TASK: How typical is Fish Tank to its genre?

How typical is Fish Tank of its genre?

My first text that I have studied is 'Fish Tank', the genre of this film is Social Realism and conforms to the vast majority of its generic conventions. The purpose of a Social Realism film is to give the audience an insight into the life of the underclass and how they are represented. Social Realism has a niche audience as the genre of film is very independent and subvert to the typical Hollywood blockbuster film. There are many conventions which classify a social realism film ... 

Technically the first convention which is present in the clip is the diegetic sound of the dog barking. This conforms to the conventions of a social realism film as it makes it seem more realistic to the audience. Another technical convention is the shallow depth of field.

Characters within my Three Texts

Fish Tank Characters

Mia 

Connor

Joanne

Sin City Characters

Marv

John Hartigan

Dwight McCarthy

Nancy Callahan

Miho

Kevin

Goldie and Wendy

District 9

Wikus van de Mewre

Piet Smit

Tania van de Merwe - Whenever we see Tania she is very emotional and naive. 

Useful Websites for Essay

The Atlantic - The Rise to the Female-Led Action Film - http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/01/the-rise-of-the-female-led-action-film/251678/

The Nation - The Hunger Games Feral Feminism - http://www.thenation.com/article/167182/hunger-games-feral-feminism#

The Mary Sue - Hunger Games' Success and What it Means for Female Action Films -http://www.themarysue.com/hunger-games-successful-female-film/

Smithsonian - Female Representation in Film is the Lowest its been in Five Years - http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/05/female-representation-in-film-is-the-lowest-its-been-in-five-years/

News Medical - American Action Films Continue to Portray Female Heroines as Weaker Sex - http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100422/American-action-films-continue-to-portray-female-heroines-as-weaker-sex.aspx

Updated and improved introduction

How far does "The Hunger Games' and 'Salt' challenge the stereotypical representations of women in mainstream Hollywood cinema?

The representations of women in films tend to vary; there are many different genres of films that portray females in diverse circumstances influenced by societies expectations of women, leading to the diverse female characters throughout Hollywood cinema. I will be centering on the action genre and how female protagonists are represented and how it challenges the stereotypical representations in mainstream Hollywood cinema today.  I chose to focus upon this certain genre because female action roles aren't represented as what is thought to be the stereotypical female character that is represented through cinema today. The two texts I will be focusing on within my coursework are 'The Hunger Games' and 'Salt'. Both of these protagonists are represented as a contrastive role opposing the stereotypical representation of females. Firstly I will discuss whether or not the female bodies, within these two texts, are being objectified for the male audience; here I can discuss to what extent Laura Mulvey's theory of The Male Gaze is being used. I will also discuss to what extend the female protagonists rely on men in relation to how independent they are and how they look after themselves compared to how the stereotypical female is represented. Lastly I will discuss how they think and act and their ideologies and whether or not its relevant for today or dated. For my investigation I'll use theories such as Laura Mulvey's, The Male Gaze to discuss how both protagonists are represented in comparison to the stereotypical female. I can also discuss how feminism has an affect on the representations of my two protagonists and how feminism has had an impact on the progression and change based upon the representations of women in cinema today.

Fish Tank

How typical is Fish Tank to its genre?

Fish Tank is a social realist film which focuses around issues that individuals of the underclass face during their everyday life. A typical convention of the social realism genre is the use of unknown actors which is key this genre of film because it makes the film seem more realistic. Fish Tank conforms to this convention as the actress who plays Mia was scouted from a train station while arguing with he boyfriend and she hasn't worked on a project since. Social realism focuses upon real life situations which occur within the underclass society and represent what actually happens to these people and to achieve this social realism films tend to shoot on real locations instead of shooting on sets; by shooting within real settings it contributes to making the film seem as realistic as possible. The same goes for the lighting; natural lighting is always used and studio lighting doesn't tend to be used as it can give a artificial effect which isn't what the social realism genre is about. Technical conventions such as different camera techniques contribute to a social realism film. One camera technique which is frequently used is hand held shots. By using this technique it agains gives a sense of realism which makes the film more believable. A scene where this technique has been used is within the first few minutes of the film where Mia is walking through the estate and the camera is tracking her and it gives the effect that you are walking by her as the camera is hand held which creates this effect. Another scene where there is a hand held camera is the scene where Mia is drunk and Connor puts her to bed. Another technical technique that has been used in this scene is slow motion. The slow motion occurs a lot throughout their film, predominantly whenever Mia and Connor are together in a close environment. This gives a sense of fantasy and escapism as this never occurs on real life, this is the one techniques that doesn't conform to the typical conventions of the social realism genre. 

