Tuesday 22 October 2013

"Cutting It" relationship representation


Write up your response to the Cutting it extract - How does the extract construct representations of gender? (And relationships)

Last lesson we watched an extract from "Cutting It". This scene started off with a couple riding at the back of a taxi. The female character (Allie) is shown leaning on her partner Gavin’s shoulder. This could suggest her dependency on Gavin; however it could also simply portray the closeness of their relationship. The closeness of their relationship is then emphasised in the close up of their rings in screenshot 4 suggesting that they’re a happily married couple.

Later on, the cab pulls up outside a hospital and Gavin is confused and asks “why are we here?” suggesting that Allie is the dominating character as she’s the one in charge as she set up the meeting with the consultant. Furthermore, Allie has even more authority in this scene as she insists that Gavin waits for her outside whilst she goes to see the consultant alone.  

Conversely in this situation the power shifts as the consultant has the power as he is the one that had the envelope which enclosed Allie’s fate. Scene 17 shows Allie receiving the results from her consultant. Her expression is detached, so the viewers are not sure what to expect with the news. The setting and the light on in that particular scene imitates an interrogation room, as it has one main light in the middle.

Scene 27 and 28 also suggest going against the stereotypical imagery, as usually that would particular scene would be shown with the male character shouting across the road, with the female character staying quiet to take in what the male character was saying and then responding with a simple facial expression (usually of agreement) Whereas in this scene; Allie is the character shouting across the road with Gavin replying with the use of silent facial expressions. This suggests Allie is in charge of the scene - mainly because she knows the results; however the audience and Gavin do not know the results.

When Allie is hit by the bus, Gavin is portrayed as a sort of super hero as he flew to her rescue; nevertheless he did this after a slight pause, which is typically the woman’s reaction to an incident, thus showing the constant back and forth of authority. It is only when Gavin and Allie talk to each other that we see Lillie’s spread around Allie. Victorians believed that Lillie’s represent beauty and charm therefore this Mise-en-scen could suggest the beauty of their relationship is over as she is about to die or it could represent the beauty of the day (up until her demise) as they were newlyweds and the news she received could have been positive.

Overall this extract constructs representations of gender to be unclear as the roles of authority are constantly changing throughout the extract as Gavin obtains feminine qualities at times whereas Allie upholds masculine qualities, thus showing role reversal. 

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Homework- Representations of gender


Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs representations of gender:



The shot below is a low angle shot, showing the mans authority and dominance. This shot also reconfirms the ladies position of authority as she's also looking up at the man.


 The idea of male dominance over the woman is made even clearer in this next frame as she is then humiliated by everyone by being made to kneel down in front of everyone. This clip then highlights how feeble and powerless she is and how much he's belittling her. This is an example of woman not being seen as equals and an example of how patriarchy and how its accepted in our society as even in this clip there are people on the sides not outraged at the main actors orders including the woman, its as if they know to just accept it.





This frame of a lady in the red dress, emphases many feminists points on the objectification and sexualisation of women in the media as the colour red is usually associated with sex and promiscuity. Moreover, this character doesn't get to speak she's just there as eye candy, something to look at. Bearing the Mise-en-scene in mind- The lady obediently follows his orders, kneeling to the ground and submissively bows her head at his command thus giving him the power he demands. 


Overall this clip portrays the female character to be quite helpless, powerless and quite substandard to men. This is a stereotype that has been played on numerous times before and is evident in even TV commercials. The majority of advertisements that have to do with cooking or household chores feature a woman as the main character, illustrating that woman are the homemakers who stay at home and look after the children and feed and care for there family whereas the men are the breadwinners.

However the screenshot below displays how it all changes:



 This is the section in where the male character lost his authority and Martha gained it as she knew something the rest didn't therefore she had more power. This was also shown in the change of sound as Martha starts laughing, the sound is more upbeat played on a guitar - this highlights the change in position of superiority.










This screen shot shows Martha to be the dominant character as everyone is listening to her, however  she's on the same level as them suggesting that the other characters don't feel inferior to her, they respect her.






