Fonts and Titles

Looking at action film posters online; specifically looking at the types of font they use, they are all very simple with a tendency of not using anything fancy. Linking back to the texts I used for my written study the fonts they have used are very simple without distracting away from the story of the poster. Some posters may use different fonts for different sections of text on a poster; they can use a text just for the title and then have another text for the additional information that is on a poster, such as, actors, directors, editors, and any other credit to people who worked on the project, plus they will usually have a release date or a seasonal release date, for example, Summer 2014.

When I was choosing my fonts I used a website called, dafont, which has a wide variety of different texts. When finding different fonts I had to rule out my personal preference and chose something that I thought fitted what I was doing more than what I liked myself. I came across a few different fonts that I thought would be suitable for my poster. I chose three different texts, two of which can be used for the title and then I chose one that can be used for all the additional information including dates and so on. All three fonts can be used for the posters as they are simplistic and not very fancy but well fitting for the action genre.

Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts.

Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts.

Lost is produced by a popular American production company called ABC. Lost is a mainstream text targeted to a very broad audience due to the ensemble cast used for the text. Throughout the text we see a range of different characters of different ages, gender, ethnicity and backgrounds. Lost aimed to be the first text to appeal to such a large target audience through the use of different characters so it gave everyone someone to relate to. Focusing on part 2 of the pilot, we are introduced to the three main characters, Jack, Kate and Charlie. Each character is different and we get to know more about their past just in this one episode. In the first few scenes of this episode we are given a flashback from Charlie whilst he was on the plane. We come to understand that Jack is quite a shady character as in the sequence on the plane there are close ups of his hands tapping on the arm of the chair signalising his distress, the close up helps to emphasises this. He then locks hisself in the bathroom just as the plane begins to crash. We see more close ups of his face and hands as he fumbles with a small packet of what seems to be some form of drugs. The close ups highlight this and makes the audience wonder why he's addicted to drugs, this then creates an enigma code no leaves the audience wondering why. The cuts are very fast pasted in the sequence which again emphasises his distress. JJ Abrams, the director of the show, is best know for his work on the Star Trek films and is also said to be directing the new Star Wars movie. When directing this episode he has thought carefully about setting up certain enigmas to keep the audience hooked and waiting to find out more. This show was first aired in America where commercials happen about every 10 minutes and Abrams always left an enigma at the end of each section before an commercial break so they would return to find out more. An example of this is the character of Walt,  who is a young boy around 13, is searching for his dog in the forest when he comes across a pair of handcuffs. The camera lingers on Walt as he stares at the handcuffs and the camera gradually get closer to Walt. The score is a very high pitched trailing sound which builds tension as the audience don't yet know what Walt is starring at. The shot then switches to the handcuffs and moves closer as if we are seeing them from Walt's perspective. The enigmas code is solved quickly within this episode as the audience receive a flashback from Kate, who we label as the heroine at first as she is relatable to Lara Croft in appearance and actions, she's wearing little clothing and had the long brown hair like Lara Croft, and we see her on the plane wearing the handcuff which then creates another enigma for the audience to consider; why is she wearing them? 

Mad Men is another American TV show produced by AMC. AMC are also know for produced Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. AMC stands for American Movie Classics as it originally aired only movies. AMC is a niche channel as its a subscription channel and by the year of 2013 is had nearly 97,700,000 subscribers. Mad Men was the first TV show they produced and aired in 2007 and is still on going. This programme is aimed at a niche target audience and is in need of active audience members as this text isn't as generous in giving the entire selection of information. Considering that Mad Men is the first series produced by AMC, it has proved to be successful and popular as it is the only TV Drama to consecutively win an Emmy Award. Throughout the narrative the audience are faced with many different character roles representing the 1960s. During the episode in series 5 called 'The Other Women' there are many different issues that are addressed relating mainly to the women. Don Draper who is the protagonist, is a highly successful businessman working in New York. In the process of this show Megan, who is Don's wife, explains how she wants to advance her acting career. Don does t deal with this well as he believes it is Megan's job to stay at home and wait for him to come home. The second wave of feminism has just begun in the early 1960s and women were fighting for gender equality. This is apparent through this episode. Another character whose see is a victim of gender equality is Joan. Joan is seen as the ideal women representing Marylin Monroe with her looks and figure. Joan is taken advantage of because of her looks and is asked to sleep with someone in order to help the company with a job deal. Peggy is another female character of the narrative who is Don secretary. Peggy is constantly pushed around by Don in this episode and at the end she confesses to Don that she is leaving his company to work with a rival. In the final scene when Peggy tells Don we see Don sat on the couch with Peggy stood over him. This shows the shift in roles as Peggy is seen to be more powerful than Don by towering over him. This shows a development of Peggy's character and can make her relatable for the audience as she is representing women and looking after herself and going after what she wants. We see a progression in the feminism element of the text. This appeals to its audience as it gives an insight to life in the 1960s and the struggles faced by women. It allows women to relate to Peggy, Joan and Megan as they are strong independent women.

