Laura Mulvey: Male Gaze.

LAURA MULVEY&THE MALE GAZE:

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She worked at the British Film Institute for many years before taking up her current position. Mulvey wrote essays and books about females and their place within the Film Industry and what type of role that they play.

With these theorist she create the ''Male Gaze''. In the era of classical Hollywood cinema, viewers were encouraged to identify with the protagonist of the film, who were and still are overwhelmingly male. Meanwhile, Hollywood women characters of the 1950s and '60s were, according to Mulvey, coded with "to-be-looked-at-ness" while the camera positioning and the male viewer constituted the "bearer of the look." Mulvey suggests two distinct modes of the male gaze of this era: "voyeuristic" (i.e. seeing woman as image "to be looked at") and "fetishistic" (i.e. seeing woman as a substitute for "the lack," the underlying psychoanalytic fear of castration). The ''Male Gaze'' is women being portrayed in a certain way, to gain the Male attention. Alternatively, there is the ''Female Gaze'' which is where men are portrayed in a certain (and mostly stereotypical) way to grab the Female's attention (so shirtless, 6 pack men)

''The Male Gaze'' in Magazine-

This particular image fits the ''Male Gaze'' sexually. By including a sexy, famous celebrity, Males would feel more inclined in wanting to pick up the magazine and  read it. As red is the major colour in this cover, this could connote to it being a sexually alluring magazine. The clothing on Jennifer Anniston is less than usual and the cleavage is low cut. This obviously shows that they are trying to grab the Male's attention.











''The Male Gaze'' in a TV Drama-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv3v2wn175M
In this clip, the character is wearing a tight, fitted shirt (tied up in the middle, revealing her stomach) some bright coloured tights and a short skirt. Her hair is tied up in two ponytails to give her a childish side. This would be the ''Male Gaze'' as what this character is wearing is considered very slutty and appeals to the boys in the show aswell as the male audience. The music being played is also demeaning to coincide with the point that this character is trying to prove. The ''Male Gaze'' is used here to show the power that the female in this clip currently possesses by attracting all of this attention.

Film Industry 30 Questions.

30 QUESTIONS

1. The UK Film claims 15% of the Global Box Office.
2. In 2009, the British Film Industry took 6.8% of the Global Box Office.
3. This may indicate that people are appealing more to British Films, so therefore they will want to go and watch them.
4. The Films that have been responsible for this change are Skyfall,  Slumdog Millionaire, The Woman In Black and The King's Speech.
5. Only 7% of what the British Film Industry make is profit.
6. Hollywood makes a profit of 17%.
7. The  difference £2M (less than 4%) and £10M (upto 17%) is that the higher the budget, the higher the % of the Profit.
8. From this difference, we can infer that as there is more money in the budget; the more money that will be made.
9. 18-24 year olds make up the largest % of the cinema goers.
10. This is because they have the time and money to go and watch the movie. Also, they are above the highest age rating meaning that they will be able to watch any movie; so therefore more income will be made from this specific age group.
11. 3D Films drop 18% in attendance.
12.  Big Family Films such as Brave and Madagascar 3 has seen the biggest decline in 3D Films.
13.  Charles Gant said the 3D attendance at films like Madagascar 3 and Brave could be down to families' need to economise, and that prices mounted when the 3D premium is taken into account alongside the need.
14. Paul Greengrass is an English film director, screenwriter and former journalist. He specialises in dramatisations of real-life events and is known for his signature use of hand-held cameras. For several tickets and parking.
15. Paul Greengrass said that "People say it's a nightmare to work in the British Film Industry. I don't. I think it has transformed from where it was 25 years ago."
16. A BFI spokesperson said the 7% figure included "tiny budget films that, while commercial success is always hoped for, are successful and beneficial to the industry for other reasons like skills and training development and for artistic and cultural importance".
17. The budget for Filth was £3M. It made £3.86M.
18. James McEvoy said that $100m (£61m) movies that "sometimes aren't very good" had an advantage over smaller films because they had a massive budget to sell the film.
19. VOD is Video On Demand.
20.  The VOD market has increased by 50% last year.
21. VOD may out sell Distributors and Studios, therefore leading them to go to bankrupt.
22. This will lead the Blockbuster rental stores to have a decline in rentals due to everyone using VOD.
23. 'A Field in England' was unique as it was released in several formats simultaneously.
24. The toughest part of Film Making, according to the Machine Caradog James, is " you make a good film but can you get it to reach an audience? It's events like this and individuals who champion independent cinema that give us a profile and any chance of a mass audience."
25. The rules have been relaxed on what makes a film 'British' is that to help encourage more investment in the UK film industry
26. The cultural tests are what encourages visual effects to be used in film making.
27.The rules are that:

• Film set in the UK-The King's Speech.
• Lead characters British citizens/residents-The King's Speech.
• Film based on British subject matter/underlying material-The King's Speech.
• Original dialogue recorded mainly in English Language-The King's Speech.
• Represents/reflects diverse British culture/heritage/creativity-The King's Speech.

