Preliminary Task: Learner Response

Zaid, Raghuveer and Armond
> Acting mixed - Armond exactly right but others weaker
>Costume and casting quite different (weather explanation makes sense)
>Location not bad but not quite right
>Framing and editing spot on- Really Impressive

Mark :25/32
Grade: B

Preliminary Task: Recreation

1) Why did you choose this particular recreation and how does it link to your main production?

 We chose this scene from Gran Torino to recreate as it represents gender stereotypes and links to our main production as there is evidence of gender inequality and stereotypes. 

2) What difficulties did you face in producing this recreation?
The difficulties that we had faced during the shooting, was the location and attempting to find an accurate location, also false accusations of using a gun in the school premise, and finding commited actors. 

 
3) What are the strengths of the production?

The strengths of our production are that the acting of Armond was on point and the shots and framing were near perfect.

4) What aspects would you look to improve?

We would improve the performance of the other actors to make it flow and the location as well as try and match the costume.

5) What lessons will you take from this process that will help you with your main production?

the lessons we learnt were to find actors that are way more committed and actually know how to act. 

Recreation task planning

Name of the text you plan to recreate:
Gran Torino

Scene/section you will recreate:
Spooks scene -The old white man confronts three black thugs who are harassing Chinese women. (35:08– 35:38 in to the film)

Location you will use for your recreation:
Private estate/Outside school

Actors you will require for your recreation:
Alieu, Rashuan, Antoine, Jasmine, Armond, Raian

Props/costumes you will require for your recreation:
Costumes 2 white vests, stripy vest, jeans, long white t-shirt and jeans, slacks, shirts, sports jacket, white t shirt and skirt.  

Equipment you plan to use:
Microphone, Camera and tripod

Linked Production brief

Your Critical Investigation topic:
Gender stereotypes in comic book movies

Your Linked Production brief:
A scene in an action film that portrays gender stereotypes, particularly women as an object to be desired.

Length/size of production (e.g. 3 minutes, 5 pages etc.):
3-5 minutes

Give an example of an existing media text this is similar to what you plan to produce: 

 Fast and Furious /Pain and Gain

Give an example of an institution that would produce or distribute your planned production:
 Universal pictures

How would your production reach its audience?
The production would reach the audience through the broadcast platform- specifically cinema and DVD/Blu- ray, and online movie distributors such as Netflix and lovefilm.

Who do you plan to work with on this project?

Zaid and Armond

Grand Torino- Recreation Shot list

Shot 1- Long shot with pan – Car drives up to gang, two black characters in shot and part of the chick.

Shot 2- Cuts to side of car all characters present.

Shot 3- over shoulder shot/long shot –all 3 gang members, the old man is seen, with small zoom out.

Shot 4- cut to medium shot of gang and girl

Shot 5- Over shoulder shot/long shot –all 3 gang members and chick man in car/

Shot 6- zoom in over gang member’s shoulder to see old man and member

Shot 7- Over shoulder shot/medium shot- of old man

Shot 8- over shoulder shot of black member of old man

Shot 9- side shot of old man facing gang, zoom in to medium shot and pan up.

Shot 10- over shoulder shot of black member of old man

Shot 11-cut to zoom of two members and girl

Shot 12- over shoulder shot of black member of old man

Shot 13- cut to over shoulder of old man facing two members and chick

Shot 14- low angle shot of old man

Shot 15- cut to over shoulder of old man facing 3 members and chick

Shot 16- over shoulder shot of black member of old man Shot 14

Shot 17- medium shot of two members and chick

Shot 18-medium low angle shot of old man

Shot 19- cut to over shoulder of old man facing 3 members and chick

Shot 20- medium low angle shot of old man

Shot 21- cut to over shoulder of old man facing 3 members and chick- pan to all 3 members

Shot 22- medium low angle shot of old man

Shot 23- cut to over shoulder of old man facing two members and chick

Shot 24-long shot of car and man

Shot 25-cut to white man medium/long shot

Shot 26-meduium shot of old man with car and chick in car.

Shot 27-over the shoulder shot of old man and gang

Shot 28- cut to white man medium/long shot

Shot 29- over the shoulder shot of old man and gang

 Shot 30- over the shoulder of two black members looking at old 

Critical Investigation Draft 1

Why do comic book movies like The Avengers reinforce traditional gender stereotypes and what impact does this have on audiences?

“The battle for equality between men and women in superhero films”[1]and has been going on for years, it has become a very controversial matter and the most recent of Marvel’s Avengers, where it has been believed that comic book movies reinforce gender stereotypes and influences audiences, with “The lack women in the spotlight is becoming impossible to overlook” (Dyce, 2014). The struggle over equality has been difficult but with the introduction of new and digital media, has led to the information revolution with this turning point there has been a ray of light in the hopes of the female demographic with the newest developments in the Marvel cinematic universe where female leads have emerged and a shockwave of change has shaken the foundations of the superhero universe, the impact of this on the audience is having a fluctuated effect on the superhero demographic.