Ideas for my Production

For my production part of the coursework I will be producing three film posters. I think I'm going to base them all around the same film title and create three different posters for the same film title. I've had a few ideas as for what I can produce for my posters, my ideas consist of:

• I could photograph a single female lead to represent the protagonist. I really like the layout for the Salt film poster and I was thinking of using that as a template for my own work. I want to keep the colour palette simple; the colours I had in mind to use were black, white and red. The black and white help to keep it simplistic yet adding red into it will make it more intense and eye catching which will help to portray the genre on which I am focusing upon. 
• I was also thinking that I could produce the three posters with three different models as the three protagonists of the film. Again the colour palette would be the same as before because I think that could work well and it would keep the poster simple yet eye catching with the boldness of the colour red in comparison to black and white. 

After looking into more film posters, red and orange seem to be very popular colours for these genre of film. The coloured itself and indicate energy, passion and action which all link well with genre action, once connotation itself being action. The colour orange has connotations of adventure and social communication, these we see a lot through action films. Another the use of the colour orange through actions films is that it associates with fire which is a large motif through action films.

Production Ideas

Due to my research investigation being based upon action films my production section will revolve around action. I can either produce a DVD cover where I will have to produce a front, back and spine to it or I can produce an advertisement which shall be a layout for a billboard as an example.

Film Posters that I can look at:

• Salt - Salt was one of my texts for the Research Investigation so I've learnt a lot about the film. Looking at the movie poster that advertised this movie it is very simple but eye catching and effective. The colour palette that has been used is very simple with the most common colour being black. They have used a close up of Angelina Jolie's face which gives a very intense feel as she is looking directly at the viewer. The title of the film is in a simplistic font that is placed over the subjects face. By keeping it simple is allows the subject to still be the focal point of the image as it frames her eyes which are very intense. 

• The Hunger Games - The Hunger Games was my other text for my Research Investigation so I've researched a lot about it. There were many different posters created for the advertisement of the film and referring to the selection of posters, fire was a key element of the posters, this refers back to the film as Katniss is labelled as the 'Girl on Fire' throughout the film and is a key recognition symbol of Katniss. Looking at one specific poster there are a selection of different still elements from scenes of the film. For the bigger picture we see the what the location of the Tributes Parade, toward the beginning of the film, you can see the stands with the audience watching and the television screens which show the tributes but on this poster there are stills of Katniss and Peeta during training. Katniss is then stood in the centre of the poster with her back facing the viewer and she is wearing the outfit we see when they are in the arena. All these different elements from the film are all key aspects of Katniss' character which develops through the film and we are presented these purposefully to understand Katniss as a character.

As both of my texts used for my written study both used females I will be using females for my production piece to help link back to the first piece of work. When producing my three posters I shall be using the same film title that I've thought up and shall be developing three different interpretations of the film title.

My Research Investigation

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

The representation of women in films tends to vary; there are many different genres of films that portray females in diverse circumstances influenced by society’s expectations of women, leading to the diverse female characters throughout Hollywood cinema. I will be investigating the action genre and how female protagonists are represented and how they may challenge stereotypical representations in mainstream Hollywood cinema today.  The stereotypical female role that is often represented through cinema today "The film industry never seems to lack action films and there always plenty for the market to choose from however how many of those have women in a leading role? A handful" (5). I will be focusing on 'The Hunger Games' (1) and 'Salt' (2) where both of these protagonists are represented as a contrastive role, opposing and challenging 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 The Male Gaze can be applied. Secondly I will discuss to what extent the female protagonists rely on men in relation to how independent they are in comparison to how the stereotypical female is represented, I can also discuss whether or not they have been given male characteristics in order to represent them as a strong, independent characters and how this isn't stereotypical feminine. I can discuss how feminism has an effect on the representations of my two protagonists and base it upon the representations of women in cinema today. Lastly I will discuss their ideologies in relation to their actions on screen.

