Q.2 Evaluation

Q2. How does your opening sequence represent particular social groups?

My media production deals with one main social group which is lower class- poverty, although my film also deals with upper class and working class social groups.

My main character:

• Lauren Ealing
• Is a young British black female.
• Aged 18.
• Has no real occupation but sells drugs.
• Born and raised in Canning town in a 5 bedroom house, at the age of 14 she ran away to escape her parents rules and boundaries. She moved into a foster home in the slums of Stratford and became heavily involved in drugs.
• She was a mother until her child died.
• A victim of abuse.
• She suffers from epileptic fits.
• Had a very troubled childhood in that she was on the run for along time, and moved from foster home to foster home.
• From the opening sequence you can see that Lauren is a drug addict from the way she is walking, and how she is handling the use of drugs. She looks experienced and in a sense comfortable. But the audience later finds out that she is depressed at the loss of her daughter. Due to this she is now suicidal and is on the brink of death.

Another social group which is in my film is upper class. Lauren Ealing is from an upper class background. Her parents own a very successful business but are very strict. Her mother Sharon has problems of her own, and never paid much attention to her daughter due to her business which takes up most of her time. Her father Owen is cheating on his wife with a younger female and pays most of his attention on pleasing his wife so she doesn’t suspect his wrong doings. Lauren runs away from home, and now she has become independent but dependant on drugs, just like her street friends whom know better.

My opening sequence represents particular social groups through location. The location of the sequence is in a broken down basement. I used this sort of place because I thought it would be a great way to show someone from under the poverty line, living in a run down basement. This shows the grittiness and the harshness of the situation of Lauren and some of the people in the lower class. Also if we used an ordinary bedroom it would’ve been harder for the audience to grasp a feel of what kind of life Lauren is living and would take some reality from the film and the opening sequences. The costume of the main character Lauren Ealing is very urban and street orientated, the look of her appearance is that of someone who doesn’t care for themselves, someone from the lower class. Lauren is from the lower class and this is why I went with this costume choice. When making the film, I put a black and white effect over it. I thought this would be a great way to show the darkness and grittiness of the situation in hand. It would also show the social group Lauren is in because you wouldn’t associate this kind of predicament with someone from the upper class; because people tend to believe the wealthier you are the fewer problems you will have and the happier you will be.

The other key characters in my film are Lauren’s best friend Tanisha, a drug dealer Big Boss, and her social worker Tim. The drug dealer Big Boss is very aggressive, overpowering, and a very dangerous man. He is feared by many and Lauren buys drugs and sells for him. He is from the same social class as Lauren is in now. This character represents someone from the lower class because he is illegally selling drugs for an income, and you can assume that only someone who is from that class which means they are so desperate money they would put his/her freedom on the line to make some cash. I got this perception of a gangster and drug dealer from Quentin Tarantino’s‘PULP FICTION’. I feel the actor Ving Rhames played out a gangster really well and that where I got my inspiration from. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000233/

When casting the role of Lauren Ealing I found the right actress first time round through auditions. There were know problems, but a few things I had to alter in making the character right for playing the role of  a drug addict this came in the form of appearance, costume and facial expressions. The things I  was looking in an ideal actor was someone who was willing to act like a drug addict weeks before filming, so they could get in the mindset of  a drug addict. And also someone who is willing to get hair and make-up applied in what ever way necessary, and I found this person.

Overall I feel my opening sequence in’ FORSAKEN’ represents social groups through factors like hair and make-up, costume, location etc. These things make my production my opening sequence very effective.