- Analyse your film opening with regards to genre.
The media production that I am going to write about in relation to genre is my AS film opening. My film opening consisted of an old woman who had lost her husband and was reminiscing about the time she spent with him. My chosen genre for my film opening that I created was romance. In order for my film opening to be successful, I had to ensure that codes and conventions were met. The most common codes and conventions that the romance genre contain are: voiceovers, slow music, affection/love, tragedy, relationships, two main characters and routines/day to day life of the character(s). In terms of my film opening, I think that I conformed with these codes and conventions in order for my media production to be easily identifiable in terms of genre. My film opening indicated that the main character's husband had passed away and this therefore demonstrated that there had be a tragedy in her life. My film opening also showed the audience how my main character lives and that she had a relationship with the man in the opening. This was helped by a flashback.
The one that I challenged the most was the two main characters convention. I had one main character and her husband who was seen in just the flashback. Although she was the singular main character within my film opening, his role would've developed further if I were to create the entire film - not just the opening. I think that putting my main character in her own home made it more easy for her to act naturally and therefore she gave a better performance. It also helped the audience to see that she lived in that house. I think that the narration/voiceover was the most important part of my media production and helped the audience to establish the genre of my film opening. The tone/speed of her voice and the words that she spoke informed the targeted audience what the genre was. By speaking about life and time, she created a self-reflection from the audience and created questions for the audience to ask themselves. This is something that is common within romance films because they are usually life relatable. Having my actress speak slower and use a lower tone created a sad atmosphere and therefore related to the romance genre. I think that having a voiceover playing over soft music also set the entire mood for the film opening. Romance films tend to have a soft piece of music because it helps to lay the foundation for both the story and the genre.
In terms of genre, Steve Neale (1980) stated that 'difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre'. This supported my chosen genre of film opening because I did a genre that was different to those around me and I also used conventions that would not be found in other genres to ensure that my genre was easily recognisable. This demonstrated that different was really important in terms of distinguishing my genre from any other type of genre.
Another theorist that can helped to support to film opening in terms of genre was Nick Lacey. Lacy stated considered the 'repertoire of elements' in relation to: setting, character, narrative, iconography and style. As previously spoken, the setting I used informed the audience that the main character lived there due to the homeliness that was felt by her. The character's facial expressions and body movement/language allowed for the audience to tell that she was emotional and missing her husband (who had passed away). Sad emotions/being emotional is often associated with the romance genre because the target audience is female. The narration/voiceover which I have previously wrote about demonstrates that the genre is romance due to the speed/tone and wording of the narration. The iconography of my film opening gave away small hints that the genre was romance - the use of old photographs gave a sense of 'missing someone' which is an emotional connection. The flashback also gave a visual indication that the film opening was romance because flashbacks occur most in this type of genre. Finally, the style of the film opening helped to hint the genre that it was. This was due to the fact that the camera angles and editing was characteristic of a romance genre. The camera angles helped to see the behaviour of the old woman and also the wording on the titles was suitable for romance because it wasn't too 'in your face' and complimented the overall media production well.
The one that I challenged the most was the two main characters convention. I had one main character and her husband who was seen in just the flashback. Although she was the singular main character within my film opening, his role would've developed further if I were to create the entire film - not just the opening. I think that putting my main character in her own home made it more easy for her to act naturally and therefore she gave a better performance. It also helped the audience to see that she lived in that house. I think that the narration/voiceover was the most important part of my media production and helped the audience to establish the genre of my film opening. The tone/speed of her voice and the words that she spoke informed the targeted audience what the genre was. By speaking about life and time, she created a self-reflection from the audience and created questions for the audience to ask themselves. This is something that is common within romance films because they are usually life relatable. Having my actress speak slower and use a lower tone created a sad atmosphere and therefore related to the romance genre. I think that having a voiceover playing over soft music also set the entire mood for the film opening. Romance films tend to have a soft piece of music because it helps to lay the foundation for both the story and the genre.
In terms of genre, Steve Neale (1980) stated that 'difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre'. This supported my chosen genre of film opening because I did a genre that was different to those around me and I also used conventions that would not be found in other genres to ensure that my genre was easily recognisable. This demonstrated that different was really important in terms of distinguishing my genre from any other type of genre.
