Media Audiences

The target audience are for both adults and teenagers. I think that this is aimed at adults just as much as teenagers because the message is that criminals can always change their ways and this film might change the representation of these criminals and even teenagers on the streets in the eyes of adults.

Values and ideologies

Although there are no typical family values in this film, a different kind of family can be seen through the team. Gradually, the team begins to forget their past feuds and learn to work together and junior even says, "you guys are my family". This promotes a familial ideology emphasising the need for family. Sean Porter takes the role of a father and more distinctly like a father that Willie never had and possibly the son that Sean Porter never had.

Institution

Columbia Pictures are a well known production company in the world of movies(spiderman, lethal weapon), so this would attract an audience from the beginning but also give the audience high hopes for the movie. The trailer is mostly filled with emotional moments from the movie which is an accurate representation of the movie but also there are moments of humour there too, this shows that although the movie is dealing with a serious matter it will still keep the audience entertained.

Genre

The genre is a sport drama, but there are other elements to it. It can be argued that although there is no real family, a lot of family values are represented therefore it can be a family film too. The generic conventions of this film are interesting because they are conventional but to a certain extent unconventional too. When Sean Porter decides to start a team it becomes clear to the audience that his plan will work to help the kids because that would be the conventional thing to happen(although it did work in real life) but with that said, in the end of the film we are also told that only 5 of the prisoners had been locked up again after release. Even though this is a better rate than the normal 75% return rate at the jail the audience feels a sense of loss as they form a bond with the characters while watching the movie.

Media Languages and Forms

The denotative levels of meaning of football is that it is a sport which is quite enjoyable and will be a good way to keep the prisoners occupied and help them better themselves, the connotations of football are that in order to succeed you need to work as a team, be strong and believe it yourself. This is shown when Sean Porter challenges the young, smaller and much weaker Willie to try and take him down, after many attempts he can't even budge the muscular coach but with the words such as, "you've got nobody but yourself but thats all you need, believe in yourself and knock me on my ass!" he manages to put him on the floor. This shows that without even meeting the pyshical requirements, Willie only had to believe in himself to win.
The setting in the beginning of the movie is very grim and usually set inside the jail, as the movie progresses the prisoners are outside more and more practicing in a sunny environment rather than a dark prison. This is a symbol of change and shows that what the team are doing is a symbol of freedom as they are outside more often rather than inside.

Characters

Sean Porter(Dwayne Johnson) is the head warden at the camp in Gridiron Gang and an ex football coach, he believes that everybody has the right to try and make a change in themselves for the better, that is why he starts a football team within the prison so that everyone can learn to work together and stop bickering amongst themselves.
He comes across as a very strict and hard headed person but also quite sensitive due to his past and his mother's illness at present.

Willie Weathers(Jade Yorker) is the newest convinct in the prison charged with shooting his mothers abusive boyfriend, prior to the shooting he witnessed his cousin(who just got released from the prison in which he is) get killed by an enemy gang member. Willie is involved in a gang and goes around starting trouble in the jail with anybody who even looks at him in a funny way. Sean sees that he is a talented football player and realises that he is wasting it on the streets so aswell as everyone else, he takes him under his wing. Soon after he befriends an enemy gang member in jail and goes to college after his release.

Junior Palaita(Setu Taase) Is feared in the prison by all and known as a bully, Sean notices Junior's power which is a vital part of football and convinces him to join, the team helps bring out a good side in Junior and cause all his feuds in the jail to cease. After being released Junior fixes up his life and gets a full time job.

Kenny Bates(Trevor O'Brian) is a shy and unconfident character, he is the only white member in the jail but becomes talkative and befriends the whole team soon after joining. After his release he too goes to college and plays football like Willie.

Research

For my research i have watched two other films which are set in jail, "Blood in blood out(1993)" and "Lock up(1898)" Lock up is similar to Gridiron Gang as they both aim to show the convicts in a positive light rather than a negative light. In blood in blood out the convicts are not shown as evil but they do continue to break the law in several different ways showing no sign of improvement.

Independant Study

In order to prove my hypothesis i will be looking into what kind of things provoke criminals to commit crimes and how they react to the sentence. In the movie Gridiron Gang which is a true story, some of the convicts go on to become very successful people in life while some go back to their old ways. This movie subverts the traditional and stereotypical view of criminals. In my study i will link this movie to "Blood in blood out" which too is set in a prison, but the tone of the movie is much darker and is the complete opposite of the moral that Gridiron gang aims to let the viewers know.

My Hypothesis

For my independant study i am going to be proving that not all criminals deserve to be looked down upon by the public and that there is always room for even a criminal to change their ways.

In doing so i will aim to show that the traditional stereotypes of criminals has changed from being villianous to perhaps even heroic, leading to a more sympathetic representation of them.

The Representation of criminals in Gridiron Gang

Gridiron Gang is a 2006 film starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Xzibit, L. Scott Caldwell, and Kevin Dunn. It was filmed in California at Camp Kilpatrick, a Los Angeles County Probation Department facility. It is loosely based on the true story of the Kilpatrick Mustangs during the 1990 season, the very first in which they played eleven man football. Kilpatrick is a facility located in Malibu, California for juvenile delinquents with multiple offenses, such as murder and gang violence. The overall moral is that even though people deal with difficulties in their lives, these young teenagers overcome their fears and frustrations using self-discipline and learn to leave their problems on the football field.