Task 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2lY7fvYbbU

In this task i will be writing about the clip above which is a part of the movie Adulthood (2008). I will be analysing and writing about the representations of male teens and how they are represented throughout this clip of urban drama.

At the beginning of the scene called 'Sam teaches Dabs a lesson', Dabs and his friends are riding around on bicycles in search for Sam. Whilst looking for him there is background music playing and also a suspense non diagetic sound which is added into the clip to make the audience think about what is going to happen next. When they see him they recognise him and give him a serious dirty look. Sam looks back possibly wondering why they are staring at him. By the eye contact shown in the clip it shows that teenagers are very serious and look at each other in a way which could cause conflict between individuals. This would represent them and stereotype them negatively as trouble makers.

Throughout the clip, All four teenage characters shown in the clip are wearing hoodies, this would give a typical representation to teenagers as teenagers are mainly wearing hoodies, by them wearing hoodies it would make people think they are trouble makers or from some part of gang. This has resulted teenagers to be represented as aggressive, criminals and a threat to the society in the media's view. This would also link to the audience theory and hypodermic needle, by the teenagers acting and being this way, it would inject ideas into the audiences mind and make them think that all teenagers wearing clothing like this are rpresented in this way.

When they find Sam they start beating him up right away, this would show and explain why teenagers could be represented as immature as no discussion is made before violence is used as a solution. When Sam drops to the ground, a close up shot is shown of his face, this would make the viewer feel like they are there and they will also get a detailed view of what is going on. Whilst this part of the clip is playing, we can hear diagetic and non diagetic sounds, we can hear Sam coughing while getting beaten up which is diagetic and we can hear an added sound which is non diagetic. Dabs and his two friends get to beating him up right away which is shown through a close up shot and a shot which is a birds eyes view, it makes the viewer feel that they are at the place of the scene. At this moment there is also conflict created between two of the friends as one wants to see his face before stabbing him.

This causes him to push the other friend away. By a knife used as a Prop in this clip it shows that teenagers nowadays could be dangerous and violent and the type to walk around with dangerous weapons.

After Sam's face if shown, his brother, which is one of the three friends, recognises him in shock and points the knife to his friend and they start talking aggressively to each other as Dabs did not tell Sam's brother that it was him they were looking for, whilst talking to each other they are using foul language and showing each other attitude and aggression. Throughout this particular part, close up shots are used to show what exactly is going on.

Whilst Dabs and Sam's brother are talking to each other, Sam gets up from the floor and stands beside his brother and asks Dabs about who send him, when Dabs tells him how much money he got for the job, Sam's brother puts the knife very close to dabs neck, this is shown through a close up shot. This particular part is a interesting moment as it makes the viewer want to know whats going to happen next. It also shows teenagers to have a lack of patience and represents them negatively.

Sam tells his brother not to stab Dabs as he says there is no point going into prison for a such thing, instead of this Sam punches Dab. This shows that he is aggressive and it shows and backs up the original negative representation of teenagers. The way Sam and Dabs were talking to one another it also involved a lot of attitude and conflict. It would also make the viewer think they would start fighting instantly, predicted from their tone of voice.

After Dabs is on the floor, Sam's brother and his friend check his pockets for any money and also take away his Oyster travel card, this would show teenagers as having less money and also represent them as lower class for taking away someone else's Oyster card. After Sam's brother and his friend and Sam walk away, they are seen through a long shot walking away with their hoods up.

Overall, this clip shows male teenagers to be represented negatively in the media's view, they are represented negatively throughout many points in this clip such as wearing hoodies, use of language, props such as knifes used and aggressive style of talking used. The public and audience viewing this scene would see male teenagers as a threat and as dangerous individuals who people should stay away from in order to avoid trouble. Due to the representations of teenagers in urban dramas it has resulted to a moral panic which is lead to teenagers represented negatively in all aspects of the media.