Health Check Homework- Thursday 2nd October

Analyse your film opening with regards to genre.

The chosen genre for my film opening was horror as it allowed me to approach it with an open mind as there are many sub genres within horror such as psychological or slasher. However when completing my research and planning, I gathered many conventions of horror films which I would either chose to follow or challenge. Many of the convention such as faded to black, the use of children, dark lighting, dolls, and a deserted location, I decided to follow, as I felt it would help appeal to my intended audience as well the creators of ‘ Women in Black’ following many of these and it being a massive success.  For example when looking specifically at fades to black, they helped keep continuity within the film as well as the opportunity to insert titles. The titles were white and flickering which gave the film a erie feel which is common in horror films. However with some of the conventions, I decided to develop them for example I used children actresses however I portrayed them as signs of evil opposed the stereotypical representation of sweet and innocent.

The theorist, Stephen Neal said that "Genre is a repetition with an underlying pattern of variations" which means that specific convention are essential in establishing a genre and should be repeated throughout the media. This relates to my film opening as i continuously showed short shorts of different convention such as lone characters, children actresses, deserted locations and fades to black. This would help keep the audience on edge as well as confident in that this is a horror film. However Stephen Neal also said that "Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre" which shows that variation can be used within a genre convention to ensure that each is unique to attract the audience. I followed this theory by changing the role of the children actresses as signs of evil opposed to innocence. This is also backed up by Tzvetan Todorov as he states that any instance of genre will be necessarily different meaning that  different is done by purpose for the better of the film. 

When thinking about establishing the genre to the audience, mise-en-scene plays a key part in this.  The location, lighting, props, make-up and costume all contribute into creating the correct atmosphere for the film to ensure it has a clearly established genre. This allows the audience to clearly recognise the genre then to determine whether they would want to watch it. When thinking about the location, it was set in  deserted, dark place as well as the main character being in her room at night. This followed the stereotypical convention of a horror setting. Also by having a lone character would allow the audience to sympathise with her and understand her vulnerability. The costumes of the two young actresses portrayed them as stereotypical children from the past, which helped add to the genre as it added another scary feature to the film opening. This contributed to the erie atmosphere that we wanted to create which we found was a common convention of horror films which are similar to ours.

Discuss the way that women are represented in the media. Use the work we have done so far to include a historical example and at least two contemporary ones to cover at least two different media types.

When thinking about how women are represented within media, there is a very narrow set of stereotypes in which the media follow. For example women being objectified purely for male pleasure, women carry a domestic role and women being less powerful and important than men. When focusing specifically on magazines as well as TV, women are portrayed as icons of beauty which can be linked to the fact that the media is made by men for men to watch, which is stated in the male gaze theory by Laura Mulvey. Furthermore the domestic representation of women is something that has been developing in the past due to women being shown cooking and washing in various times of media. Although that many would disagree, it may be fair to say that it has been accepted by society and has become a dominant ideology.

Women are represented to be purely for male pleasure and entertainment. This representation can be seen in many different Medias such as magazines, films and music videos such as the 'blurred lines' music video. In these women are objectified which can be shown though only showing parts of the women's body. This point can be linked to the hegemony theory which states that the media is run by a small group of people and what they will represent is what will become the dominant ideology. For example if the small group of people are white middle aged men, they will represent every other type of person such as women or other races in a negative and less powerful way and will ensure that there group of people(white middle aged men) will be represented positively by having the most power and authority.

In the blurred lines music video, the women are represented in a very stereotypical way for example as sex objects. This can be seen by the women wearing minimal clothing and red lipstick which can be seen as seductive. Also the women are being led around the room by the room portraying a sense of them having no control and that they are in the men’s power However as technology becomes more used, self-representation is becoming more effective and significant. This is due to it allowing prosumers to make their own media such as short films or remakes of music videos. Furthermore this allows them to show their audience who they are and their true representation. This can be seen in the female remake of the Blurred Lines music video. Compared to the original video, where women are dancing around the men, this remake shows an alternative representation of women as they are the ones with the power over the men. The idea of self-representation is supported by theorist Henry Jenkins as he believes cultural convergence, meaning that consumers have the power to annotate, edit and make their own media.

An historical example of representation of women can be seen in the film ‘Brief Encounter’. What clearly stands out from this film is the representation of women being emotional and physical weak. This is shown by the women being tormented by the work men and she was unable to handle it therefore she had to turn to a strong figure which was a man.  Also in Brief encounter women are represented to have domestic role due to the main female character completely all the household task such as ironing, putting the children to bed and shopping. However when looking at this from a current day perspective this would be seen as mythic which is shown in Barthes theory that representation are mythic rather than real.

