Directed Study Interpretation of Gender - Primeval

Directed Study: Represenation of Gender

Cinematography + Mise-en-scene

In this scene the female character is being portrayed as weak and vulnerable - this is because of the high angle shot which gives us the impression that she's being looked down upon - which further shows us that she's in a vulnerable position. The mise-en-scene only enhances the fact that she is vulnerable - the way her costume is positioned leaves her open and her expression is one of fear and shock. The fact that she has a gun pointed at her only reinforces the fact that this female is extremely vulnerable in this scene. This is a stereotypical representation of women in the media - the stereotypical 'damsel in distress' and that women are weak and vulnerable in dangerous situations. In this scene us as the audience are meant to fear for her safety and hope that she does get through this situation alive.

Cinematography + Mise-en-scene

In this shot, the female is shown in a completely different light to the other female - she is driving and using the digger, which is normally considered to be a stereotypical male job - therefore she is challenging the conventions of gender orientated job roles. This makes her appear strong and in control because she is in control of the digger, while the male in this scene is on the ground, helpless against his threat - while the female is in control and fights against the threat therefore reversing the stereotypical gender roles. This character still retains some conventions of the stereotypical woman such as wearing make-up. This scene makes the female audience feel as if they can be powerful and strong. The mise-en-scene in this scene is shown through this female's clothing - which isn't traditionally female - she has a unique style similar to that of New-Age rock (with her leather jacket) the fact that she isn't a traditional female is also shown with her short hairstyle. This breaks the stereotypical representation of women (Long hair, pretty dresses etc) and is only emphasized by the fact that she's operating a digger - which shows us that her character deviates from female stereotypes.

Cinematography

This scene shows us the male - clearly in distress - being attacked by the sabertooth. This is the same scene in which the female is in control of the digger. Thus continuing to show the role reversal - where the man is the so called 'damsel in distress'. The audience is supposed to feel anxious for the male lead and are anticipating his next move.

Editing

In this scene, the man is being forced into the hole by a CGI sabertooth tiger - this reinforces the fact that this is a dangerous creature - that you would need to be equipped to deal with it - which this character clearly isn't and wasn't expecting the Sabertooth's arrival. The female in this scene then proceeds to use the digger she is in control of to fight against the threat - which also reinforces the gender reversal in this scene. The audience is reminded that the woman in this scene has the power and the man is the one who needs saving.

Editing

This scene is shown as being fast-paced and emphasizes the fact that this is a (sort-of) fight scene between the female operating the digger and the sabertooth. The short cuts in this scene gives is the impression that this is happening extremely fast - it then cuts over to the male, who has now climbed out of the hole he was forced into - then back again to the digger - which cuts back to the male character putting himself on the line by calling out to the sabertooth - with the intention of getting it to follow him instead. This shows the audience that both the male and female in this scene improvise and distract the sabertooth - showing us - the audience - that both of these characters can keep their cool in dangerous situations and are able to think logically and rely on each other in these times of danger - which again goes against the stereotypical conventions of a man and woman's relationship - instead of the woman being dependent on the man, they both have an equal relationship in which they can rely on each other.

Sound

This scene is where this woman is in control of the conversation - she is being represented as being strong and slightly manipulative. She does not follow the stereotype of women being weak and easily manipulated as she is trying to manipulate this male into agreeing with her deal - showing us that she feels in control and has authority over this male. This is shown through her dialogue specifically 'I need someone to blame Mr. West and i'm afraid you're my only candidate.' She threatens him with a prison sentence - hoping to coerce him into the deal - only to have him turn violent - in which she looses her confidence and becomes afraid and slightly desperate 'We both know that you aren't a violent man.' The audience should want this character to succeed in her deal because of how much she's worked for it and because her confidence seems to assure her victory.

Sound

In this scene the music - non diegetic - builds up and creates a crescendo which is then built upon with the drum beats - creating the image of a fast heartbeat - showing us that the male in this scene is experiencing fear. This goes against the convention that males are cool and collected in dangerous situations - this allows us to empathize more with the character as he is showing weakness which inherently makes him feel more human than if he was calm and collected in a situation like this unless he was trained to be (e.g a soldier - which Cutter clearly isn't). The audience are on the edge of their seats in anticipation for the male character's next choice of action and are holding on to the hope that he gets through this dangerous situation unscathed.

Representation of the Working Class in Media - Social Class and Status

Directed Study - Glossary

 Glossary:


Camerawork Key Words:

Shots

• Establishing Shot - The first shot of a new scene - used to show the audience where the action is taking place.
• Master Shot - A film recording of an entire dramatized scene, from start to finish, from an angle that keeps all the players in view. 
• Close-up - A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.
• Mid-shot - Shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject.
• Long Shot -  typically shows the entire subject - and helps place the subject in relation to it's surroundings.
• Wide Shot - The subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as comfortably possible. 
• Two-shot - A shot of two people - normally framed like a Mid-shot.
• Aerial Shot - A birds eye view.
• Point Of View Shot - Shows a view of someone's perspective.
• Over The Shoulder Shot - Looking from behind a person (over their shoulder) at the subject.

