Luther: Representation of Gender

Luther: Representation of Gender

In this clip, gender is represented is several different ways but overall, there is strong binary opposition, throughout the whole thing, representing gender and males stereotypically being more superior than women. However, throughout the whole clip Alice doesn't show many signs of being intimidated by Luther despite the topic they are talking about and in fact, shows a little dominance towards him at some points.

At one point in the clip, a point of view shot is used and due to the conversation being between a male and female, you would expect the angle of the camera to be tilted slightly, looking down at Alice. However, it is un-stereotypical as the camera height is the same, this shows us that Alice and Luther have equal dominance. This is unusual as often, with TV shows and films represent women as weak and not being able to stand up for themselves, they need protecting but Alice doesn't go by these stereotypes.

Sound bridges are used when Luther and Alice are having a quite fast-paced conversation I the apartment. This is so we can she Luther saying quite offensive Things to Alice about love and how shell never understand it and we as an audience would expect her to portray the offence taken on her face and like every other stereotypical woman, cry or sulk but instead she shows no emotion standing still with good posture, looking tough.

Shallow focus is used when we are first introduced to the characters, this is so that the audience can clearly see that Alice and Luther, the only people in the frame, are the main focus in this scene. The non-diegetic sound of music isn’t actually used until further into the clip, which helps the audience understand that there shouldn’t be any distractions from the conversation happening at this point and it is clearly quite is important. Another way this could be shown is the actions of both characters, Alice has a very mysterious, flirty; almost quite lustful way of looking at Luther and he has a very serious, business-like way of looking back at her. This is odd as usually, stereotypically, men should be the more suggestive gender and women are used for sexual activities but in this situation, we see gender reversal as Alice is coming on to Luther and he is trying to pull away and focus on the conversation.

It is clear that Alice is wearing makeup, this might suggest that she might suggest that she wants her appearance to seem more pulled together or maybe even attractive to Luther. The representation of women is that they need to be attractive to men. In order to be like this, they wear makeup and do their hair nicely, Alice fits this stereotype as she has done both of these. However, even though she does fit this stereotype, in her apartment you can see she owns a lot of books and has some science-related items dotted around the place. This suggests that she is intelligent, when stereotypically women are seen as dumb and naïve yet Alice seems to know what she’s talking about and how to stick up for herself.

As the conversation continues, the dialogue between Alice and Luther becomes more fast-paced and is shot in shot-reverse-shots. This shows that both of the characters are tense and so they have quicker responses, firing statements at each other to prove who is right, but in the end Alice has the last say. So overall, in this clip, Alice is sexualised and Luther is the more dominant gender. However, Alice seems to be intelligent and Luther appears to not respond to her suggestive actions. This shows that in some ways, the characters apply to their gender stereotypes but in others, they are the exact opposite of what they ‘should’ be.

50 Questions About Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Who owns Lucasfilm?

The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Studios


Who formed Lucasfilm?

George Lucas


What year was Lucasfilm formed?

1971


Who is the president of Lucasfilm?

Kathleen Kennedy


What other major films have they worked on?

Indiana Jones and all of the other Star Wars films


How much was Lucasfilm sold for?

$4.05 billion


Who wrote Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

Lawrence Kasdan, J.J Abrams and Michael Arndt


Who directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

J.J. Abrams

 
What other major films is the director responsible for?

Star Trek



How many Star Wars films have there been so far (list them)?

There have been seven Star Wars films so far.

Original Trilogy:

•IV - A New Hope

•V - The Empire Strikes Back

•VI - Return of the Jedi


Prequel Trilogy:

•I - The Phantom Menace

•II - Attack of the Clones

•III - Revenge of the Sith

Sequel Trilogy

•VII - The Force Awakens


How much money have they all made at the global box office?

$6,479,600,000



When was the first Star Wars film released?

1977



What does ILM stand for?

Industrial Light and Magic


What do ILM do?

Create computer graphics for film. They are sent scenes from studios for CG.


Who created ILM?

George Lucas


Why did they create ILM?

Lucas created it when production began on the first Star Wars film. He wanted the film to have visual effects that had never been seen before so he created a company that could do that for him.


What do casting directors do?

Casting Directors organise and select the cast for a film. They will host interviews and auditions with actors narrowing down the numbers as they go along and issuing call-backs to people that stand out until they find the people perfect for the roles. After this they will negotiate money and contracts with the actors they have chosen.

 
Where were the first scenes for Star Wars: The Force Awakens filmed?

Abu Dhabi

 
What format was Star Wars: The Force Awakens shot on?

IMAX

 
What types of camera were used to film Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

35mm standard stock and 65mm IMAX cameras


What studio was used to film a large portion of the film?