Another theorist that can helped to support to film opening in terms of genre was Nick Lacey. Lacy stated considered the 'repertoire of elements' in relation to: setting, character, narrative, iconography and style. As previously spoken, the setting I used informed the audience that the main character lived there due to the homeliness that was felt by her. The character's facial expressions and body movement/language allowed for the audience to tell that she was emotional and missing her husband (who had passed away). Sad emotions/being emotional is often associated with the romance genre because the target audience is female. The narration/voiceover which I have previously wrote about demonstrates that the genre is romance due to the speed/tone and wording of the narration. The iconography of my film opening gave away small hints that the genre was romance - the use of old photographs gave a sense of 'missing someone' which is an emotional connection. The flashback also gave a visual indication that the film opening was romance because flashbacks occur most in this type of genre. Finally, the style of the film opening helped to hint the genre that it was. This was due to the fact that the camera angles and editing was characteristic of a romance genre. The camera angles helped to see the behaviour of the old woman and also the wording on the titles was suitable for romance because it wasn't too 'in your face' and complimented the overall media production well.
- 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.
Women are represented in media as purely entertainment for the male audience. Women are not often shown for their capabilities or how intelligent they are - but instead they're purely represented as being only shown for their figures and their appearances. This is called 'male gaze' which is where middle aged men create media specifically for the male audience in order to entertain them.
A huge example of this would be Robin Thicke's 'blurred lines'. There are two separate music videos for this song and the only difference between the two videos is the amount of clothing that the models wear. Within the less explicit music video, the models appear to be wearing minimal clothing. The women wear crop tops and tight clothing in order to appeal to the male audience. This therefore encourages the amount of sales to increase because of the way in which they are being represented. The second music video is more explicit and the models can be seen to be wearing nothing but thongs. This music video uses the female figure/body parts in order to attract the attention of the audience and to therefore 'entertain them'. Due to the fact that society is used to women showing off their bodies because of the media, it therefore isn't seen as controversial and is seen to be the dominant ideology. Due to the fact that women are used for their bodies rather than their personalities, it can change the way in which women view themselves. This is known as self representation.
The individuals who watch music videos like this then feel like they're only important for their bodies and therefore try hard to have the 'perfect body'. This dominant ideology also encourages women to have lower self esteem and confidence if they cannot obtain bodies/figures like those who are in the media. This can link to the theorist Dyer who stated that '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 links to self representation in terms of how we see people and how it changes our own perceptions about ourselves from the way we see women in the media. Another way this quote links to women is how men treat them. If men see woman in the media purely as sex objects and objectification then they are more likely to treat every woman like this which is not the correct way in which men should behave towards women - but because they see it in the media, they think it is only natural to do so.
An old film 'Brief Encounter' (1945) demonstrates that in the old days, women were not used for the figures/appearances and therefore were there more for their personalities. This film showed the audience that women behaviour and appearances within the media have changed dramatically from the time of this film to society nowadays in terms of how much respect they have for themselves and how much flesh they show off. Although this has changed a lot since the earlier days, women were still seen in a negative light even back then. In this film, the main female character is shown to have a husband and children yet begins to have an affair with someone she meets in the train station. This is similar in terms of the negative way in which women are shown in the media. They were shown as cheats and dirty in this film and nowadays they're shown as only important for their bodies which also has a negative impact on the way women see themselves and also the way other people view them. The theorist linked to this film is Barthes who argued that representations are mythic in the sense they have an appearance of being natural. Within this film the women are seen as the worriers and are seen as being less powerful than the men. Due to the fact that it is similar in terms of today's society, we just conform with these representations because we think that they are natural.
Although previously I have discussed women as being represented as both emotional and only for their bodies, a film that challenges the representation of women is the film 'Sket'. 'Sket' is a film that is based in the UK. The women in the opening scene of this film appear to be shouting abuse and kicking a victim who is on the floor. This is the complete opposite of common representations of women and therefore draws your attention to it. Although we see a huge change in the way that women are in the media, we also see the traditional way they are within the same film. This is due to the fact that the victim in which the group of women are abusing is also female. This demonstrates the stereotypical behaviour of women who are commonly seen as reserved and weak. The fact that the group of women have been represented as violent and rude challenges the common representation and therefore encourages women to be more defensive and violent towards their own sex. I think that although it is good that the representation of women isn't focused on their bodies, it is still a negative representation and therefore also affects how women see themselves (self- representation) and how they act/treat others.