Angle

• High Angle - When the camera looks down on the subject from a high angle - above.
• Low Angle - When the camera looks up at an object from a lower angle than itself.
• Canted Angle - In which the camera angle is deliberately tilted for effect.

Movement

• Pan -  the sweeping movement of a camera across a scene.
• Tilt - Where the camera is tilted - while moving
• Track - When the camera is parallel to the action - it is moving alongside the action.
• Dolly - Where the camera is shot on a cart that moves with tracks - this is called the dolly.
• Crane - Where the camera is filming from a crane or jib.
• Steadicam - A camera stabilizer mount.
• Hand-held - Where the camera is filmed with someone holding it.
• Zoom - Increase rapidly the magnification of the image of a distant object by means of a zoom lens - To zoom in on something.
• Reverse Zoom - Decrease rapidly the magnification of the image of a distant object by means of a zoom lens - To zoom out of something.

Composition

• Framing - using natural surroundings to add more meaning to your subject. 
• Rule of Thirds - means that the frame can be divided into three horizontal sections and three vertical sections and therefore, where the horizontal and vertical lines intersect makes an ideal location for the more important parts of the film.
• Depth of Field - means the sharp area surrounding the point of focus.
• Deep Focus - means having everything in the shot in focus at the same time.
• Shallow Focus - means that only one part of the shot is in focus at the same time.
• Focus Pull - is where you change focus during a shot - Usually this means adjusting the focus from one subject to another. 

Editing Key Words

General Terms

• Continuity Editing - Where shots are edited so that the whole thing flows and has consistency.
• Montage Editing - The complete opposite of Continuity Editing.
• Long Take - an uninterrupted shot in a film which lasts much longer than the conventional editing pace
• Short Take - A shot in the film that is substantially shorter than the rest - or the opposite of a Long Take.
• Slow Motion - In which the subjects in the shot are slowed down for dramatic effect.
• Ellipsis - deliberately omitting intervals or sections of the narrative story or action - e.g 'Seven Years Later...'
• Expansion of Time - making the duration of the video sequence longer than real-time - E.g sports slow motion replay.
• Post-Production Visual Effects - Visual effects that are added in after the filming is done.
• Cutting
• Shot/Reverse Shot - where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character.
• Eyeline Match - What the character on-screen is seeing.
• Graphic Match - is a cut in film editing between either two different objects, two different spaces, or two different compositions in which objects in the two shots graphically match.
• Action Match - cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. A common example is a man walking up to a door and reaching for the knob.
• Jump Cut -  an abrupt transition from one scene to another.
• Crosscutting - alternate (one sequence) with another.
• Parallel Editing -  is the technique of alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in different locations - also called crosscutting.
• Cutaway -  the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else.
• Insert (Cut in) -  A cut-in shot is a close-up shot of something visible in the main scene. A cutaway shot is a shot AWAY from the main scene.

Transitions

• Cut - in which scenes or shots are combined.
• Cross-Dissolve - a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. 
• Fade In - when a picture gradually appears on screen form nothing.
• Fade Out - when a picture gradually turns back to nothing.
• Wipe - A wipe is a type of film transition where one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape.
• Superimposition - Two distinct images appearing simultaneously with one on top of  the other.

Sound Key Words

• Diegetic - Sounds and music made within the story itself that the characters can hear.
• Non-Diegetic Sound - Sounds and music that the characters don't hear - e.g Mission Impossible's theme.
• Sound Mixing - taking all sounds e.g sound effects, music etc and putting them all together.
• Synchronous/Asynchronous Sound - Synchronous sounds are those sounds which are synchronized or matched with what is viewed - Asynchronous sound effects are not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen.
• Sound Effects - a sound other than speech or music made artificially.
• Sound Motif - a detail repeated for larger symbolic meaning 
• Sound Bridge - stresses the connection between scenes since their mood (suggested by the music) is still the same.
• Dialogue - The character's lines and speech.
• Voiceover - Someone voicing over a scene - e.g the narrator
• Mode of Address/Direct Address -  defined as the ways in which relations between addresser and addressee are constructed in a text. A direct address is the name of the person (normally) who is being directly spoken to. It is always a proper noun.
• Sound Perspective -  A sound's position in space as perceived by the viewer given by volume, timbre, and pitch.
• Soundtrack: score - original music written specifically to accompany a film.
• Incidental Music - music used in a film or play as a background to create or enhance a particular atmosphere.
• Themes and Stings - give a particular theme or setting to (a leisure venue, event, etc.). A sting is a short musical phrase, primarily used in broadcasting and films as a form of punctuation.
• Ambient Sound -  background sounds which are present in a scene or location - e.g rain.