uncomfortable to show that he is at the stage where he is unable to properly communicate with the opposite gender.

The binary opposite to Angus's unconfident, unpopular male is presented through the use of stereotypical 'jock' figures who are portrayed as the alpha-males of the school community. The high five pictured in the screen shot above connotes that they behave in a laddish manner. They are more athletic than Angus, signifying that physical strength is an important feature of being on top of the social structure. The exaggerated movements of both characters also suggest that they perform for the benefit of the group in order to gain attention.

Female

 

In our opening sequence the female characters are deliberatly not explained too clearly - this helps the audience view Jessica from Angus's perspective, where he doesn't know or understand too much about her, which in part is the reason for his inability to act normally around her. The Lichtenstein Freeze frame is used to show how Angus idolises her, and views her as separate from other people. The heart graphics that accompany this signify her role as a romantic interest within the film. Her clothes are used to suggest that she is a typical feminine character who becomes more submissive in the presence of a male character, but we challenged this assumption by having her confront the jocks about their bullying. When the boy she talks to stops provoking Angus as a result of her comment, this indicates that she has influence in the school and other people respect her.