SALT - Official Trailer

James Bond Clip

Question: List 3 elements from the scene you think prove the statement below is correct.

The James Bond franchise is a clear example of film objectifying females and forcing the audience to view females via the male gaze. The scene with 'Die Another Day' when James Bond meet the character Jinx demonstrates my previous statement by the post production of the filming, by the dialogue and movements and also by the costume and makeup within the scene.

When it comes to the post production within this scene there are lots of different techniques that have been used which contribute towards objectifying females. In the first shot we see in this clip, we see what is happening in the scene through the eyes of James Bond. This has been done by a vignette being placed over the shot because James Bond is looking through a pair of binoculars to view the scene so the vignette gives the effect as if the audience are looking through binoculars too. Another technique is that when she is emerging from the sea they change it into slow motion which makes the camera linger on her body for longer which is objectifying her as the audience are made to look at her for longer. With her being objectified by putting the shot in slow motion will give the male audience pleasure while looking which is known as scopophilia. Also the non diegetic music builds while she emerges from the water and when she jumps up out of the water the music is exagerated.

The dialogue and movement within the clip also contributes towards objectifying females. When she is coming out of the water and he movements have been slowed down and she throws her arms up and and all of her body movement and language has been exagerated to catch the attention of males.

We're the Millers - Official Trailer [HD]

My chosen film trailer to discuss how women are represented through films is 'We're the Millers'. I chose this text because it has two different examples of women shown in the trailer. Both females in this trailer are represented in different ways.

The first female we see in this trailer is Jennifer Aniston's character, Rose, who is a stripper. Immediately we she her character being objectified for the male audience as she is wearing provocative clothing and performing as a stripper. Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze is being used here. This automatically gives us the impression that she is not an intellectual women and that she is probably dumb too. Also she has blonde hair and the stereotypical impression of a blonde haired women is that they are very dumb so this does clarify that her character could be quite dumb. Rose's character does have some of the stereotypical characteristic of what the female role is categorised into. For example a typical women should be in the kitchen cooking and cleaning but in Rose's case she does have a job even if it is being a stripper, but on the other hand she has been objectified as we see her wearing only underwear a lot of the time throughout the trailer.

The second female we come across in the trailer is Emma Roberts character, Casey, who is the complete opposite to Rose's character. Casey seems to be homeless and steals money to supply for herself. Casey's character hasn't been objectified compared to Rose. Casey is the complete opposite to Rose as she has been made to look scruffy and wears a lot of black and wears very heavy black makeup which makes her look quite gothic. Casey is nowhere near the stereotypical female character because from what I interpret from the text is that she is homeless so she has no one to rely on and is independent and has to fend for herself living on the streets so she resorts to stealing money. Later on in the trailer because of the change in situation she is wearing nicer and more colourful clothes, also she isn't wearing as much makeup and looks more presentable. Casey's character is still far from the stereotypical female as she isn't being objectified still.

Laura Mulvey - The Male Gaze.

American Beauty:

In the scene from American Beauty there are various different camera techniques. For example when the dancing clip begins the camera starts to zoom in on the two people in the scene. It starts with long shots and gradually works into close ups. Also while the camera is zooming in the rest of the audience is still watching the dance and the man falls into a dream like state because its just him and the blonde female dancer in the room. The man is also sat high up in the stands looking down on the girl which shows his dominance over her. Once the man is in a dream like state some of the movements of the girl has been slowed down so its in slow motion which is objectifying her as the audience are made to look at her body longer, the slow motion effect has been done in post production. Also the camera focuses on certain parts of her body which is called Fragmentation. By focusing on specific parts of her body it is objectifying her for the audience and especially for the male audience which creates scopophilia for the male audience which creates pleasure from looking. 

Skyfall Analysis

Genre and Narrative Analysis of James Bond - Skyfall.