28. George Osborne has announced tax relief would be increased from 20% to 25% on the first £20m of qualifying production expenditure. Productions will also only have to spend 10% of their budgets on UK expenditure to qualify - down from 25% - to help more independent production companies and make the UK a more attractive co-production partner.
29.Skyfall is the highest grossing Box Office in UK History.
30. Skyfall the Budget for $150-200M and the Box Office was £1,108,561,013.

King's Speech Marketing.

The original poster of the King's Speech failed as it received huge amounts of criticism. The initial thing that I saw, when looking at this poster, was the positioning of the characters. Colin Firth isn't placed in the middle of he poster. It isn't clear as to who the main character is. Also, the facial expressions of the characters give me the impression that the movie is a comedy. George Rush's face in particular seems playful, which contradicts the whole point of the movie. By the facial expressions, people will assume that this movie will be a comedy. Consequently, this will repel people from watching this movie; as they'll believe that the movie isn't worth watching. It is obvious that the character's faces are heavily airbrushed, which makes the poster look less authentic. As the surname of these character's are in capitals, it is evident that the creators of the poster wanted the audience's attention on this specific information. This fulfils the purpose, however, it makes the poster lose proportionality and professionalism. This poster doesn't necessarily match because it looks like the creator has just threw the words on the page without the aesthetics of the poster. The costumes that the characters are wearing are all similar, so the audiences can't distinguish as to who the main character is. The quotation at the top of the poster is rather poor. It isn't really hard hitting and isn't explicit as to which of the three the quote may be referring to. The font isn't patriotic enough to be known as being British and with holding that heritage.

TASK TWO

The second attempt in marketing the King's Speech was also a 'poor' design. The background colour is of mustard, which is associated to be British. In the mans face, we can see that there is a tint of gold in there. We can connote that gold is associated with victory. Gold is usually associated with wealth and royalty, which relates to the most powerful; The King and Queen. Similarly, like the first attempt this poster doesn't give the audience a clear aspect as to who the main character is. Although there is only one there, you can't see his face. All the audience can infer from this poster is that there is a man near some sort of old fashioned micro-phone and is going to present a speech. His mouth is closed, which could suggest that he has trouble with his speech or that he may own some sort of authorative power.  The quote beneath the mans face, would encourage people to go and see the movie because it is someone else's review of the movie. This is someone's personal opinion of the movie. The actor's names are all the same font and font size, as everything is the same; it gives the poster a more professional look. The crown suggests that this movie holds British heritage, as it is part of the British culture.  The actors are mainly famous in Britain, so the British audience would be more inclined to watching the movie as they would be familiar with the actors.

TASK THREE

 The layout of these the banner seem to be plain yet effective. The left banner contains quotations from a review/ magazine, mainly one word or short sentences; to show to the audience that people actually enjoyed the movie. The right side just has 'God Save the King'; as Colin Firth is on that side alone, people will assume that Colin Firth will play the part of the King. Their facial expressions seem to be more serious, which gives the audience a sense of mystery and caution. The graphological features shows that the text has filled the space well, but it leaves enough space so the information isn't all overwhelming to the audience. The colour seems to be darkened, to create a sense of dangerous and serious aura of the movie; to suggest that this movie will be about something hard hitting. Personally, I think that by putting Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush side by side; will show the contrast between the two characters. This banner gives the audience a hint as to what the genre of this movie will be like, through the type of picture they have chosen for each character and the lighting of the pictures as well.

TASK FOUR

There are many similarities between the banner and the poster for the Social Network as that they both have a picture of the main/ a character with some sort of hard hitting quote on top. Both have a darker picture to portray some sort of serious atmosphere. The Weinstein company wanted to emulate this as the poster was simple yet effective. Having a picture of the main character would encourage the public to watch the movie as they may recognise the Actor. Perhaps, the poster was a success in Marketing the Social Network; Weinstein wanted to emulate this as they felt that it would be a complete success in Marketing The King's Speech as well.









