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