Sunday, 26 October 2014
Saturday, 25 October 2014
Friday, 24 October 2014
Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Audience Theory (Laura Mulvey: Theory of the Male Gaze)
Laura Mulvey: Theory of the Male Gaze (Feminist Film Theory and Audiences)Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975)
- The theory laid out in the article develops as a logical argument from two assertions:
1/ Cinema reflects society
2/ Society is patriarchal
Patriarchy: a social system in which:-
1/ Males hold primary power;
2/ Males predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property;
3/ Males dominate in the domain of the family, fathers or father-figures hold authority over women and children.
- Patriarchy implies the institutions of male domination and entails female subordination.
- Many patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage.
- Laura Mulvey argues that cinema, television, and other media cultures reflect a patriarchal society.
- 'The "gaze" of the camera is the male "gaze".'
- Within the narrative male characters direct their gaze towards female characters.
- The audience is made to identify with the male gaze, because the camera films from the optical, as well as libidinal, point of view of the male character. Thus the three levels of the cinematic gaze; camera, character, spectator.
The Triple Gaze:
Audience
Male Protagonist
Female "Protagonist"
- The Following examples from 'Dr No' and 'Die Another Day' clearly demonstrate the male gaze in action:
- The final example from 'Transformers' follows the gaze of Shia LeBouf's point of view:
Audience:
- The audience is constructed in such a way that they are compelled to 'gaze' from a male point of view.
- Women are forced to look at the text as though they were a male member of the audience.
- This occurs through the process of suture
Equal eye-line matches in Casino Royal shows a change in emphasis (the male gaze is no longer dominant and instead the camera's gaze is androgynous):
Agency:
- In the classical Hollywood cinema the male protagonist has agency - he is active and powerful.
- He is the agent around whom the dramatic action unfolds.
- The female character is passive and powerless - she is the object of desire for the protagonist and the audience.
Female Agency:
- Riply - Aliens
- Katiness Everdeen The Hunger Games
- Evelyn Salt - Salt
- Lisbeth Salander - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Hanna Heller - Hanna
- Clarice Starling - Silence of the Lambs
Friday, 10 October 2014
Andrew Goodwin Key Features of Music Videos
Andrew Goodwin in Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) has identified the following features of music videos:
- Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).
E.g. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Escape the Fate
This video is a typical example of the metal genre, illustrating close ups of the band playing their instruments and the lead singer, all of which are on stage.
E.g. New Kids on the Block, Little Mix
This video is a typical example of the boy/girl band genre due to their synchronised dancing and similar dress code.
- There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
E.g.
The visuals in the video match the lyrics Daniel Powter is singing.
The music here is contradicting to the video as the tender loving lyrics are a complete contrast to the harsh message portrayed in the video.
- The demands of the records label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). E.g. Katy Perry and Michael Jackson (to be analysed in seperate blogs).
E.g.
Michael Jackson's iconic motif of his glove has become symbollic of his music videos.
There's also the symbol of the silver coin which appeared in a couple of his videos.
- There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, ect ...) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. Like Laura Mulvey,'s theory, the camera's gaze is the male gaze.
E.g.
Close ups of certain parts of the female anatomy, girls dressed in revealing clothing, provocative dancing.
- There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programs, other music videos, ect ...)
E.g.
- Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).
E.g. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Escape the Fate
This video is a typical example of the metal genre, illustrating close ups of the band playing their instruments and the lead singer, all of which are on stage.
E.g. New Kids on the Block, Little Mix
This video is a typical example of the boy/girl band genre due to their synchronised dancing and similar dress code.
- There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
E.g.
The visuals in the video match the lyrics Daniel Powter is singing.
The music here is contradicting to the video as the tender loving lyrics are a complete contrast to the harsh message portrayed in the video.
- The demands of the records label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). E.g. Katy Perry and Michael Jackson (to be analysed in seperate blogs).
E.g.
Michael Jackson's iconic motif of his glove has become symbollic of his music videos.
There's also the symbol of the silver coin which appeared in a couple of his videos.
- There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, ect ...) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. Like Laura Mulvey,'s theory, the camera's gaze is the male gaze.
E.g.
Close ups of certain parts of the female anatomy, girls dressed in revealing clothing, provocative dancing.
- There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programs, other music videos, ect ...)
E.g.
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
Audience Theory
Reception Theory: based on the idea that there is no single meaning for any media text.
- Given that the Effects model and the Uses and gratifications have their problems and limitations a different approach to audiences was developed by the academic Stuart Hall at Birmingham University in the 1970's.
- This concidered how texts were encoded with meaning by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences.
- It focuses on what people see in the media and the meanings they produce.
- It says that messages from the media text can have a preferred meaning but anyone can have an individual interpretation.
- Audience readings are affected by variables of age, gender, social status and social context and thus they might not accept the preferred meaning.