TASK FIVE


This is the poster used to market the movie in the US. This differs a lot from the other posters in many ways. The first thing is the picture used; it is of a man holding a child with a woman looking lovingly at her. The audience will assume that they are family. The American audience will instantly know that this has something to do with the Royal Family, due to the crown and the very patriotic picture. The background is bright and yellow; which could connote to happiness. It also had a tint of gold, which is associated with wealth and the Royal Family. This poster is different from the others as it portrays a happy atmosphere, probably foreshadowing the underlying tone of the movie. By portraying that the movie will be happy, people would want to go and see the movie. Also, the fact that it is about the British culture, it would encourage them more.

 

How Hollyoaks Reflects Teenagers.

Hollyoaks is a long-running British TV Drama. It set in a fictional suburb of Chester called Hollyoaks; the cast is mainly featured of people aged between 16 and 35. It had developed a fan base and has been credited as a vibrant, modern and young person's soap. The programme centralizes around real life story-lines. Some of these story-lines are drug addiction, murder, arson, homosexuality, bullying, homophobia and many more. As you can see, Hollyoaks has a diverse range of topics. I have chosen this particular programme as it includes the teenage group and reveals situations which most teenagers go through. It opens the eyes to the audience of the programme, as some people may not realise that some of these things are actually happening.

The Hollyoaks 'Logo' is a red colour, we can connote that this programme is filled with danger, passion, anger and many more. The colours in the background are interweaved with blue (boy colour, matches with the male sign), pink (girls, matches with the female sign) and purple (possibly to represent the different people within the show). Also, there sparkly dots scattered around to show that the show has a playful edge to it.  Normally, this would appear after the theme tune, if the storyline is of the norm.


However, when there is a hard hitting topic, this background will be used. It is very different to the original background colour. The colour of the font,  is a misty, ghostly colour which could connote to the fact that something out of the ordinary may happen. Also, the background is black, which suggests that the topic will be dark, scary, mysterious and hard hitting. The reason they do this, is to portray are more serious and life changing topic. By doing this, it becomes more memorable due to the change in colour. You can probably feel a more sympathetic, frightening and dark feeling when you see this colour. It is completely opposite to the first picture. The illumination around 'Hollyoaks' suggests that something memorable will happen in this episode or within the week.

This picture is from an episode where there was a party at the local club. This shows the stereotypical representation of the fact that teenagers go out drinking and get drunk. This picture is just a typical party, with people in the background gathering around the bar looking at the girl with amusement on their faces. They are probably laughing at her. The people in the background look older, so they might be laughing at how young she is.

You can see that the girl with the American hat on, is being sick due to the intoxication of alcohol. The facial expressions on the peoples faces shows the different kind of people in the youth society nowadays. The one in the orange shirt, has an 'oooo' expression, as if he's laughing at her and taking the mick. His costume, compared to the other two boys is more messier. His shirt is untucked and he is wearing informal clothes. This could connote to him building a rebellious and troublemaker character. The other two seem more sympathetic towards the girl being sick as we can tell from their body language. The overall costumes are that of which teenagers would wear, a shirt and jeans for the male and a tight/short dress for the female.
The lighting is mainly focused on the people in the foreground. This is to highlight the stereotypical views that society has on teenagers. All of the stereotypes' that society has on teenagers are all being put to play here, representing teenagers and our view on them.

Hollyoaks just shows that although, the teenagers (like in the picture above) may go out and be rebellious and troublemaking, they all have a problem at home to go back to; once all the partying is put to bed. Hollyoaks shows how the bullying, racism, homophobia will all be a root from. That's the reason why I have chosen this show as it represents all of the above.

The Little Mermaid Essay.

HOW DOES THE CHOSEN CLIP HOOK THE AUDIENCE?

 The clip that was chosen comes from the Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid is a Disney production based on a mermaid, Ariel, who dreams of becoming human. It was released in 1989 by Walt Disney Pictures. The primary audience for The Little Mermaid, would most likely be young children. The reason for this would be that animated movies tend to appeal more to younger children. As the movie is based on a mermaid, the imagination of the child would not be restricted, so they would want to watch it as it's about a mythical creature. However, adults and teenagers are able to watch it, due to the storyline. So, there will be some aspects of the movie that will be fitted for them. The main genre is adventure and mythical; which will appeal to the children. Also, the genre of love, trust and authority will appeal more to the older audience because they will understand and in some ways relate to the story.

