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.