In historically, women in superhero films have been stereotypical of the time period, this links to my first historical text which is Captain America (1990). The narrative is a multi-strand narrative, with two strands developing, the first being the emergence of the German super soldier known as Red Skull, who is identified as the villain later in the movie. The second strand being the rise of the American super soldier, Steve Rodgers, also known as Captain America. In the beginning of the movie Steve Rogers is preparing to leave home to go and join the army’s super soldier program. This where we see the use of stereotypical women during war times wearing bright coloured dress and serves the family and husband. This was stereotypical of the values that wartime America had tried to boost morale in order to promote winning mentality. The first appearance of women in the movie has made women portrayed in home. Further on in the movie, a female named Dr Gonselli is dressed in a white lab coat, connoting women as more than just housewives and that women can be seen outside the home. Dr Gonselli is shot dead by Nazi spy, which puts an abrupt end to women in a greater role. Steve Rogers, who is restrained to a table, breaks free from his metal restraints and as he does he takes two bullets to the chest, carries on fighting and manages to kill the Nazi spy with one punch. Dr Gonselli dies has been shot dead. Symbolically women have been embodied in Dr Gonselli who is killed with one bullet, whereas Steve manages to show his bravery endurance and strength.

 Steve Rogers survives the two shots and is back up straight after the surgery, presenting that males never give up and are stronger. The scene in which Captain America first faces off against Red Skull, presents Propp’s seven spheres of action, where it is the hero  versus the villain. Red Skull, is shown with a red head, which presents danger and violence, he is covered by a black coat, and almost kills Captain America with three knives to throat, but survives and is tied to a rocket and sent to America to blow up but Captain America once again shows his heroism and bends the wings and crash in the arctic where he is frozen in ice. There is a small beach scene where Captain America runs past a busty women in a bikini and stares at her as he does, this links to Mulvey’s male gaze, where the dominant objects on screen are for the benefit of men. In the climax scene Captain America needs to save his girlfriend (Princess) and does this with the help of the president (Helper), this also links to Propps character theory.    

The connotations of the Black widow are that she could also be a femme fatal due to the fact that a black widow spider is known to kill their partners. The significance of the text’s connotation is that it could reinforce and subvert the stereotypical view of women, as she had “spent most of the movie bending over various objects in revealing clothing.”[2] It reinforces the stereotype as the Black Widow is the only women in the Avengers and has no film that led to the build up to her character like Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man or Thor.  The clothing has connotations for all characters like Captain America’s costume connotes his patriotism for his country with the red white and blue, Iron Mans suit is red and yellow, which connotes fire, in some sense a hot shot that is like a lone wolf. Thor’s costume represents his heritage of Asgard and his origins. Hulk is a large green behemoth that where shredded trousers; this presents him as a wild character. Black Widows costume is a full black body suit which creates an enigmatic presence as she could be two faced. The dominant images that are being portrayed are that women are inferior to men and are the weaker sex. Women have become inferior in the representation of Marvel comics movies, this is evident from the fact that the Black widow is presented as the only women and “She is dressed in a suit that perfectly forms to her curves, as to appear appealing, and she armed with the smallest weapon. This is how women are portrayed in cinema.”[3] In relation to the narrative, the audience is positioned to be looking up to the superheroes. As an audience we are put in a position where we see the heroes in an inspirational light where we are viewing their selfless acts of justice and protecting us.  This contrasts the stereotypical view of women as usually the main group of civilians being saved are women and children. The narrative subverts this view, even though other Marvel films like Thor and Iron Man presented women to be vulnerable.  All the heroes are delineated with egos and their mistrust issues become present as soon as they meet, for example the scene where Thor attacks Iron Man in order to take Loki back to Asgard, this is the first meeting between the two heroes.

Black widow is first introduced she is portrayed as a helpless women as she is tied to a chair and is listening to the General to interrogate her, she is presented as weak and helpless which is stereotypical of females, as princesses – Propps character types. However she manages to trick the General and Hench men using her assets and manages to escape with ease. This subverts the stereotypical portrayal of women. During the scene the camera is the point of view of the General and also the camera angles put us as an audience look down at Black widow, making her look weak but this is then contradicted by what happens next as she manages to fight of  the General and Hench men.
This scene present Black Widow as deceitful and cunning, this is exemplified by the reaction of the God of trickery when he was tricked by Black Widow in to revealing his plan to her and being tricked. This subverts the stereotypical view of women in society, in the current society we see women as the person who takes care of the house and kids rather than working. The disposition that is associated with this view is caring and loving, but this view shows her as evil and in some sense a femme fatal. Socially, this scene shows how women can be more than just passive they can be cunning and malevolent. Historically, the view of women has changed completely as they are seen as equals and in some cases superior to men. Economically, it shows how women are also helping with the economy.

   

In this scene Black widows character is put to the test as she is put against two of her fellow Avengers members. The first being the strongest and the mightiest shows that her representation as a woman is stronger as it shows women aren’t weak and don’t need to be protected, they are able to fight their own battles, until she is being chased by the Hulk where she is running down the corridor where as Hulk is demolishing everything in his path. It can be connoted that Hulk is the representation of society and there view in the world and Black widow is presented as women trying to escape the stereotype until she is hit out by the stereotype and becomes a princess, according to Propps seven character circles, and is saved by Thor. 

