Websites that are central to my study:

I found alot of websites that focus on the representation of women but very few that are dedicated to the representation of men. Below are the following webistes that i will be using for my study:

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MC30820/represent.html
This website focuses on representation as a whole. Includes a diagram to explain the process used in creating representations, with some useful questions to evoke responses.

http://www.kidulthoodlife.blogspot.com/
This is last year Alliaya’s blog on Kidulthood. I chose this website because her study deals with the representation of teenagers which is essentially the basis of my study too. I intend on using books used in her bibliograpghy to help me with my research.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-politics/
This website is key to my study because it identifies a term called “identity politics” which is crucial in understanding why certain people of certain social class are represented in the way they are. This term will help explain a lot about why black teenagers in Gridiron gang are represented as strong criminals.

http://www.identities.org.uk/
This website is by far the most important of all my websites. This page shows a study on “Ethnicity, Identity and Social Relations in Prison.” The idea of ‘prison’ directly links to my study.

http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/identities/pdf/r_meek_youngoffenders.pdf
Once again, I have found studies that directly link to my topic. The narrative of Gridiron gang concludes with the success of a few prisoners moving back into community life. This study here is on young offenders and their transition from custody to community.

http://mediaknowall.com/representation.html
A useful website for A2 media students on representation. I will be looking here for the basic ideas that help build up representations.

http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=gridiron+gang&sp-a=sp090f2100&sp-p=any&sp-f=iso-8859-1
This website is really helpful because it has a variety of links which are to do with the representation of 'gangs.' I will be researching all the links here in depth for my study.

10 words that relate to my independant study

Anti-Hero- this is portrayed by pretty much all the convicts in the movie.

Disequilibrium- In the beginning of the movie when Willie's cousin has just been released, it seems as if his life will change, but then suddenly he is pulled right back into the gang life and dies as a result.

Family Values- This is shown in the movie but in an unconventional manner, the family values are portrayed through the convicts and Sean Porter acting as a father.

Hero- I think Sean Porter and Willie Weathers are fighting for the spot of hero constantly in the movie, although Sean Porter probably takes the spot while Willie takes the spot of an anti-hero.

Linear Narrative- Gridiron Gang employs this narrative so strongly that there is not even one flashback.

Narrator- At times, Sean Porter narrates certain scenes eg. the opening scene, "Most sixteen/seventeen year old kids, they make a bad choice. Something gets broken, they screw up in class, hurt somebody's feelings, show up at the prom drunk. They get sent to the Principal office, have their car keys taken away or get grounded. Then there's kids that make a bad choice, somebody ends up shot dead in a parking lot. Those kids get sent here."

Remake- This movie is in fact a remake of the original documentary "Gridiron Gang" 1993. The actual Sean Porter was on set a lot during th filming process therefore the authenticity of the story is undeniable.

Set- A huge majority of the movie is shot in the jail, i thought it was interesting how the jail begins to seem like a completely different world to the audience and at times it is easy to forget that it is in fact a jail.