Pinewood Studios


Where is the studio?

Buckinghamshire, England

 
What major franchise is famously filmed at this studio?

James Bond


 
How does said franchise link to Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

Both of them are a series of films that have been around for years and years developing a huge fan base. As a result of this they both have certain qualities that they have to live up to in order to keep fans interested. Both films also switch out characters and actors however unlike James Bond, the Star Wars franchise always keep the original actors in the in their previous roles only adding new actors to new roles. In the same way that boys wanted to be Luke Skywalker or Han Solo and now they possibly want to be Finn or girls that wanted to be Princess Leia now want to be Rey, boys want to be like James Bond. Both franchises have managed to create characters that the audience look up to and want to be like, they continue watching the films because they have grown up with the characters and the storyline and want to see what will happen next. They are both the same in the fact that even if you have never seen a James Bond film or a Star Wars film you have heard of it, just proving how successful both of the franchises are. Daniel Craig also had a cameo in The Force Awakens as one of the storm troopers.


Who was the inspiration for the character Maz Kanata?

J.J. Abrams High School English teacher Rose Gilbert.


What technology was used to create Maz Kanata?

They decided to go for a CG (Computer Graphics) approach for the character as a way of allowing Lupita Nyong'o's performance and small facial expressions and gestures to come through in her character. For her character they used the Medusa facial capture rig capturing facial details and movements in really intricate detail. This allowed them to also capture the facial movement she made when moving into a certain expression, tracking movement of individual pores and wrinkles in the skin. Nyong'o had to have tracking dots all over her face and had a lightweight four-camera head rig as a way of fully capturing her performance on set.

 
Who played Maz Kanata & what other roles is she famous for?

Lupita Nyong'o. Possibly her most famous role was in '12 Years a Slave' as Patsey winning an Academy Award for her acting. She has also been in 'The Jungle Book' as Raksha and in the action film 'Non-Stop' alongside Liam Neeson playing the character Gwen.



Who played General Snoke

Andy Serkis

 
What is he renowned for in the movie business?

He has acted in 'The Lord of the Rings', 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey', 'The Jungle Book', 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'.


Where was the final scene filmed?

Filmed at Skellig Michel, an island located off the coast of Ireland.


Who composed the film score?

John Williams


How many Star wars films has he composed the music for?

All of the seven films and is set to do the same for the next two films in the sequel trilogy.

 
What other famous films has he created the music for?

Spiderman, Harry Potter, ET, Indiana Jones, Jaws


How many times did John Boyega audition for the film (according to JJ Abrams)?

9



Over what period of time did these auditions occur?

7 months


How many people operated B-B8?

One person operated him when using the puppetry technique but two people when controlling him with a remote.

 

What type of technology was the main version of B-B8?

The body of BB-8 is a sphere with a wheeled mechanism inside it . The floating head is achieved using magnets, some of them repel and some of them attract. The magnetic attraction keeps the head and the body close together while the repulsion prevents the head from being in direct contact with the body.In the terms of controlling him they used puppetry for some of the scenes and remote controls for others.

 

What colour suit did the B-B8 operator wear?

Green

 

What did he have to wear such a suit?

To create the same effect that a green screen would have, it would be easier to edit him out and to project the background image on to where he was to make it appear as though the droid was operating by itself.

 

What type of special effects (SFX) were employed on Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

Abrams wanted to stay authentic to the original Star Wars trilogy as he thought the prequels were flawed as a result of their over-usage of CG. He shot as much of the film as possible in camera, building extensive set and large models to minimise the use of CG. They used matte paintings instead of green screen technology and created flat force perspective paintings to make corridors and hallways appear longer. They were practical and physical whenever possible meaning that not an extensive amount of special effects were used in the film, especially compared to the prequels. There is still a lot of CGI used as it is impossible to avoid because of the setting and genre of the film, with the visual effects supervisor confirming that about 2,100 f the 2,500 shots contained some form of CGI. These were either used for explosions, droids, space battles, characters or the galaxy itself.

 

How many people were behind the monitor watching the scene when Han and Chewie returned to the Millennium Falcon?

About 200

 

Why was Simon Pegg thanked in the credits for Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

He played the part of Unkar Plutt, the junk dealer in Jakku. However, he was in costume so his face is never seen in the film.

 

J.J. Abrams shot part of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in IMAX. What is IMAX?

A technique of cinematography which produces an image that is about ten times bigger than standard 35mm film.

 
How many IMAX screens was the film available on?

29

 

What was the age rating of the film in the UK?

12A

 

How much money did the UK government contribute to the production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

They covered 15% of all production costs, contributing about £31.6 million.