In The Dark Knight Rises, aside from Selina Kyle and Miranda Tate, it is almost like Gotham is totally devoid of women. For example, major scenes involve a bus load of orphans, who are all male, an all male football team, and a police force of 3000 where there was not one woman. The main villain is Bane and his entire crew is made up of men. The movie only contains two thin, sexy, able bodied white women; the producers have creates a universe where women of colour, fat women, women of differing abilities and looks, are almost non-existent. Although, Tate and Kyle are created to be so interesting, it doesn’t directly portray how Nolan views women, as both women’s characters have been given depth and realism they have a physical relationship with Bruce Wayne at different points in the film, which inputs the idea that women are only objects of men and that sex sells. Selina Kyle is a very interesting character because she carries her own set of moral standards which interact with Bruce Wayne. Overall, she tends to operate out of self interest and she doesn't sacrifice herself for anyone, unlike so many other women in superhero films Selina Kyle steals from the rich only. She is very concerned about how the rich have gained their wealth on the backs of the poor. This portrays the embodiment of women as selfish and egotistical which brings another representation of women to the table as they aren’t weak or small but cunning and dangerous. Batman becomes a “symbol of vigilantism, justice, vengeance and even fascism.” [4]

In the modern world, sexism has become a major debate as there more and more incidents of sexism, and with this there has been a rise of feminism. There is an Everyday Sexism Project exists “to catalogue instances of sexism experienced by women on a day to day basis.”[5] This shows the rising revolution of women becoming equal in society and breaking the stereotypes of the society we are currently living in. In New York City, there was a woman who had decided to do an experiment where she decided to walk through New York City in tight jeans in order to record how many men would comment or harass her for the clothes and her body. The experiment had produced the results of “100+ instances of verbal street harassment had taken place within 10 hours”[6] these instances weren’t from one background but they involved “people of all backgrounds” (StreetHarassmentvideo, 2014). The representations of women have been derogatory and have always put woman in “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female.”[7]

Though the majority of superhero films have been predominantly male, there is a rise of the revolution of woman as the leads in superhero films. The most recent being the mighty hammer wielding Norse God Thor being transformed and changed in to a female, Marvel Comics  “announced the superhero will become a woman in a move to attract more female fans to the franchise.”[8] The new Thor’s first look has been depicted with “long blonde hair, metal armour and a red cape” (Wyatt, 2014). The comic book world is not only platform that has begun to change as “Captain Marvel will be the first of Marvel's female heroes to star in her own film, which is being announced today with a release date scheduled for July 6th, 2018.”[9]

In conclusion, the superhero universe has been a universe of stereotypes and short hands of identifications, “where the women superheroes...are built to promote their sexuality.”[10] Women have become an object of the male gaze and just used as an attraction for men to drool at along with the big explosions and action.

---

[1] Dyce, A. (2014, July 2nd ). Will Comic Book Movies Ever Get Female Heroes Right? Retrieved October 15th , 2014, from Screen Rant: http://screenrant.com/female-superhero-women-movies/

[2] (Parr)

[3] ((GRIID), 2014)

[4] (Turner, 2013)

[5] (Laura)

[6] (StreetHarassmentvideo, 2014)

[7] (Hendry, 2010 )

[8] (Wyatt, 2014)

[9] (Kastrenakes, 2014)

[10] (Demarest, Superheroes, Superpowers, and Sexuality, 2010)

Historical Text Analysis

Captain America

Stereotypical women during war times wearing bright coloured dress and serves the family and husband. Dr Gonselli scene- The doctor is in a white lab coat, analyzes meaning of lab coat, shot dead by Nazi spy, Steve Rogers breaks metal restraints and breaks free takes two bullets to the chest and kills spy with one punch. Dr Gonselli dies; Steve Rogers survives and is back up straight after surgery. Captain America Vs Red Skull, Hero VS Villain, red skull red head black coat almost kills cap with three knives to throat. Captain America frozen in ice. Beach scene- Captain America runs past a busty women in a bikini and stares at her as he does. Climax scene. Captain America needs to save his girlfriend (Princess) and does this with the help of the president (Helper).  

Fantastic four

Typical teenage girl- Crush on an older man, Susan storm gets a peck on the cheeks from reed Richards and is infatuated by it. Stereotypical most teenage girls love older guys, smart guys or bad boys. Susan storms entry in a long floral dress showing her curves, presenting as the heroine/princess. Alicia Masters is blind needs help manoeuvring and second princess. Crash scene, Susan trips over rubble and then gets saved by Reed Richards. stereotypical of women being saved by men (Princess saved by Hero), Susan storms powers- symbolise women’s importance - invisible shows they do not matter as much as Ben Grimm, Johnny storm or Reed Richards. Mole King has Alisha Masters who have been captured. The Thing tries to Save Alisha from Doom but is reverted back to a human."Insurance"- doom refers to Alisha. The thing saves Alicia, Human torch stops the beam from destroying the millions in their home town and reed faces off against doom, Susan just disappears.     

Bibliography

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