This particular clip hooked the audience due to the Mise en Scene. In this scene, there are the props of which are present within this clip. King Triton is holding his Triton, which connotes to power and authority. Additionally, his beard could connote to wisdom and obviously old age. The camera angles within this clip shows who beholds the most power. His white beard retracts him from everyone else and makes it obvious to the audience that King Triton is different and powerful. Also, the lighting is dull and gloomy which juxtaposes the atmosphere. Throughout the clip, the lighting has brightened alongside with the atmosphere. As when Sebastian (The Crab/ Lobster) has a high angle shot; this shows that the King sees him as an inferior meaning that the audience should too. When Sebastian is speaking to the King, the audience sees him looking up to him by using a high angle shot. This shows that Sebastian sees him as a powerful being and accepts that he is of a lower ranking than he is. The colours within this clip are important as at the beginning the water is brown and dull whereas towards the end the water is a fresh, blue colour. This may be because at the beginning of the clip, there was tension between Ariel and King Triton, so the murkiness of the water could connote to the murkiness of the atmosphere. As Sebastian is encouraging King Triton to let Ariel become human and he accepts; the water is a fresh blue. The freshness of the water could connote to a new start in both of their lives. Furthermore, the freshness of the water also could be seen as a liberation for Ariel because she is allowed to become human.

Afterwards, Ariel emerges from the water and a magical light surrounds her as she is transformed from a mermaid to a human. Along with the magical light, there is also a twinkling sound. The sound would be Diegetic as when the King holds his Triton up and transforms her into a human, it would be more dramatic and effective if there was that sound it would be more realistic. This creates a magical aura and sense of proudness for Ariel as she is turned to a human, by her Father (who was against the idea that she should be human). There are more ways in which sound has influenced this clip. The sound of the waves along the shore, is an Ambient Sound, which shows that this could be a realistic movie because this clip is based in a normal, everyday setting. Also, the characters Dialogue has been edited with because King Triton's voice is a more deep and powerful whereas Sebastian's is high pitched and more playful. This could show the status of each character. Ariel's voice is more softer, to show that she is the antagonist of the story. Ariel is sitting on a rock, which is the only piece of land in this clip. It is evident that Ariel was going to be different from the rest of them. Her fiery red hair could connote to passion, love and danger (that has occurred to her throughout the duration of the movie). This is revealed in the clip, as she is set aside from Sebastian and the King. The fiery red hair foreshadows the wedding that happens later on in the clip between Ariel and Prince Eric. There was Editing in Post Production of the Little Mermaid. Mainly Continuity Editing. However, as this is an animation there was more work in cooperated within this movie; meaning that every little detail had to be refined and edited to the point where it was able to flow better.


The Little Mermaid can fit into Propp 's theory of fairy tales. He believes that there is a Hero, Villain, Dispatcher, Donor, False Hero, Princess, King and Prince. In this case, his theory matches the movie. The Hero is King Triton, the Villain is Ursula, the Dispatcher and Donor is Sebastian, the False Hero would be Ursula, Princess Ariel, King Triton and Prince Eric. This theorist matches with this movie as fairy tales are stereotypically known to have all of these major components within the story.
Another theorist that we could apply to the Little Mermaid would be Levi Strauss. His theory was the binary oppositions. The main obvious one would be Land v Sea, which would lead onto to Human v Merpeople (which we could see a conflict between Prince Eric and King Triton), Good v Bad (King Triton and Ursula). Barthe's Theory of the 5 Codes, fits with the story line. the Action Code is when the Chef chases Sebastian as it includes the knife being thrown at him and lands in the ground. The Enigma Code would be when Ariel is going to go or not, to the other side. Semic and Symbollic would both fit as there are lots of Denotations and Connotations within this clip. The Cultural Code would the whole thing about the Myths of Mermaids. Finally, this movie would also fit to Todorovs theory about the Equilibrium - Disequilibrium - New Equilibrium. This would hook the audience has it would appeal to everyone, more or less, as it consists of a little bit of all the theorists; a range of people would be hooked due to different events that are occurring within this clip.

Overall, this particular clip hooks the audience as various theorists techniques are used which engages the audiences attention. The blend of the Micro - Aspects create a sense of drama, realism and emotion which are the three things that will get the audience to watch the movie.

King's Speech Research.

What Makes a British Film?

• The most vital thing that makes a film British, would be the culutural elements such as the setting in the UK, a predominatley British cast, a storyline about a British Life (past, present and future). It also has to be based on a British Author. Billy Elliot and Bend It Like Beckham are both set in London (which is the capital of England, which is what most foreign people are familiar with).

Have Things Changed Since Then?

• Personally, I don't think that the ideas of the British Culture has changed and what Britain is famous for (London, Monarchy etc). The TV Shows/ Movies that are about now are mostly based on the historical events that have happened in Britain. An example of that would be Ripper Street which airs on BBC 1, which is based on the 19th Century. The reason why this specific series has done so well, is because it is based on something that is British and what people are interested in.