Suture:
- Classical Hollywood narrative, editing, sound and miss-en-scene 'sutures' or positions the audience in certain ways making only one preferred reading (reception theory) possible, however unconscious the audience is of that position (e.g. Steven Spielburg's 'Jaws').
- The theory stems from the literary and film theories of Rowland Barthes, Stephan Heath, Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, but was formulated by Daniel Day in his "The Tutor Code of Classical Cinema" (1974).
- According to these theorists, the audience 'stitches' itself into a film by relating to characters or world views expressed in a film, and then filling in the temporal and spacial gaps between scenes with our imaginations.
- This is made all easier when means, techniques, codes, and conventions of film are made 'invisible' by the filmmakers.
E.g. "Crash"
- Given that the Effects model and the Uses and gratifications have their problems and limitations a different approach to audiences was developed by the academic Stuart Hall at Birmingham University in the 1970's.
- This concidered how texts were encoded with meaning by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences.
- It focuses on what people see in the media and the meanings they produce.
- It says that messages from the media text can have a preferred meaning but anyone can have an individual interpretation.
- Audience readings are affected by variables of age, gender, social status and social context and thus they might not accept the preferred meaning.
Suture:
- Classical Hollywood narrative, editing, sound and miss-en-scene 'sutures' or positions the audience in certain ways making only one preferred reading (reception theory) possible, however unconscious the audience is of that position (e.g. Steven Spielburg's 'Jaws').
- The theory stems from the literary and film theories of Rowland Barthes, Stephan Heath, Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, but was formulated by Daniel Day in his "The Tutor Code of Classical Cinema" (1974).
- According to these theorists, the audience 'stitches' itself into a film by relating to characters or world views expressed in a film, and then filling in the temporal and spacial gaps between scenes with our imaginations.
- This is made all easier when means, techniques, codes, and conventions of film are made 'invisible' by the filmmakers.
E.g. "Crash"
Friday, 3 October 2014
History of the Pop Video
1940's - Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby, Jr. was an American singer and actor with a trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation.
He appeared only in films such as 'Road to Rio' and 'The Holiday Inn' and TV show specials including his own 'The Bing Crosby Show'.
1950s - Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer, actor, filmmaker, and conductor, beginning his musical career in the swing era as a boy singer with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. He was the first singer to ever have screaming fans.
Frank Sinatra only ever appeared in films (such as 'The Tender Trap' or 'The Manchurian Candidate'), TV (The Man and his Music) or occasionally concerts.
Late 50s - Elvis Presley - The Birth of Rock & Roll
Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "The King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "The King".
Elvis didn't tour outside of the US, but he did appear in films ('Blue Hawaii' and 'Jailhouse Rock') and TV specials.
(Black and White)
Colour
This new idea of rock and roll brought along a new genre as well as a new looks for the generation at the time. Teenagers were no longer dressing in suits like Bing Crosby, but insted started to wear leather jackets with tassels and boys slicked their hair back into the classical Elvis quiff.
Early 60s - The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band that formed in Liverpool, in 1960. With John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the greatest and most influential act of the rock era.
When they got their first Number One hit, they toured America and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show which broke records for being the most watched show in the US.
However, they grew tired of touring and decided to release a movie that could be shown around the world. This featured the first ever music video starring the tracks 'Paperback Writer' and 'Rain'.
The video consisted of the band members playing instruments on a grassy field surrounded by flowers, although it is the film music video in theory is still contains characteristics that we use in today's music videos such as close ups, mid shots and lip synching.
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby, Jr. was an American singer and actor with a trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation.
He appeared only in films such as 'Road to Rio' and 'The Holiday Inn' and TV show specials including his own 'The Bing Crosby Show'.
1950s - Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer, actor, filmmaker, and conductor, beginning his musical career in the swing era as a boy singer with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. He was the first singer to ever have screaming fans.
Frank Sinatra only ever appeared in films (such as 'The Tender Trap' or 'The Manchurian Candidate'), TV (The Man and his Music) or occasionally concerts.
Late 50s - Elvis Presley - The Birth of Rock & Roll
Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "The King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "The King".
Elvis didn't tour outside of the US, but he did appear in films ('Blue Hawaii' and 'Jailhouse Rock') and TV specials.
(Black and White)
Colour
This new idea of rock and roll brought along a new genre as well as a new looks for the generation at the time. Teenagers were no longer dressing in suits like Bing Crosby, but insted started to wear leather jackets with tassels and boys slicked their hair back into the classical Elvis quiff.
Early 60s - The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band that formed in Liverpool, in 1960. With John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the greatest and most influential act of the rock era.
When they got their first Number One hit, they toured America and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show which broke records for being the most watched show in the US.
However, they grew tired of touring and decided to release a movie that could be shown around the world. This featured the first ever music video starring the tracks 'Paperback Writer' and 'Rain'.
The video consisted of the band members playing instruments on a grassy field surrounded by flowers, although it is the film music video in theory is still contains characteristics that we use in today's music videos such as close ups, mid shots and lip synching.
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