Laura Mulvey’s theory of “The Male Gaze”

Laura Mulvey was a theorist who argued that we live in a society where men dictate the rules and construct a representation of an ideal world, a world where males have dominance over women. This is also known as a “Patriarchal Society”. 

“The Male Gaze” is the theory she believed that audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a male. This theory consists of the idea that within a film, the camera will linger on the curves of the female character which are highlighted with specific editing conventions such as slow-motion deliberately causing the audience to focus their attentions on the female’s curves. And events which occur to women are presented in context of a man’s reaction to the event.

The theory proves that film relegates women to the status of objects.

Female viewer must experience the narrative in the 2nd person due to the nature of the narrative is that of a male. Despite that women in film/text tend to have no importance in regards to the story, however they play a toll on how the male character acts or feels which is important.

Visual Pleasure

Mulvey theorised that the role of a female character in a film; them within the narrative had two functions…

• To be an erotic object for the characters within the narrative to view.
• As an erotic object for the audience to view.

A perfect embodiment of this statement is within the James Bond franchise were women are objectified and forced by the audience to gaze upon their physical features. However, today this theory of “The Male Gaze” has only been frequently used within advertising rather than film due to the nature of our society now attempting to reduce the spectacles of women seen through man’s perception within film/television by portraying a far more factual representation of a female character; whom may cause the male protagonist to strive to be a better individual. (TO BE CONTINUED) 

Terror in the Night

This week, we were put into groups of four.Due to our particular set of skills involving leadership,teamwork and creative; these were vital to come up with a concept for a story based upon the title "Terror in the Night".

Once we had developed an idea, we then had to create ten storyboards for the short film which required us to include additional information in regards to timing and information regarding the movement of the camera with the various transition from one shot to another.

Ultimately the activity was extremely helpful because it allowed us to practise these skills in preparation for our coursework; in particular the further development of our storyboard by editing an animatic of our conceptual short film.

The animatic was a great tool for us in regards to visually present a conceptual short film through the inclusion of music and sound effects to help express the tone of the project which couldn't be expressed through a simplistic frame.Therfore our group was very impressed with the way the animatic turned out and the impact of the inclusion of audio affected the visual presentation of the frames within the storyboards.

 

is the animatic our group had produced which presented our concept perfectly and it was a great practise for our coursework and after this brief activity, I am very eager to delve into my coursework.

To summarise the brief exercise, our group decided to take a moment to discuss our thoughts in regards to our ideas and concepts behind our story and evaluate aspects of the development of the idea from presenting it on a storyboard to an animatic in addition to elaborating on how much both forms of visual representations can have whilst each conveying particular messages of the story.

Visual Meaning & Camera Angles

As I begin to learn and understanding the procedures involved when

producing a live-action motion picture; I have been studying different forms of camera angles and also ways of interpreting the visual meanings in which the director is presenting within the frame.

I have learnt that within any given film, the placement of the camera plays a major impact on the way the audience will feel towards the scene. Which is why the director applies appropriate shot types to particular frames within the scene to provide the audience with a certain form of sensation and emotion towards the sequence. The way in which the director chooses to shoot any given scene will play a toll on the way the audience will view the film therefore affecting their judgement of the entire film. 

The film-makers must ultimately be aware of what they wish to show within the frame in order to gain the right response from their audience.

A director can visual present meaning within a frame of their film due to the content within the shot help convey particular ideas to the audience to help them understand and learn aspect of the character or the story. 

An example of showing how a director can present visual meanings within their shot and also highlighting these aspects through the use of key shot types to heighten the visual representation of their story is within a sequence for the film "Full Metal Jacket". Stanley Kubrick creatively uses certain shot types to attract the audience to focus on aspects of the shot to further understand the story and gather information in regards to the characters by depicting symbolical,iconic and indexical signs.

This is an “extra long shot” or “wide shot”; within this scene it is used to establish to the audience where the location of the scene is. This establishing shot also conveys the tone of the scene due to all the soldiers being fixed in position therefore causing the audience to allude to possible outcomes to why they might be in this formation.

Due to the vast amount of space presented within this shot, this allows the audience to be aware of many aspects of the frame such as the amount of subjects within the scene. In addition to aspects included within the frame, this shot effectively uses dull colours which further emphasises on the setting that being of a military location. The use of dull colours connotes the ideas of military life and the seriousness of it.

The director uses a “pan shot” to transition the shot from one location to another which not only causes the audience to focus their attention to the subject walking across the set from one side to the other… But is also walking closer to the camera causing the audience to depict information on the subject but lures the audience towards the privates filling the audience with curiosity and tension as they may learn more information about certain subject through dialogue or visual representation.

Within this “medium shot” the audience is confronted with a closer look at the two subjects within this frame; this is an effective shot due to their clothing and expression reveals information in regards to the characters.