 

How much was Harrison Ford paid to reprise his role of Han Solo?

$20 million

 

How much were Daisy Ridley and John Boyega paid?

Between $100,000 -$300,000

The Male Gaze - Video Task

Analysis of video for The Kooks' song Bad Habit

So the concept of gaze is one that deals with how the audience views the people presented. For example; how they look in music videos, television shows or in movies. Feminists tend to think about it in three different ways:

• the way men look at women
• how women look at themselves
• how women look at other women

More specifically, the Male Gaze is when the camera lingers on the curves of a female body, and events which are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to the events. Women are relegated to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.

I personally think that this music video is a perfect example of the Male Gaze, here's why:

 

Literally 5 seconds into this video, the audience is presented with the rear end of a half-dressed woman.

 She's wearing a small, loose top with nothing underneath it and some fairly revealing underwear down low. The beginning of the video of the video is edited in to several short clips of different things around the room; her bare feet, then her thighs and then a blurred screen focuses slowly to reveal a web camera.
After this, we see the screen of her computer and it appears to have several messages from male named people in a chat site.

She then, at about 30 seconds in, puts a message into the chat saying 'tell me what you want...' this simple thing totally degrades the woman; it objectifies her and makes her seem easy.

5 seconds later, another man in the chat tells her to 'surprise us!!' and by his command, the woman takes a few steps back slowly and starts to feel herself it a sexual way. She starts to play with her hair and stroke her own skin in a, what some might say, sexy kind of way and then goes on to stroke her lip which is automatically seen as very flirty and sexual.

50 seconds in, the woman is now putting on quite the show for the people in the chat. They are all putting messages into the chat like 'more, more, more' and 'yes plz...' so she continues to prance around in her underwear for them and does whatever they wish to see.

A minute and 20 seconds in the women then takes a pause and the camera , once again, zooms into her lips and shows her brushing them in a flirty way. After this, the people in the chat are demanding her to stop doing that and to continue dancing for them.

After this, at 1.30 she tells the viewers that the next dance will be the last, she stands up for herself in a way, but then proceeds to dance for the men watching in the chat.

There is then several shots of her prancing around the room, half dressed, from a few different angles. She carries on doing the same styles of dancing; brushing he hands against herself, stroking her skin. This we connote with pleasure and sexuality.

At 2.15 the camera then goes back to the computer screen, on which is more messages from men in the chat asking is "this is real" suggesting they either think the woman is too good to be true or someone is trying to take their money by bribing them with something like this. This again, objectifies the woman as someone may be using her just to get money.

 

Next, at 2.30 she starts to strip by pulling her top over her head and the men in the chat start to go crazy. This demonstrates the power and attention a woman can get from men when the expose their bodies.

                                                         

After this, at 2.15, the woman takes the top, that she just removed and puts it on the web cam, covering it so that the men in the chat cant see her. this shows that she can stand up for herself and doesn't think she has to do the men tell her to anymore. As a result to this, the men sent he messages to make her feel bad for what she had done.

3 minutes in, she goes over to her bed, on which is a pile of work clothes. She goes on to get into the clothes (still in a sexual, flirty way, but this time for the viewers of the music video, not the video cam) and the men are still posting sad comments, attempting to try and make her feel somewhat guilty. She takes no notice of the guys and proceeds to put the work clothes on. 

At 3.15, she is then fully dressed. She's wearing a very smart, reserved outfit and as she goes to walk out (we assume, to go to work) she walks past the computer and sticks her middle finger up at the screen, where men are still sending her harsh messages, even though they can no longer see her.

Finally, at 3.20, we are shown a shot of the computer screen. On the computer screen is still, many mean messages but also we can see at the side of the screen, where it shows who is online, that all the men are logging off. This shows us that if she isn't there dancing in the nude for them, then they're not interested. This completely objectifies women.

In conclusion, I think this video is a perfect example of the male gaze as it shows us that when women do what men tell them to, they're happy and give them attention but if they rebel and go by their own rules, men won't be interested whatsoever.

Our Girl: Representation of Gender

Our Girl: Representation of Gender

In the series Our Girl, Georgie Lane is presented as a strong, passionate military medic. She works extremely hard in the army, helping injured soldiers out on the front line. But in attempt to get an injured solider to safety, the ambulance she was in got shot down and she got taken captive by a group off terrorists, Georgie has no choice but to find her and another British woman’s, who is also part of the military and being kept captive, escape.