This screenshot illustrates the change in status and authority, as the Doctor is now rising which then gives him a higher status thus showing that he has more power in this situation. Moreover the lighting around him suggests he's God like.

My first video and review


Last lesson we had to film a short clip involving: different shots and angles, the 180 rule and a continuity shot - we chose to film the actress walking through the door then filmed her from the other side. The video starts off by showing the actress walking down a corridor and then approaching a door. 



The 180 rule was applied when the two people characters were having a conversation on the stairs. The camera shouldn't cross the 180* line otherwise the audience will be left confused as to who's looking where. 

Below are examples that demonstrate the 180 rule.


 These diagrams show that the camera has to follow a certain angle and should not cross it as the shot will be unclear for the audience and won't flow nicely.

In reflection, after watching back my first  official video, there are very few errors. However it isn't perfect but nothing is, one critique that I can make is the "close-up" of the hand, I'd suggest that if I was to re-shoot this I would make it even closer to add more of an impact and been more effective. 

I think that the start of the video is really good as it flows very well and the shot of the actress walking through the door was really good and flowed really well. However the main issue with this video was the conversation between the two actresses as when I edited it to show who was speaking, it was very jumpy and didn't quite flow as nicely as the rest of the video nonetheless for my first video it was pretty good and I am proud of it.


Camera shots & angles in film



Last lesson, we filmed ourselves experimenting with different shots and angles. We then had to edit the video using 'Final Cut Express', in this edit we added text describing the different shots and angles.
Below is a first cut of my editing process.

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Enemy of the State- Home Learning


Enemy of the State, Tony Scott, 1998






The point of this sequence is to create suspense in the audience, to keep them interested and also to build tension within the shot. A way that tension is created is the use of close ups, mid-angle shots and cross cutting as it add emphasis to the particular shots. Furthermore they decided to use cross- cutting to show the characters inside and the bad guys outside to make the audience feel empathy for the men inside because we know what's going to happen and they are unaware.  Cross-cutting is also used to show the back and forth conversations between the characters. Moreover, music is another creative technique which has been used to help create suspense and make the audience question what's going to happen next?


This shot is an example of a close up used- this CU is significant because it shows the man putting something into the machine and it wouldn't of been shown if it wasn't valuable or important to the scene, thus helping to build suspense.

Below are pictures of significant CU's.
 The picture below is very significant in this sequence as it shows a picture of one of the characters and his family, thus creating sympathy. Moreover, it also makes the character seem more humane and relate able as even though he has "macho" job this clip shows his vulnerability as his family are obviously important to him.


I chose the section of the film that had a sequence of CU's, these CU's were really effective as it grabs the audiences attention as it intrigues them and helps to create suspense.




The editing used in the sequence suits the idea of a thriller movie. The short and swift close-ups, intense expressions and menacing music all supports the thriller theme and successfully creates tension and anticipation within the movie, which is the basic ingredients for a good thriller film.


At 2:16 There is a close-up of the padlock. From the shot after, it seems the two men will try to break open the padlock to get on the other side of the gate. The effect it has on the audience is the question of if the two men will try to break open the padlock, if so, how they will go about it.

At 2.20 there is an extreme close up of the gun. This, for the audience will make them wonder if he will break the padlock with the gun. Or whether he will use for protection for whatever he trying to do. If he is walking to somewhere that is not safe and the gun is for his protection. Or if he, himself is on other villainous side of the story.  


Finally at 2:24 - There is a close-up of the characters face, straight after a shot on the computer. This shows a concern on the face on the character for the audience because there is a clear link between the computer analysis and the concern on the characters' face. This close up helps create suspense as I the audience member want to know why that character is concerned and what that image means to him.



Overall, the editing of this sequence works well with the genre of  thriller due to the multiple close ups and cross cuts which create tension and build suspense which is crucial for any good thriller. The close ups and the backwards and forward motion of the editing between CU's and M S's guarantees that the audience wont miss anything and that they can see what the important parts are