Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups that are represented in our film are the police and criminals. But as stated in a previous blog post the characters are made to represent one side of the law while possibly they secretly represent the opposite sides of the law they are meant to be on.

The top shot is from my film Cralex while the other being a promo picture for the film American Gangster. Both films have two lead characters a Detective and Criminal , and again the black and white theme for representing good and bad has been used again. In American Gangster the Detective has a white background while the Criminal has a black background, these characters are created to show that they are one side of the law and it is clearly represented in the picture. While in the film I worked on, I swapped the color palettes to add a twist to the plot.


1) How have you represented your chosen social group?
I have represented my chosen social groups of police and criminal by including two characters that represent both sides of the law. One is a Detective who in interrogating a criminal he has been searching for for years, while the other is a caught out criminal who is shown to be punished for his wrong doings.
2)How have you used mise-en-scene to create this representation?
I think the figure of movements within the mise-en-scene represents these social groups. The figure of authority in the film is the Detective who represents Justice and Law, two important factors in society that we have to adhere to. The fact that he has the most dialogue and is able to move freely depicts that he is the police and he is in control. While Cralex the criminal is handcuffed and at the beginning has a bag on his head to restrict his view. He is created to represent the Unjust and Evil, the fact that he is a restricted character shows that he is a criminal and that he is a wrong doer.
3)What meaning have you created?
The meaning behind this entire film that has been created is that wrong doers get punished an that the law prevails, it bows down to societies firm stand on that the bad gets punished an that the law is correct. The fact that Cralex is restricted from movement and that he can't see at the beginning of the film creates the meaning that if you follow a path of unjust then you are going down a narrow path that restricts your options in life, while by following the law you are given some freedom and are protected from the bad. 
4) How does it compare to existing representations in the media?
Compared to existing representations in the media the messages behind the film we created conform to what is seen in the media, crimes are solved and criminals are punished this is often shown to us through different media outlets and by creating a film that stands to show that Good beats Evil in simple terms is another representation of what the media is saying every day constantly worldwide. It doesn't challenge any existing representations but reinforces them.