Particularly with the drill-sergeant and by his decorative uniform this clarifies that he is of higher ranking not only through his medals and patches but through his uniform which segregates him from the rest of the men granting him with respect and authority.

This “low angle shot” is deeply effective due to the fact that it emphasises on the drill-sergeant’s power over the private whom he is addressing. Due to the low positioning of the camera it connotes the mental state of the individual who the drill-sergeant is addressing making him feel lower than his sergeant enforcing on the drill-sergeant’s control and menacing character. This shot also plays a toll on the audience effecting their well-being due to the point of view of the shot alluding them to feel as if the drill sergeant is addressing them directing causing the audience to feel a form of discomfort.


This ultimately proves how much of an importance shots are and how various camera angles can vastly impact the audience's emotional response to the scene. Particularly through the use of the sequence from "Full Metal Jacket" I have understood how different camera angles can help captivate the audience's attention to certain visual aspects of the frame and how it plays a toll on how effective a scene may be towards the audience.

The Horror Cycle

From the my notes I have learnt that as time passes,genres evolves and remains to be updated on the trends in which the audiences are favouriting at that moment in time.I realised that they're many forces that have a major impact  over the evolution of any genre; specifically speak social and psychological forces.

The horror genre for example has evolved over eight decades due to our society's profound nature to change preferences due to social and phycological aspects playing a toll on our fears ultimately causing the horror genre to adapt to our changes in fear in order to satisfy their audiences with the sensation of fear and discomfort by their films.

Within each decade over time, there has been a specific phobia used to indulge their audience with fear. However, this timeline of the evolution of horror emphasises on the audience's control over the genre dictating it's conventions in order to ensure it remains satisfying to the audience; where as it may become predictable causing the genre to ultimately fade out of trend. 

Within my notes, you can depict the various forms of phobias audiences were fixated to in regards to what in fact was believed to have been scary in that decade. However like all trends, they grow out of fashion which in this case the audiences overcame their fear over those phobias.
This provided film-makers with the opportunity to explore various forms of fear to creatively redefine the horror genre once audiences felt the need for an innovative idea.

An example of a film-maker who redefined the horror genre was Alfred Hitchcock. The cinematic masterpiece that is "Psycho" presented the idea that human beings can be as horrifying as monsters due to the fact that the mind alone can be a fearful place to explore. Hitchcock also alluded the idea that that our comfort and safety provided by our homes can violated. 

A key scene within this film that best presents this concept is the scene where the lead actress is brutal murdered within the comforts of her own bathroom.
Not only did this scene portray the idea that not the lead character  is not suppressed from danger due to her importance of the story; but also that our privacy and safety are all irrelevant due to a human beings deranged and inescapable potential for evil.


This then sparked the imagination of film-makers to produce horror films creatively infusing plot lines that would target audience's fears and comfort areas to toy with them; leading to the creation of the classic "A nightmare on Elm Street" a film where victims would be horrifically tortured and murdered within their nightmares. Yet again causing the audiences to generate a phobia of sleeping.

Within this current decade, the horror genre is overflowing with supernatural thrillers and exorcisms which have grown to be extremely formulaic; films such as "The Conjuring" and "Insidious" all follow similar patterns.They doe however have a deep impact on the audiences due to the compelling nature of the films highlight that society today are not invested in religion in comparison to pervious years. Which is why the productions convey a  subliminal message towards the audience to re-invest in the ideas and principles behind religion.


My speculation for the next decade in regards to the horror genre is that it will manifest ideas pre-existing within it's cycle.   I speculate that the horror genre will return to the hybrid genres; similar to the innovative combination within both the early 50s and 70s with the sci-fi/horror genre. Due to the exceeding growth of love audiences are having towards the hybrid genres. This is causing studios to once again reproduce films such as Ridley Scott's "Alien" which provided both science fiction infused with horror. I have already witnessed this from various films of hybrid genres teasing its potential to reboot the horror genre. Which is compelling to know that studios are in fact aware of the genre's need of rebooting but justifies it's needs for franchises. This is a marketing technique used to produce films allocated within an existing property in order to ensure financial success. A key example of a studio seizing the opportunity to create a potential franchise is "The Purge" a film that is of a hybrid genre combining conventions and iconographies associated within action/horror/thriller. "The Purge" was a project that had a budget of a small fortune of $3 million and produces $80 million at the box-office providing the studio with a large profit margin. Due to the success of that project, this has lead to the production of a sequel titled "The Purge-Anarchy" which was granted with larger production costs to exceed the expectation and scope set by the previous film at an attempt to provide the audiences with new visual concepts to the story in order to lure the public into viewing it. This strategy   was resourceful due to the fact that the sequel expectedly grossed more than it's predecessor; ultimately establishing a potential franchise for the foreseeable future.