Evaluation of Film Studies Videos

Within our film studies part of the course we studied three theories and how they applied to film making; Freud, Lacan and Mulvey. After we analysed films with these theories we created our own film based on the theories. Me and Connie decided to make a short film based on Mulvey's male gaze and what it means to be under the male gaze and how women must be constantly sexualised and appealing and treat the camera as a heterosexual male. We shot in one location which was my house, We shot here because we wanted to show what a 'normal' day in the life of a girl is and then what the 'male gaze' day in the life is. In terms of mise-en-scene the location added a sense of verisimilitude to our film to make the issues of the male gaze rooted in the real world. In this way the choice of close-ups and wide shots of the female character would suggest what the male was actually seeing. 

We had aimed for the film to be an almost mirror image but with the difference being one is sexualised and the other isn't. The sexualised one is in nice underwear (mies-en-scene) and is very posed and 'sexy' we did this because we thought it would be an interesting way of expressing the difference. I think we made a good attempt at this with the variety of shots (cutting from close-up to midshot) and the difference in the opposition, to improve this we could have maybe used different shots (such as cutting to a reverse shot of a male) and created two entirely different films which could emphasise the over-exggaration of the male gaze. 

There are several parts of our video that could be done better; the editing could be smoother and the transitions between shots could be less obvious and visible. The editing in particular was not effective enough in suggesting the male viewpoint. The narrative we have isn't as strong as we wanted it to be and originally first intended but our message still comes across within the video itself. I feel like we could have created a greater contrast and the ending could've tied up the message of the film better instead of just leaving it on the message at the end. In terms of diegetic and non-diegetic sound, we could have made the film much better by using a soundtrack that was more sleazy and obviously masculine. In this way the message of the film would have been more obvious.

In my final summary I feel like we worked well in our pairing and we split the roles evenly and created a piece of work that we are both artistically involved in. I edited the film and Connie filmed it, we both had a hand in the storyboarding and the message of the film and we both chose a concept and theory we were interested in and we hope we have achieved a video that has expressed the idea of the theory and what the male gaze is.

Film studies Videos (evidence for Lacan and Mulvey theory is here)

Analysis of Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad with Mulvey's male gaze theory.

Harley Quinn's character is a prime example of the male gaze, her character is so unnecessary sexualised, in this clip you can see how the camera lingers on her figure and there is a zoom shot in on her licking the bars of the cage she is in, this is sexualisation of the character as the lingering shots and the zoom in shots of her licking the bars sexualise her because they linger on her like the male gaze would. The extended shot duration and close-up of Harley Quinn's face, together with her facial expression, are clearly used to satisfy the male audience and objectify her as an object of male desire. Even the words she are saying 'don't you want to play with me is sexually charged even though it could arguably be a phrase that a child would say. Even the men within the clip are seemingly aroused and interested in her even though they know she is dangerous, we can see this when the cutaways show us their expressions in midshots. The main man she is interacting with shows no interest in her though which shows that even if the scene in the movie isn't meant to be sexually charged but it is exploring the male gaze and particularly for the audiences gratification.

At the start of the scene there is a slow tracking shot around the bars of the cage from a low angle, putting Harley up high in the shot which is a power-play but ensuring that the male viewpoint is gratified for the audiences benefit. This then cuts to a mid-shot of her and tracks downwards with the movement of her body, clearly showing off the curves of her torso right down to the top of her legs. This slow tilting shot glides over her body like the eyes of the male audience and fractures her body as Mulvey suggests in her theory. This is then followed by a zoom-in shot of her being framed in the centre of the screen, this makes her the centre of attention for the shot and gives her the power in the shot. The next shot is a close up of her face as she is licking the bars.

Although the sequence was not constructed with 'the male gaze' in mind, it clearly conforms to the way that a male viewer would be gratified by the over sexualised shots which have been used. The fracturing of the female form, so that a male can see parts of her body in a sexual way makes it easy to critically assess the sequence from Mulvey's perspective. As a consequence I would argue that cinema is still dominated by a masculine approach to representation.  

Outline for Video on the Theory.

Outline of film:

This film we are doing is a day in the life style film that slowly gets more glitchy and distorted. Swapping and changing between a sexualised girl and an un-sexualised girl. The unsexy woman will be static and normal. The other woman is hyper-sexualised and over-the-top. It slowly fades into distortion and becomes censored and flashing images. it will include mundane tasks such as waking up, brushing teeth, getting changed and eating breakfast. The contrast of the mundane tasks with the adding of the contrast between the sexualised woman and the non-sexualised creates a film that accurately portrays the male gaze within the media.

Equipment

1. Camera (DSLR)
2. Memory card
3. Lamps for lighting

Storyboard


What we aim to visualise:

We aim to show the difference between a classic 'male gaze' woman and what we perceive as a 'normal' woman, we are going to cut this with 'contains sensitive information' and with other sexualised adverts such as beer ads that don't need to be sexualised. This is to show that the male gaze is pertinent and how unnecessary the sexualisation of women is.

This is our storyboard, in each of these shots we plan to do exactly the same but with the girl wearing lingerie and being more sexualised. The use of high angles was chosen to put the female in a submissive position and make her appear to be dominated by a male audience.