In films women don’t tend to be portrayed as strong, independent women “male characters are much more likely than females to be portrayed as leaders” (10) but instead "women are regarded as objects of fetishistic display for male viewers' pleasure." (3). But "for the past five decades, the action genre has undergone a similar but less remarked-upon shift, as female characters have slowly but steadily evolved beyond the universal 'hostages, victim, or conquest' archetype and became the heroines of their own action sagas". (4) My first case study The Hunger Games represents the female protagonist, Katniss, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence, as the opposite of what is expected of the stereotypical female role "Katniss has qualities usually given to boys: a hunter ... she's intrepid and tough, better at killing rabbits than expressing her feelings, a skilled bargainer in the black market for meat." (6). It's already been established that Katniss isn't a glamourised, stereotypical female character and taking into account Laura Mulvey's theory The Male Gaze, isn’t apparent in this film to the extent it is in the majority of mainstream Hollywood cinema due to the slight objectification of the female body. "Fundamentally, a women presented in the screen scene should be very erotic, so that she attracts the spectator's attention" (3), The Hunger Games opposes this as the narrative consists of 24 tributes, 12 boys and 12 girls aged between 12 and 18 selected to go and fight to the death on live television resulting in subverting to the stereotypical female role due to the fact women aren’t regarded as being violent or killers. Through the narrative of the film Katniss is made to look desirable not only for the audience of the film but for the people of the Capitol within the film. “Her prep team waxes, plucks, and scrubs her. Her designer, Cinna, dresses her in fire and precious gems to make her as beautiful as possible” (12) and this exploits her femininity. In one of the opening scenes of the film we see Katniss is having a bath before the reaping; even here she isn't being objectified as the camera only focuses on her hands and feet while she cleans, the shots are cut back and forth quickly and the frames of her hands and feet are close ups which is the highlight the living conditions in District 12. We see that the bath she is sat in is only just big enough for her to sit down, along with this there is a bucket to gather water to pour over her. Before this sequence there was non-diegetic music playing and once this sequence starts the music stops and there is only the diegetic sounds of the water in the bath which helps to highlight the reality of the situation. Salt, my second case study, represents its female protagonist, Evelyn Salt, as a strong female role stated she’s “determined to singlehandedly save the world from nuclear annihilation” (8). Instantly we get to understand that Evelyn Salt challenges the stereotypical feminine representation. When it comes to objectification in Salt there is more in consideration to The Hunger Games but there still isn’t an excessive amount, and the objectification that is existent, it’s subtle. Throughout the majority of the movie “she is dressed in turtlenecks and long pants. She is dirty and bloody” (11) which isn’t considered to be sexy or feminine. In the few opening scenes when Evelyn is going to work we see her wearing a tailored outfit and a pair of heels, contributing to the mise-en-scene, that exposes her leg due to there being a slit up the side of her skirt. Here this is revealing a lot of her leg which attracts the attention of the male audience and creates scopophilia. Throughout this scene there is no fragmentation of the female body which goes against the male gaze so this challenges mainstream Hollywood representations of women. The camera shots are paced quite slowly which keeps it realistic to the audience.