Lastly the film sket represents women in a much more controversial and different way compared to the other examples. This is due to the women being represented to be in a violent gang who have no fear of beating someone up.For example the majority of their actions are violent and aggressive towards the other character who is also a women. This therefore shows a contrast in the women in this film due them being represented as violent as well as weak which is shown through the women on the floor who is helpless. This film can be seen as showing the different representation of women that there are rather than just one which is weak and have no power or control. 

Overall all these different types of media from different time periods, show a similar representation of women especially that they are less powerful than men. However these representations, which are mainly negative, are accepted in society as they have been seen as the norm for so long.

How you have used representation to create meaning in the film opening that you made this year?

How you have used representation to create meaning in the film opening that you made this year?

In the film opening in which I made last year, I used representation in many ways to create meaning within my film.  Firstly when looking at the two young characters within my film, they were portrayed as the sign of evil and caused distresses to the other characters. This is challenging the stereotypically representation of young girls for example they would stereotypically be represented as innocent and harmless however to create a twist we decided to challenge the representation to give the audience a representation of young girls which is not the dominant ideology. When thinking about theorist, Roland Barthes theory of representation are mythic can be applied to this point as it not always true that all young girls are harmless and innocent hence the representation which we portrayed.

When looking at the main character, we appeared to follows the stereotypical representation of a teenage girl. For example when looking at the decor, her room is mainly pink therefore from this we can assume that she is a girly girl as pink carries a connotation of nurturing and love. This would be a dominant ideology for most mature teenage girls. Furthermore when looking at the content of the opening, the main character become extremely distressed by a nightmare. This is representing her to be weak in a way in which she lets a nightmare almost control her life. This added meaning to our film because when looking at the different characters there is a clear comparison between them referring to their mental and physical power even though they were of the same gender.

We used representation, when choosing the costume for our characters as this was able to added meaning to the film because it clearly outlined that the characters where from different time periods. The representation of the maid out fit carries a connotation of low authority and power. However we decided to construct the reality to show an alternative representation. The theorist David Chandler can be applied here as my film is showing representation through a construction of reality.

Summary of theorist

Theorist from taylorcockley

Why is studying representation of women in the media important?

Studying the representation of women is important as women are generally represented negatively within the media. This has become an dominant ideology due to the cultivation theory by Gerbner meaning society gradually expecting that this is the true representation of women. However we know that the media is constructed through a process called mediation meaning that the representation are not true. For example the programme 'i want to marry harry' the girls are there because they want to find prince charming, this would be due to them being exposed to this ideology from a young age, for example in Disney fairy tales, therefore it would seem to be expected of them.

Women are also represented to be purely for male pleasure and entertainment. This representation can be seen in many different medias such as magazines, films and music videos such as 'blurred lines'. In these women are objectified which can be shown though only showing parts of the women's body. Studying this representation of women is important as the more media products which represent women in the way, the more accepted it will become. In many films male characters are given more power and authority than female character and a good example of this would be 'James Bond'. James Bond is the main character in the film therefore the film is named after him on the other hand the female characters are his side kicks or are just therefore him to admire and have pleasure from. This point can be linked to the hegemony theory which states that the media is run by a small group of people and what they will represent is what will become the dominant ideology. For example if the small group of people are white middle aged men, they will represent every other type of person such as women or other races in a negative and less powerful way and will ensure that there group of people(white middle aged men) will be represented positively by having the most power and authority.

Men and young boy are exposed porn on many different levels meaning they create a false idea of how women want to be treated and how they should act. This gives a negative representation for women as they will not be taken seriously as they have been objectified. This point of view follows Richard Dyer's theory that how we are seen determines how we are treated and how we are treated based on the representation we are given by the media.

Brief Encounter

The way women are represented in Brief Encounter

Firstly I looked at the costumes of the female characters; all of them wore long dresses which covered any flesh which could be on show. This is representing these female characters to have self-respect and dignity. Following on from this, I looked at the makeup which appeared to be minimal however it was something in which the women were worrying about throughout the film. This is confirming the stereotype of women, which is that they care about their appearance. This is also known to be a dominant ideology as the majority within society would agree with this.

When looking at the characters in which the females play are another way of representing women. The main female character plays a typical housewife who does the shopping and cooking. In contrast to this the men are seen to play more academic roles such as doctors. This is representing women to be less educated than men and unable to for fill academic jobs. Following on from this, the stereotypical motherly figure is represented through the actions and body language of the female characters. For example when the main female character is the one who is able to compromise with the children and when the older female character comforts the weaker female character by hugging her.

The women within this film are represented to less powerful than the men in many ways. One being when the man feels he is able to touch the women without her permission and another being when the women being the counter has to ask for a man to assist her in getting rid of rude costumers as she is unable to.