The first shot we see in this clip is James Bond and who we assume to be the Villain, according to the theory of Propp, walking through a run down area of buildings. We know that James Bond films are very action based and that James Bond is the hero. We know from this little clip that he is the hero by the way he dresses in his black suit and black sunglasses. Also by the way he acts and his dialogue that he is the hero. In this clip there is also a fight sequence which also demonstrates he is the hero because he is killing the bad guys. Before this sequence starts there is a close up of a gun when Silva, who is the villain, tells him to shoot the glass that has been placed on the woman's head. In this section of the clip Bond doesn't shoot the glass and here Silva grabs the gun and shoots the women dead and this clarifies that he is the villain. We can also identify that Silva is the villain by his costume.

My coursework question and first paragraph.

How far does "The Hunger Games' and 'Salt' challenge the stereotypical representations of women in mainstream Hollywood cinema?

The representations of women in films tend to vary; there are many different genres of film which portray females in diverse circumstances influenced by societies expectations of women leading to the diverse female characters throughout Hollywood cinema. I will be focusing on the action genre and how female leads are represented and how it challenges the stereotypical representations in mainstream Hollywood cinema today.  I chose the action genre because female action roles aren't represented as the stereotypical female role. The two texts I will be focusing on within my coursework are 'The Hunger Games' and 'Salt'. The female lead in 'The Hunger Games' is a 16 year old girl called Katniss Everdeen who is sent into The Hunger Games to fight to the death until a lone victor remains. My second text which I am focusing on is 'Salt'. Evelyn Salt, who is the female lead of this film, works for the CIA and gets accused by a defector about being a Russian spy and goes on the run. Both of these roles are very different to the stereotypical female role. First I will discuss whether or not the female body within these two texts are being objectified for the male audience, here I can discuss to what extent Laura Mulvey's theory of The Male Gaze is being used. I will also discuss how much the females rely on men in these two films and how independent they are compared to the stereotypical female. I will also discuss how they think and act compared to the stereotypical female. For my investigation I'll use theories such as Laura Mulvey's, The Male Gaze and also how feminism has an affect on the representations of the two women in my chosen texts.

Describe Niche and Mainstream audiences with specific text examples.

Question: Describe Niche and Mainstream audiences with specific text examples.

Niche: A niche text isn't as popular as a mainstream text. The audience is very narrowed down and is very specific to its target audience. They aren't shown on popular TV channels and are on at odd times such as early hours of the morning.

Mainstream: A mainstream text is very popular and has a large following with very broad target audience. They are shown mainly during prime time television when adults are back from work and children are back from school.

Niche:
A niche text for this question would be Barefoot Contessa. This show is shown on Food Network. This channel has a very specific target audience because the main focus on this channel is cooking and food.

Scheduling/placement
This shown is shown at 1pm and 7pm on weekdays. The programme is played twice during the day so people who don't work at night can watch it in the evening and people who work in the evening can watch it during the day. Its scheduled so everyone who watches the programme get a chance to watch it.

Subject content
As this programme is based all around cooking the main focus is different recipes which are branded really easy and simple to make. Again because this is a cooking programme and has a very specific target audience it's a niche programme.

Audience access

This programme is only shown on the TV and doesn't have a website online to catch up on if they missed the programme, but one advantage is that they show the programme twice during the day to ensure all viewer have a chance to watch the programme. But on the Food Network channel it does have all the recipes that were featured in the show on the website.

Mode of Address

Mainstream:

A mainstream text for this question is Coronation Street. This is a very popular programme and has a broad target audience.

Scheduling/placement

This programme is shown in ITV and is a channel which everyone has. It is shown at 7:30pm so everyone is back from work/school. As this shown has a very broad target audience they show it at a suitable time so that kids and adults can watch it.

Subject content

There are many different story lines which occur during this programme. They is always a drama which happens to keep the audience hooked on the programme.

Audience access

This programme is very easy to watch if the audience missed it. ITV has a website which the viewers can catch up if missed.

Mode of Address

Brief on my Coursework Question

For my A2 Media Coursework my question is going to be based around the female characters of two different films and how they are represented. I was going to compare two films with two different female leads and how they are both represented in different ways. One of my texts will be The Hunger Games with the lead female being Katniss Everdeen played by Jennifer Lawrence and my other text is yet to be decided on.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Trailer 2013

The Hunger Games Trailer 2012