In mainstream Hollywood cinema today we don't see many strong female leads representing the female population; “over 50 percent of female teens on screen in 2012 were shown in sexy clothing. So were nearly 40 percent of women between 21 and 39” (7). The Hunger Games and Salt both challenge the stereotypical representation of women in film today by presenting their protagonists as strong, independent women. Adding to the fact both females are strong and independent they don't rely on men a lot during the film, which again challenges a stereotype of women being reliant on men and weak. We see in The Hunger Games especially, once Katniss enters the arena she is left to fend for herself and needs to try and survive. We know from the beginning of the film that Katniss is the protector and supplier for her family as she no longer has a dad and this helps represent her independence and strength. There’s a scene nearing the end of the film when there is an announcement made that two victors may be crowned if they originate from the same district. We see close ups of Katniss’ face when she realizes both her a Peeta can go home, the purpose of the close ups show her facial expressions clearly. Also some non-diegetic music starts which builds hope for the audience. The non-diegetic music builds up which signifies Katniss could be close to Peeta and once she’s found him the music cuts of and it goes back to the diegetic sounds. More music then plays softly in the back ground which contributes to the intimate moment where Katniss is recovering Peeta from his camouflage. There’s more close ups which highlight the situation and helps to focus on the connection of the two characters. This challenges the stereotypical representation of women as it is normally the male’s job to look after and protect the female but in this scene the roles have been reversed. In Salt, Evelyn is generally seen alone as she is trying to avoid contact with individuals after the accusation made at the beginning of the film. So throughout the majority of the film we see Evelyn fighting for herself. Evelyn has made her way home and we start to see her become more independent. When she realizes her husband isn’t at home there are close ups of the chair fallen over on the floor and a half eaten sandwich which indicated a possible abduction. After this there is then fast cut close ups of a gun and a big rucksack which is to help Salt once she’s ran away. When she entered her house she picked up a big trench coat and puts it on. We usually associate trench coats with males from the film noir era which also signifies a hero and this leads us to the idea of her been given male characteristics in order to be seen as a heroic character as it isn’t seen as a feminine trait. There is also non-diegetic music playing which adds to the tension of the scene because we know people are already coming after Salt. This contributes to Salt’s strength and independence as we are seeing her prepare for what is ahead of her in the future and how she’s got to fend for herself. “Feminism is a social movement that has had an enormous impact on film theory and criticism” (14). Feminism hasn’t just effected the representation of women in film but also the role of women in the film industry “women still earn less than men in movies and it is still difficult to name more than a handful of female film directors” (15). What needs to be considered when analyzing objectification in any film is how the female role is portrayed, especially for the male audience. We have to consider their wardrobe, their actions and how the camera focuses on them. We know from both of my texts that both protagonists don’t wear revealing clothing immensely and the camera doesn’t linger on specific body parts vastly,  “Feminism … used to describe the whole series of ways in which women are degraded and undetermined, primarily by men” (15).  The Bechdel test is a theory that can also determine to representation of women in film. It’s “a simple way to gauge the active presence of female characters in Hollywood films” (13). What the Bechdel test stands for is whether or not two female characters within a film have a conversation which doesn’t revolve around the subject of men. Firstly, The Hunger Games is a very good example of this theory as hardly any conversations between two female’s centers around the subject of men. This gives a positive representation of women as it shows that women don’t always have to be discussing men. On the other hand, Salt would fail the Bechdel Test. This is only because throughout the whole film Evelyn Salt doesn’t have contact with any other female characters of the film; this is because there aren’t really any other female characters that she can converse with.

“Ideology is sometimes identified as a body of ideas reflecting the social needs of an individual, group, class, and culture” (16). From both of my texts we gain an understanding that both protagonists have their own set of ideologies that are reflected through their actions. Katniss is a very heroic character and is set on looking after not only herself but also the people around her, “She plays mother to her sister. She plays mother to her mother.” (17). When Katniss is in the arena she comes together with a small girl from District 11 called Rue. Katniss is set on keeping Rue safe as she reminds her of her own younger sister Prim who Katniss volunteered for at the beginning of the film, these actions contribute to the representation of Katniss’ ideologies. We also see this when Katniss is looking after Peeta in the arena when he is recovering from his injury. There is a specific scene which I think shows her consideration for other people which again represents her ideologies. Twenty minutes towards the end of the film when Peeta has recovered a significant amount that they can start hunting for food. Peeta then goes to collect some berries so they have some food for the day. Not long after, a cannon fires which signifies the death of a tribute; there are quickly cut shots of Katniss running through the trees trying to find Peeta and the fast pace represents urgency and worry. There is the diegetic sound of rustling trees and panting as Katniss races through which makes it seem more realistic for the audience. When reunited there’s a close up of Katniss and Peeta and a quick cut to some berries in Peeta’s hand that Katniss sharply throws away which shows her dominance over Peeta. When it comes to Katniss’ feelings for Peeta she “is left never really knowing the “truth” of her own feelings for Peeta” (18) but in this scene its evident there is some feelings there due to her actions and ideologies. It is very prominent that Katniss cares a lot about the people she values and is set on keeping them safe. Katniss’ ideologies are very relevant to society today as people value their loved ones.  Salt is different when it comes to Evelyn’s ideologies. We see two different sides of Salt in this movie. At first we think she is this Russian spy she was accused of being but as the film progresses we understand that what she is doing is for the greater good, she’s “determined to singlehandedly save the world from nuclear annihilation” (8). The aim to save the world is a way of representing her ideologies. An example of this is when she is reunited with the Russian defect. Later in the scene we see Evelyn and the Russian defect having a drink together when Evelyn suddenly smashes the bottle of drink over his head. When doing this there is a close up of the bottle strikes his head, there is non-diegetic music which builds up to this and adds tension to the scene. After smashing the bottle she repeatedly stabs him in the throat with the shard glass. The camera is hand held and moves in time with Salt. The cut is quickly paced which build up the tension of the sequence. A few seconds later we see her with three grenades and a gun. This sequence has been edited into slow motion which emphasizes her actions while tossing the grenades into rooms and firing the gun. Just before she throws the grenades there is a low angled shot of Salt as she is walking through the corridor and this connotates dominance and power that she holds. There is a mix and non-diegetic music which is very dramatic and there is the diegetic sounds of the grenades exploding and the gun firing which gives a realistic feel to the scene. This scene helps us to understand that Evelyn wants to save the world and by doing so she might have to get her hands dirty and kill a few people to save the world.