Mulvey's Theory of the Male Gaze

Mulvey's male gaze theory states that the camera is turned into a heterosexual male as the industry is dominated by males, this is to appease the audience by sexualising women using the camera. This is seen in films and adverts where they use attractive women and using them to turn non-sexual situations into sexual undertones. Through the lens of the camera, women will see what a male looks for in a woman and therefore they will take an influence on how they act and what they wear based on how they want men to see them. It can affect the way women want to see themselves. A study has shown that 60% of heterosexual women have admitted to regularly being attracted to other women. Mulvey's theory was created in 1975 when she made the statement that in order to watch a film, the audience is forced into a position of a heterosexual make in order to fully experience the film. It is often presented in camera movement; the way a camera lingers on the body of a female in a way that is like looking her up and down. The shots used are often longer takes and this is done to prolong the pleasure of looking, known in media as scopophilia.

The Lacanianism Theory of Personality.

Lacan's theory of the Mirror Stage is the psychological development in a child in which the child first recognises itself in the mirror for the first time and becomes conscious of their image and self hood. This stage happens between the ages of 6 and 18 months when the child first realises it is individual from others. At this time the child's identity begins to form, it forms one that is distinct from others but at the same time is inspired from the images of others in order to achieve their own personality. This theory inspired the idea of lack and the concept of desire. "Desire is relation to being to lack, the lack is the lack of being properly speaking, It is not the lack of this or that, but the lack of being whereby the being exists."

Sigmund Freud's theory of the Id and the ego forms the foundation of the Mirror Stage, a child forms a sense of identity and discovers separate I and other, by developing the ability to distiguish self from other the child understands that they are unique and not just reliant on others. This occurs before the linguistic stage of childhood. This is reference to the 'Id' structure of Freud's theory of personality as the child has only the most basic and innate human desires. As the child begins development in the linguistic stage, it starts to use language and construct their identity, therefore the child's 'ego' begins to develop as it learns what is socially acceptable and forms morals. It is in this stage that the child subconsciously suffers an initial identity crisis, the sense of identity gives the child a foundation on which they are going to develop their personality. If this fundamental identification is not recognised, the child will resort to using external influences as examples to base their personality upon. Additionally, this will limit the child's ability to develop it's own ego, and therefore result in the child acting more to satisfy the needs of the id structure.

As an additional note, in relation to how we live our lives, Lacan theorizes that throughout our lives after our linguistic development, we will never be satisfied, due to the fact that ultimately we desire to return to the simplicity and convenience of life before we discover our identity, and that as we grow older, we become more comfortable as we come to the realization that what we want will not occur, and so the desire fades.

Analysis using Freud's psychoanalytical personality theory.

Within La Haine there are three main characters; Vic, Saïd and Hubert. In regards to Freud's personality theory it is easy to make the distinction as to which character is which, Vic is the Id, known throughout the film to be violent and react unnecessary to things, Saïd is the Ego, being constantly in the middle of Vic and Hubert and is the negotiator. Hubert is the superego because he is lawfully good and is trying to be better than the violence that surrounds him. Within the film sequence there is a clear divide between each of the characters. A technical aspect of this is that they are always framed so that Saïd is in the middle.        

As you can see in this medium shot Saïd is placed in the middle of Vinz and Hubert, he is constantly the negotiator within the scenes. Hubert is always on one side and Vinz on the other, Vinz gets pinned by a police officer and the camera is positioned in an over the shoulder shot whereby you see him being confronted by a gun. This is a symbol of the restrictions of society that the Id does not obey, e.g the policeman. When Hubert is running towards him in mid shot, the cuts between his face and his feet are a good example of this because it shows the superego working to keep the Id in check, with the absence of the ego with Saïd out of the picture.

Another example of Freud theory of personality is Fight Club, in the letting yourself become Tyler Durden scene. This is a perfect example of this theory because it clearly shows each of the different personalities. The Narrator is talking to Marla, she can be considered to be the superego as she is the one who is encouraging the narrator to try and understand himself more. Tyler is the opposite of that and he is Id. the narrator the Ego is constantly pulled between the two different personalities. There is a panning shot that shows that the narrator is with tyler in the room. This shot shows Tyler in a chair in a pose of relaxation and he is calm and quiet. The narrator is stood up and panicking when he realises he isn't alone. The shot pans quickly backwards which gives the shot high energy. There is a shot reverse shot of the narrator and Tyler in it which shows that they are the same person, however there is a shot of tyler from the narrator's point of view which doesn't include the narrator which can show that tyler is not aware that they are the same person. Reinforcing the Id, ego idea.

Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic personality theory.

The Id is the disorganised, impulsive part of our personality, it contains the humans basic instinctual drive, the Id is present from birth and is the source of a humans bodily needs, wants, desires and impulses; aggressive or sexual. The id houses the libido which is the primary source of instinctual force that doesn't understand the limitations of reality. The pleasure principle is how the Id acts, it aims to seek immediate gratification of any impulse. The Id is unconscious according to Freud.

The Ego is the organised part of the personality structure that includes the defensive, perceptual, intellectual- cognitive and executive functions. Conscious awareness resides in the go, although not all of the ego's operations are conscious. The ego understands reality and its rules and tries its hardert to keep the Id in check and helps the Id achieve what it wants the way that corresponds to the restrictions set.

The Superego is the moral principles part of personality that is concerned of what other people think and is the complete opposite of the Id. the superego strives to perfect and civilise our personalities. It is the other extreme of the personality.


Usefulness for film analysis:
When this theory is applied to film it can make use understand how different characters can be understood or even constructed to form a narrative conflict. These perspectives can be useful in a critical evaluation of scenes, events and even film narrative in a way that enables the audience or viewer to understand the meanings and motivations of the key characters. Why people act in difficult and different situations and how they respond to others as a result of personal needs and desires.