Exhibition Issues:

• "a plucky-underdog success story that's as headline-friendly as it gets". The Kings Speech was given the impression, to the public, that the movie was going to predominantly fail. It bought everyones hopes down, so that when they saw the movie in the cinema's they'd be surprised.  When people went to go and see the movie have a low expectation of it; so therefore when they have watched the movie, they will be surprised (as was the critics). This will increase the amount of views and income the movie will recieve. The film recieved  £3.52m opening weekend, this shows that the movie must've receieved some good critique for people to go and watch it. The King's Speech took $414 Million in the Box Office, it grossed 50X more than its Budget. The statistical evidence shows that the movie did exceptionally well, for a British movie. As the audience realised that the movie was based on a British King who reigned during WWII (two of the most significant things that Britain is famous for); this reeled in more views as it sparked up interest.

The King's Speech Critical Reception:

• The King's Speech was nominated for 12 Oscar Nominations and 14 BAFTAs. With the amount of nominations the movie recieved, it was obvious that the King's Speech did well as everyone who went to go and watch it was surprised that it was so good.  Philip French says that WH Auden, who wrote this in 1939 said that the '30s were  "Uncertain and afraid/ As the clever hopes expire/ Of a low dishonest decade."  Tom Hooper, the Director, wanted the movie perscept a different view of Britain in the 1930s. As the movie starred Award Winning Colin Firth, most of the older, female audience recognises  him from 'Bridget Jones' or 'Pride and Prejudice'; so that would be one of the reasons as to why it did so well. The movie was praised for it's storyline which was George VI from a nervous, stammering second-in-line to the rabble-rousing king of England. 

          Production Issues:

• In preparation for the project, the fim's production team provoked the ire of one of the film's stars, Geoffrey Rush, by taking the unorthodox step of posting the movie script through his home letterbox in Melbourne, Australia. Rush's management wrote the filmmakers a furious email for their impertinence. Despite this, Rush accepted the role of Lionel Logue, the King's speech therapist. The film is released in Britain on Friday. Publicly, Rush claims he was immediately intrigued by the script. The movie was originally a play performed in London. Due to the lack of potential in the stage script, they had the alter the plot a little in order for it to be a potential film also. Tom Hooper, director, wanted to reinvent the play to become a film, so they asked Geoffrey Rush as their main star. The UK Film Council contributed towards the finanical backing for the film alongside Prescience film, a UK Film finance company. Harvey Weinstein in the USA also had a share. See-Saw Productions worked alongside Bedlam Productions in synergy to create The King's Speech as well as receiving One Million Pounds from The UK Film Council to help with the films production.

Distribution and Marketing:

• The distributor of The King's Speech (Momentum Pictures) a British institution were in charge of the films marketing plan, the way in which the UK audiences will have it advertised to them. The film, on 6th September 2010, was globally released at the Telluride Film Festival in the United States. It was screened at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival on Colin Firth's 50th birthday, receiving a standing ovation and the Peoples Choice Award. The original poster was altered to show an extreme close up of Colin Firths jaw to the right of a microphone in which symbolised the plot of the film. Due to the film being entirely related to The King's Speech and dialect by representing the film with a microphone it shows that a voice is a way in which a King maintains his power. For advertising a film the poster is key as it is primarily the most viewed was of advertising other than the official trailer.

Research of Film Companies.

SCREEN YORKSHIRE

• An company that has been running for over 10 years.
• Based in Humber and Yorkshire.
• Aim is to provide support for Britain within the Film Industry.
• One of the largest organisations in the UK. With investments over £15 Million.

Examples of Films by Screen Yorkshire:

• Kill List(2011).
• Red Riding(2009).
• Death Comes to Pemberley(2013).

STUDIO CANAL

• French based Production and Distribution Company.
• The company is owned by Canal + Group.
• Owns the thirds-largest film library in the world.

Examples of Films by Studio Canal:

• The Tourist(2010).
• Terminator 2: Judgement Day(1991).
• Basic Instinct(1992).

FILM 4 PRODUCTIONS

• Digital TV Channel, available in the UK and Ireland.
• Owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation that screen films.
• It offers films in standard definition, free of charge.
• In order to access the HD, the viewer will must have a paid subscription to Sky or Virgin Media.

Examples of Films by Film 4:

• 127 Hours(2010).
• Deep Water(2006).
• Red Monarch(1983).

WARP FILMS

• Pioneering independent British record label.
• Founded in Sheffield in 1989.
•  Has a secondary company Warp Films Australia, based in Melbourne.
• Warp Films have worked alongside Channel 4 and Screen Yorkshire numerous times to create films that they feel will turn out successful nationally.

Examples of Films by Warp Films:

• Four Lions(2010).
• Dead Man Shoes(2004).
• This Is England '88(2011).