When looking at the emotions of the characters, the female characters appear to be more emotional for example when the main female character is crying. The female characters are also represented to feel guiltier when having done something they shouldn't have. However in contrast to this, the main female character is unable to stop herself from seeing the other man showing her to have a weakness in self-control. This sense of self control is further shown by the women nearly jumping in front of the train at the end of the film. 

The theorist Roland Barthes can be linked into this film which is that representations are mythic and in a sense that they appear to be real when they may not be necessary real in reality. For example in brief encounter all the women are represented to carry basic jobs such as waitresses and housewives and that they do not have the authority to be a Doctor like the male characters. We are forced to believe this as all the female characters follow this myth. This can be further linked to the theorist Gerbner with his cultivation theory. This is due to us as an audience being gradually exposed to this stereotype of women being house wives and having less authority than males therefore over time we seem to except this is the norm.

Stereotypes of Women

Introduction to representation of women

Key words

• Representation
• Stereotype
• Denotation
• Connotation
• Challenge
• Mediation- This is the process of taking reality, interpreting it, and then re-presenting it to the audience.
• Male Gaze- The media is made by men for men
• Self representation
• Ideology-are messages or values that are embedded into the media
• Dominant Ideology- An ideology which is accepted by the majority
• Hegemony- the ruling class maintains their power through the use of control of ideas and culture rather than force

Theorists

• George Gerbner- He started the Cultivation Theory.  This theory helps understand the importance of media. 'Drip drip' but slowing down from an immediate effect to a slower more accumulative effect. Cultivation theorists argue that media has long term effects which a gradual.
• Jean Baudrillard- He is known for his concept of Hyper Reality which when something is real however is based on something which is not.
• Roland Barthes- He argues that representations are mythic in the sense that they have an appearance of natural. Representations can be founded on reality or indeed a reality that does not exist.
• Richard Dyer- He quoted 'how we are seen determines how we are treated, how we treat others is based on how we see them, how we see them comes from representation' This means that your only experience of the group being represented might be the media text that the representation is in.
• David Chandler- Representation always involves the construction of reality.
• Henry Jenkins- believed in cultural convergence, meaning when consumers are empowered to edit, annotate and create content for example social networking sites
• Anthony Giddens- believes ideology refers to the influence of ideas on peoples beliefs and actions

Representation of Women in 'Sket'

At the beginning of the clip, the women are fighting which is representing them to be cold and violent which challenges the stereotype of women. 

In contrast to the first screen shot, the women can be seen laying on the floor. This is presenting her to be weak and powerless and from this we can connote that she has been beaten up by the other women.

In this screen shot you can see the women being represented as a motherly figure the the girl which follows the stereotype for women.

Representation of Women in 'Blurred Lines'

In the blurred lines video, women are represented to objectified for the pleasure of a male audience. This shows the male gaze as male pleasure would have been in mind when making the video.

The women in the video are wearing provocative and suggestive clothing that shows a lot of flesh in order to attract the male audience.

Richard Dyer's theory can be applied to the blurred lines video. In this specific video women are objectified for male pleasure therefore this may be how people will begin to see them. This then links to women being objectifies for male pleasure as a dominant ideology as it will be accepts by the majority within society.

Representation of Women in 'Chandelier'

In this music video, the girl is wearing a flesh coloured leotard and is dancing in a way which appears too old for her. This portrays her to be an object that is telling a story rather than a little girl which is what she is.

The subject of the music video is suicide and alcoholism which wouldn't be associated with a young girl, this is seen as very controversial and challenges the stereotype of young women.

Due to the controversy of the video, it was able to gain 1 million views within the first 24 hours of release.

Roland Barthes theory can be seen in the chandelier video due to the theme of the song(suicide and alcoholism) being association with an 11 year old year. This representation can be seen a a myth as this would not be real within society. Therefore this further links to the theorist David Chandler as the video has constructed reality to make a controversial video.

Blurred Lines Parody- self representation

 In this blurred lines parody, the women are represented to be more powerful than the men. This is clearly shown by them placing there shoe on the men while the press ups. This is the creators of the parody trying to represent women to be powerful and have authority over men.

 In the second part of the parody, the women is represented to be clever by wearing smart classes and holding a book which carries a connotation of intelligence. This is showing that female are able to have more challenging jobs apposed to just being house wives which would appear to be the dominant ideology.

In this last part of the parody, the women are represented to have self represented by wearing clothes which cover up the majority of their body therefore challenging the stereotype that they are women are purely for males to admire their appearance and for pleasure.





Henry Jenkin's Theory of cultural convergence can be applied to this parody as the creators of the have been able to create this parody to show a representation of women which is not shown within the media and may be more closer to the real representation of women.