Through my investigation by analyzing certain scenes within the films as my primary research, conducting secondary research and applying theories that Katniss Everdeen and Evelyn Salt challenge the stereotypical representation of women in film to a certain degree but also represent women to be strong and independent. Especially in the action genre of film there aren’t many roles comparable to Katniss and Evelyn to help represent the women of society and they are both respectable roles models for today’s generation of teenagers. By discussing the Male Gaze we know that women don’t always have to be objectified on screen to be noticed by the audience and are to some degree good role models for girls today because they aren’t being objectified for the male attention.

         1) The Hunger Games

         2) Salt

3)http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nmtG3KRr4aUC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=laura+mulvey+male+gaze&source=bl&ots=gbjO4zC0lL&sig=qVbUPVifP9_mx7H1LB8Q5QS-jTI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OZBqUqHGIanB0gWRqID4Bw&ved=0CKEBEOgBMA4#v=onepage&q=laura%20mulvey%20male%20gaze&f=false

4) http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/01/the-rise-of-the-female-led-action-film/251678/

5) www.studymode.com/essays/Representations-Of-Women-In-Action-Films-1535286.html

6) www.thenation.com/article/167182/hunger-games-feral-feminism#

7) http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/05/female-representation-in-film-is-the-lowest-its-been-in-five-years/  

8) http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/salt-2010

9) http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=135121

10) http://www.wif.org/images/repository/pdf/other/2011-its-a-mans-world-exec-summ.pdf

11) http://www.almindelig.com/2004/03/film-review-salt.html

12) http://huskiesinwonderland.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/exploitation-of-femininity-in-the-hunger-games/

13) http://www.feministfrequency.com/2009/12/the-bechdel-test-for-women-in-movies/

14) http://www.annekesmelik.nl/TheCinemaBook.pdf

15) Andrew Butler – Film Studies

16) http://public.wsu.edu/~hughesc/film_and_ideology.htm

17) http://www.popmatters.com/feature/171738-dr-caligaris-hunger-games/ 

18) http://senseshaper.com/whats-in-a-pin-hollywood-revisions-and-the-ideological-power-of-the-hunger-games/

  

Word Count: 2,228

Question: 'Most media texts target a range of different audiences.' How true is this for your chosen texts?

Question: 'Most media texts target a range of different audiences.' How true is this for your chosen texts?

Lost is a prime example of a mainstream text. J.J. Abrams directed the text and wanted to gratify the widest audience possible. In doing so Abrams carefully constructed the text by using a selection of different conventions.

To achieve the widest target audience possible Abrams used a very diverse ensemble of cast. The purpose of this diverse cast meant it would attract different viewers from different races, gender, age and nationality as the cast contains people of multiple different back grounds. By using this varied ensemble cast it gives people someone to identify with which contributes to expanding the audience. Along with the ensemble cast comes multiple different narrative issues which the audience can identify with too. An example can be seen in the character of Jack. Jack is one of the main characters of the plot and is labeled as the hero. Jack seems to be a man in his 30s and his occupation being a doctor. We also see different relationships displayed, one of which being a father/son relationship. This again can be relatable to a proportion of the audience.

Another convention which is applied to this text in order to attract a wide target audience is enigma codes. The audience receive many different enigmas through this single episode, some of which are revealed in this episode.

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.