Evaluation Task 2: How does Your Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

In our media product 'The Bearing' we have nine different actors that, between them represent a number of social groups. In this task i will focus on the seven more relavent actors rather than the two extras and how they create a positive or negative representation of social groups.

The first actor is Maxim Baldry who, mainly through costume choice and through his facial expression in the first scene creates a negative representation of a lower class. Maxim is wearing a dark coloured hoodie, this element of darkness signifies evil ways and the hoodie immediately associates him to the lower class as it is a common stereotype surrounding poorer english city beings. Maxim looks shifty as his eyes dart around the area after he's hidden the parcel cautious not to be seen which implies that he knows what he is doing and that he may have carried out previous roles similar to this before. This creates a negative representation of the lower class city boy as it insinuates that young boys are getting involved in dangerous deals for money.


The second actor Adam Grant is once again portrayed with a negative representation in our media product. The expensive 4x4 he drives portrays him as an affluent individual and costume choice including the tartan flat cap associating him with a middle class man as tartan is linked to shooting and shooting is a high class sport stereotypically only done by those who are wealthy enough to fund a shoot. He is portrayed in a negative light as the sequence is showing an affluent man making money through the passing of drugs which is illegal. The shot on the right shows the actor at the location of the second passover looking around suspiciously ensuring secrecy. He has his 'country' hat tilted down over his eyes attempting to hide his eye line, he is attempting to hide who he really is by carrying out the passover which contributes to the negative representation he is receiving.

The third actor in 'The Bearing' is Theo Bhat who is introduced when Adam (2) leaves the cafe. Theo is shown to wear a black beanie and dark workman clothing. This immediately portrays a negative representation of him as the dark costume choice signifies secrecy and one can tell that he is up to no good. Despite the dark clothing and beanie Theo is still not shown as a street thug though, i think that he looks more sophisticated and doesn't want to be seen taking part in the transaction so he disguises himself with dark clothing.

Our fourth actor Kitty Birks is portrayed in a positive light. Due to her appearance, character and the fact that she is dining in a upmarket restaurant it suggests that she is part of the middle class. She is shown in our title sequence only for a split second as a kind looking girl holding a baby with a smile on her face creating a warm motherly feel to her character. She is not dressed in dark clothes and due to her relaxed manner it is safe to say that she is not taking part in the poisoning. She looks comfortable with her baby, completely oblivious to the transaction taking place. This clip creates a positive representation of a middle class young mother as it shows that a young mother is happy with her child and enjoying life.


The Fifth actor is Paul Chesterfield who is represented negatively in 'The Bearing'. Once again costume choice plays a substantial role in his negative portrayal. Paul is dressed in a dark blue jacket with a black hoodie, these dark colours insinuate that he is doing wrong. An extreme close up shows the passover between him and the chef Habeeb, showing the two shaking hands prior to the passover which signifies that they know one another which one can go further and say that this implies that they may even be at the heart of the transaction, portraying Paul in a further evil light and creating a negative representation of both him and the chef Habeeb. It is difficult to assign a class or social group to Paul as there are few signifiers that represent these factors in the short time he is on screen. However his dark hoodie portrays him as reclusive, as if he keeps himself to himself and it also suggests that he is lower class as hoodies are associated with a typical working class clothing.

The next actor to appear in the title sequence is Habeeb Fasai who is from a nigerian origin which immediately associates him with poverty and a working class background as the quality of life for the vast majority of people in Nigeria is poor due to few available well paid jobs. Habeeb looks calmer than the rest of the people participating in the poisoning which suggests that he is more experienced and has possibly carried out transactions similar to this more often than he others which outlines him and his social group in the worst representation of all the people taking part. At one point Habeeb looks as if he is almost smirking as he receives the poison which continually backs up the extremity of the mans evilness as he finds it almost funny that he is about to kill someone.

The seventh actor is Hendrick Speelmans who represents a tall, well presented middle to upper class boy who is trying to get a job to make some of his own money. As we are not shown his face it implies that he is not an important part in the poisoning and almost certainly has no idea that the food he is carrying out contains poison that is going to potentially kill the someone. This creates a positive representation of Hendrick as it implies that he is a young innocent boy who is taking no part in the transaction but is just doing his job as best he can.

In conclusion, the general representation that is being created of the people that are featuring in the title sequence and their particular social groups is a negative one, as each person that is taking part is essentially committing a bad deed by contributing to the poisoning and possible death of a man. This creates a negative or evil portrayal of them.