In the scene we were shown, where Georgie gets captured by the Taliban, cross cutting is used to show everything that is happening, both in and outside of the vehicle. Fast paced editing is used to demonstrate that the ambulance is in a rush and trying to get somewhere urgently. The editing is used to imply chaos in the scene while the non-diegetic sound of music progressively gets louder to create more tension and make the audience feel as though something bad is about to happen. When it comes to angles, several shots were taken from a low height, looking up to portray how Georgie is the vulnerable and the victim in this situation. Also, we get a few over-the-shoulder shots to make us feel like we next to her, watching it all happen and we’re on her side, and we are presented with a couple point-of-view shots from the terrorist’s eyes showing her looking up at him, which shows the power he has over her.

Throughout this scene, Georgie is presented as a victim by her being thrown around by the terrorists, screaming constantly and of course by how scared she is of them as they completely intimidate her by shouting at her and hitting her. The terrorists also move Georgie by pulling her by her hair and kicking her on the floor after she gets thrown into the truck. The audience are shown the injury, she got from that, on her cheek. This demonstrates the dominance the male terrorists have over Georgie and how weak and vulnerable she is, as a woman, in that particular situation.

The sound of guns being shot is used during a cross cut to show how/if the shots are effecting the soldiers. We're then shown a point-of-view shot from one of the terrorist’s point of view during a sound bridge and whilst the gunshots continue. At this point, the music has got much louder and is actually quite over powering which represents how much the terrorists are taking over and how much power they have over Georgie at that moment in time.

Costume is used to portray the two different sides and to help the audience recognise the good and the bad people. The terrorists were wearing head scarfs, which hid their identity and shows us that they know they’re doing wrong and so they don’t want to be recognisable. Georgie was with a group of male army soldiers all dressed in traditional army uniform however, she didn’t wear the uniform as she is part of the medical team. Her uniform was simple scrubs as they are practical, but they were quite a brightly coloured which made her stand out against all the men.

The Roles in Film Production

Writer

A writer, or in film production, a screenwriter is someone who writes the scripts for films. However, sometimes they also write scripts for other medias for example, television programs and/or video games. The screenwriters who end up having the most successful films tend to be freelance and are integral. Their films have to provide creativity; in order to do this, they need to have a good imagination and to be able to come up with ideas that some couldn't even imagine.

Producer

Producers hold a large amount of responsibilities in the film production; they plan and coordinate most aspects of it. They help with the script selection, writing, directing, editing, and the financing of the film. Their job is considered to be very important.

Director

Directors have the very important job of bringing the film's written script to life. They turn them into actual images and sounds, that will be shown on the big screen and sold worldwide. They have a lot of pressure on them as essentially, they have a huge effect on the success or failure of a film. They also deal with the technical aspects of a film like the camera, sound, lighting, design and special effects; it's by far one of the most important roles to play in film production.

Casting Director

Casting directors is pretty self-explanatory; they organise who the film will cast (the people who will be in the film) for all roles in a film. They are in charge of all interviews and auditions with actors and actresses, as well as negotiating fees and contracts for the actors who get the part. Casting directors work quite closely with the director and producer, to understand their vision they have for the film and try to cast suitable artists to play the parts.

Film Finance

Now these people have a tough role. They are responsible for controlling the accounting, taxation and financial analysis for all of the work a company does, including development, production and distribution. But to ensure that the budget of a film isn't broken; the finance of the film needs to be managed sensibly (no pressure guys).

Camera Operator

Camera operators work side by side with the director to ensure that all shots are exactly what the screenwriter, producer and director envisioned for the film. They are responsible for all aspects of the camera operation; shot composition and development. Camera operators are obviously quite important in film production as, whatever they film will be what is shown all over the world to possibly, millions of people - therefore they need to capture the perfect shots.

Editor

The editor, again, works closely with the director to ensure that the story actually makes sense and flows from the start to the very end, they have to select each shot carefully and then edit them into a series of scenes, which will eventually become the finished film. Editors need to select the best takes and edit them together to create scenes. Their job is very important as they transform the film from  random clips into the final product, that everyone will see

Production designer

Production designers are responsible for the entire art department. Any sets, locations, props or costume - these guys will sort it out. They help the director achieve the look and feel of a film; the look and feel of a set or location is absolutely essential for making a film convincing and to make people want to watch it and also making the cast perform at their finest. The production designer's role is definitely important.

Marketing

Marketing essentially dictates whether a film is successful or not. However, it's pretty much down to money - if the film has a lot of money, chances are they will do pretty well at getting their film out there. But inevitably, it's going to be very hard to market a film well if your trying to market to the whole world; different people enjoy different things, so the film will have to be marketed in several different ways.

Exhibition

Exhibiting a film is basically distributing it and showing it to a wider audience. It's important a film is exhibited well because then popularity will hopefully increase.