Gender Representation & Feminism

A video looking at how much impact feminists have made on how women in particular are portrayed in media.

Ideas of Feminism in the 'Cutting it' Extract

From the 'Cutting it' extract, we can decipher some interesting examples of how different genders are represented in media. Throughout the beginning of the scene we see a simple, back and forth conversation between man and woman at the back of a taxi. Five lines into the scene, Allie (the woman) takes Gavin's (the man) hand, showing her affection toward her newly married husband. Allie continuously apologizes to Gavin, asking for his forgiveness, suggesting the man, as so often, has more power than her. She is almost trying to 'butter Gavin up' by showing her love an affection toward him.

Later on in the scene, Gavin interrupts Allie, not once, but twice, another hint of Gavin's dominance. Despite his clear discomfort with the subject, Allie is stubborn in getting him to talk about the matter. Gavin is seemingly appalled at her perseverance, and responds angrily when she continues talking against his wishes.

It soon becomes clear that Gavin does not know what Allie has planned, and became increasingly annoyed at her independence. He then invites himself to Allies consultation before she objects to his wishes once again, making it all better with a kiss. This tells us that Gavin is scared of Allies power through independence, and would prefer her to come to him for approval before taking any action. Gavin almost likes to supervise his wife but seems easily pleased with a sign of how much she loves him.

The scene comes to an end where Allie walks crosses the road unaware of an oncoming bus, which knocks her to the ground. Gavin runs to her side 'Heartbroken', showing the viewer how much Allie meant to him, and he in fact how much he depends on her. This can reflect the increasing gender equality in modern society.

Representations of Gender

CameraWork - From the very begining of the video we sense a vunerability in the woman walking into the room. We notice the man is in a higher postion, looking down to the lady. This suggests that the male is more  dominant than the female and has more power, even having his very own female assistant. 

Editing - We see a good example of a Computer Generated Image as the camera points at. the miniturised and seemingly aged Doctor Who. CGI allows us to see this in the scene despite it not being real.

Sound - The man looks down at her in a derogitory mannor and persistantly proves his inteligence and wit when asking for the 'Teleport Device' and getting some kind of enjoyment out of her suffering. Western like background music plays throughout the scene, creating tension and an idea of a showdown.

Mise-en-scene - The lady obediently follows his orders, kneeling to the ground and submisively bowing her head at his demand. Again this is a significant symbol of the male being the dominant figure in this clip. The man then orders his robot slaves to do as he sais, further potraying his powerful figure.

The tables only turn when the woman boasts her inteligence, to the annoyance of the male, rising from her lowered position as he is presently sat down, to show her defiance to submit to the man. This shows courage and some degree of power, two characteristics not usually portrayed in the female stereotype in media. The clip ends with the previously dominant male backing away into a lower position, showing that the once apparent power has suddenly disappeared. 

From this short clip alone we can see some interesting themes and defiances with the representations of different genders in media.

The Job is Done

A short clip practising different shots, and looking into how effective they are in portraying the idea of the scene. 

The clip starts by tracking someones feet whilst walking. 

Match on action shots were used when going through the door, cutting from frame to frame showing that no time has passed.

Finally, the 180 degree rule is used to film the brief conversation between the two characters, having there head and shoulders in the foreground and the person speaking as the focus.

The clip also includes continuity editing, also known as invisible editing, to produce an almost seamless string of video. Here is the finished product.

Enemy of State (1998) Camera Angle Analysis

Close up, mid-angle shots are used throughout the sequence to create tension throughout the sequence. Cross cutting is also used to show the back and forth of the conversation. The supporting music also creates suspense and the sense that something bad is going to happen.

These are just a few of the close-ups found in this sequence, to give the audience an idea of the characters emotion, and a clear image of a two way conversation between two characters.

At 0:49 to 1:02, two characters are having a heated conversation. The shot starts with a pan, which circles around them both, giving us an idea of the scene and surroundings. At 0:52, we jump to a close-up shot of the person talking, followed by a similar shot at the opposite angle showing the other half of the conversation. In the foreground of these shots we can see the other persons head and shoulders facing away from the camera, showing us that they are talking to eachother. When each character speaks, it is shot at a different angle, also suggesting a conversation is taking place.made of quick, snappy cross-cuts, of the two same close-ups.

The editing used in the sequence suits the idea of a thriller movie. The snappy close-ups, intense emotions and intimidating music all supports the thriller theme and successfully creates tension and anticipation within the movie.