Although we often see the male gaze within the media, we also allow for women to show how they see themselves and how they should be represented within the media. A good self representation is the parody of Robin Thicke's 'blurred lines'. This parody was created by three women who didn't appreciate the level of sexism and representation of the women within 'blurred lines'. The women use men as sex objects as opposed to the other way around in the official music video. This contradicts the representation of women massively and therefore encourages women to not conform with the way the media represents them. The fact that the parody was created by three women who were not happy with how they were being represented is good because it helps to show women that it's okay to be different and that it's okay to love yourself and to not want care what other people think/not to care about how other people view women. Although this doesn't conform with the representation it demonstrates that not everyone agrees with the dominant ideology and will try to challenge it whenever possible. This music video was very controversial because it wasn't seen as normal by the majority of society and was therefore an ideology.
A huge example of this would be Robin Thicke's 'blurred lines'. There are two separate music videos for this song and the only difference between the two videos is the amount of clothing that the models wear. Within the less explicit music video, the models appear to be wearing minimal clothing. The women wear crop tops and tight clothing in order to appeal to the male audience. This therefore encourages the amount of sales to increase because of the way in which they are being represented. The second music video is more explicit and the models can be seen to be wearing nothing but thongs. This music video uses the female figure/body parts in order to attract the attention of the audience and to therefore 'entertain them'. Due to the fact that society is used to women showing off their bodies because of the media, it therefore isn't seen as controversial and is seen to be the dominant ideology. Due to the fact that women are used for their bodies rather than their personalities, it can change the way in which women view themselves. This is known as self representation.
The individuals who watch music videos like this then feel like they're only important for their bodies and therefore try hard to have the 'perfect body'. This dominant ideology also encourages women to have lower self esteem and confidence if they cannot obtain bodies/figures like those who are in the media. This can link to the theorist Dyer who stated that '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 links to self representation in terms of how we see people and how it changes our own perceptions about ourselves from the way we see women in the media. Another way this quote links to women is how men treat them. If men see woman in the media purely as sex objects and objectification then they are more likely to treat every woman like this which is not the correct way in which men should behave towards women - but because they see it in the media, they think it is only natural to do so.
An old film 'Brief Encounter' (1945) demonstrates that in the old days, women were not used for the figures/appearances and therefore were there more for their personalities. This film showed the audience that women behaviour and appearances within the media have changed dramatically from the time of this film to society nowadays in terms of how much respect they have for themselves and how much flesh they show off. Although this has changed a lot since the earlier days, women were still seen in a negative light even back then. In this film, the main female character is shown to have a husband and children yet begins to have an affair with someone she meets in the train station. This is similar in terms of the negative way in which women are shown in the media. They were shown as cheats and dirty in this film and nowadays they're shown as only important for their bodies which also has a negative impact on the way women see themselves and also the way other people view them. The theorist linked to this film is Barthes who argued that representations are mythic in the sense they have an appearance of being natural. Within this film the women are seen as the worriers and are seen as being less powerful than the men. Due to the fact that it is similar in terms of today's society, we just conform with these representations because we think that they are natural.
Although previously I have discussed women as being represented as both emotional and only for their bodies, a film that challenges the representation of women is the film 'Sket'. 'Sket' is a film that is based in the UK. The women in the opening scene of this film appear to be shouting abuse and kicking a victim who is on the floor. This is the complete opposite of common representations of women and therefore draws your attention to it. Although we see a huge change in the way that women are in the media, we also see the traditional way they are within the same film. This is due to the fact that the victim in which the group of women are abusing is also female. This demonstrates the stereotypical behaviour of women who are commonly seen as reserved and weak. The fact that the group of women have been represented as violent and rude challenges the common representation and therefore encourages women to be more defensive and violent towards their own sex. I think that although it is good that the representation of women isn't focused on their bodies, it is still a negative representation and therefore also affects how women see themselves (self- representation) and how they act/treat others.
Although we often see the male gaze within the media, we also allow for women to show how they see themselves and how they should be represented within the media. A good self representation is the parody of Robin Thicke's 'blurred lines'. This parody was created by three women who didn't appreciate the level of sexism and representation of the women within 'blurred lines'. The women use men as sex objects as opposed to the other way around in the official music video. This contradicts the representation of women massively and therefore encourages women to not conform with the way the media represents them. The fact that the parody was created by three women who were not happy with how they were being represented is good because it helps to show women that it's okay to be different and that it's okay to love yourself and to not want care what other people think/not to care about how other people view women. Although this doesn't conform with the representation it demonstrates that not everyone agrees with the dominant ideology and will try to challenge it whenever possible. This music video was very controversial because it wasn't seen as normal by the majority of society and was therefore an ideology.
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