As we chose high school drama as the genre of our title sequence, there were already set social groups that are conventional of the genre that all hold their own stereotypes. The groups we chose to represent were the popular girls which we called ‘the Elite’, the ‘Jocks’ , the ‘Geeks’ and the ‘Freak’ . Within these social groups there were other minority social groups for example: ethnic in the 'Jocks' group. The Main Jock is from an African background and has been represented as athletic as he is a sportsman, this is a very stereotypical representation of people from other ethnic backgrounds and is very commonly found in American high school dramas.
The 'Elite':
This is our version of a popular girls clique and this social group is particularly stereotyped as bitchy bimbo's who are spoilt by their parents. They are also commonly conveyed as bullies who pick on people who are lower in the social hierachy at school. We chose to stick with the 'Bitchy bimbo' stereotype and conveyed this with our year book videos as Brittany(queen B) sarcastic smiles then pulls a nuetral expression which is broadly known as a 'bitch face', ellie blows a kiss to the camera which is suggestive that she is the flirtatious character of the three and finally Ella plays with her ponytail and smiles innocently at the camera which hints at the fact that she is ditsy or the 'bimbo' of the group. These actions portraying each characters personality are supported by the girls physical appearance. Ella is blonde so therefore is represented as being the 'dumb blonde' which is definitley a broadly known stereotype of blondes. Brittany has dark haired aand pretty and is the tallest making her come across as the most dominating out of the three girls and this is definitley supported with her personality traits. She is the ring leader of the group and is very confident in the way she carries herself. She also comes across as unpleasant due to her permanant neutral facial expression. Her actions in her year book video to which i directed her express this personality type and i think it is clear that she is the main girl from the video despite this being made obvious by the layout of the Elite page and her having her own seperate page from her side kicks.
The 'Geek' and The 'Freak':
These two social groups are represented within our Title sequence as the 'Outcasts'.These social groups are isolated in the school society due to their unusual character traits that define their identities.Unlike the two popular social groups both The Geek and The Freak have their own page within the yearbook, this reflects the isolation these social groups experience in their everyday school life due to them not having friends to share the page with. Unlike the Freak, the Geek is not a hated character within our film and this is highlighted with the 'Headboy' badge that features on his title page. The fact that people would've had to vote for him to gain this title shows he had achieved some respect in the high school community.On the other hand the Freaks page was completely blank,no other information on her character or her achievements were stated on her title page which emphasises the irrelevance of her character within the school.Although in this narrative the freak is alienated, she is part of a bigger social group stereotype that is spread amongst schools in America and this representation of this specific character is commonly illustrated in High school drama films.
The 'Jocks':
The Jocks are the conventionally attractive sportsman in our film and sequence and the most popular group of boys within the high school social hierarchy due to the attention they gain from the girls and most importantly the 'Elite'. The Jocks are closely associated with the 'Elite' girls and it could be percieved that they are the male version of the 'elite'. Both social groups abuse their popularity to hold authority other the more outcasted groups such as the 'Freak' or the 'Geek' and almost intimidate them.Like the 'Elite' ,the 'Jocks' are represented as arrogant and superficial due to them only dating girls who are part of a high social status just like themselves. We chose to conform to the stereotype of an arrogant athlete due to us wanting to fulfil all conventions of our genre which typically has very cliche representations of different social groups.We decided that to achieve this representation of the 'Jocks' the three boys should walk into their yearbook photos acting particularly smug and confident.Jacob (The main jock) was directed by me to walk in to the frame showing off his sportsman skills by spinning the basketball on his finger whilst making direct eye contact with the camera and catching the ball in his hand for his end pose.Oliver ,one of the Jocks side kicks,clicks his fingers and points directy at the camera with a cheeky,smug expression on his face this conveys him as cocky and full of himself which is a stereotype usually held by jock characters in this film genre.Tommy, the last Jock,is identified as a vain character due to his actions within his yearbook video as he brushes his hands through his hair whilst looking at his reflection in the camera which suggests that he prioritises his appearance and is aware of the way he is percieved by other people,especially girls.Once again this is a very stereotypical representation as the Jock in the latest high school dramas is a reflection of how boys are getting more and more vain in this generation.
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