Wednesday 31 December 2008

First Paragraph

Title:
How has the stereotypical view of women been reinforced throughout the film "Material Girls"?

Throughout this, essay I will be dicussing the ways in which the film, "Material Girls" is able to conform to the main sterotypes which are given towards young blonde females in society, therefore emphasising the fact that women are being "underrepresented" and shown to conform to the "male gaze" showing to the audience what there main roles are in the film and what is expected from the stereotypical blonde female characters to do throughout the film. The media tend to exploit the faults in which blondes make highlighting them to be degrading to all blondes. Having blonde women constantly in the media like paris hilton can only justify the label in which blonde women are given which makes it evident that they would be the perfect roles to have in comedy films such as material girls.

Films like mean girls and legally blonde are able to show the audience the familiar roles in which blondes girl have within films of this genre. There roles are often comical and heavily sterotypical. Compared to the 1940s film "Double Indemnity" the female role differs to the one in which is shown in material girls. Even though the chracter is blonde she is very powerful in terms of the way in which she is able to manipulate the male charcter with her good looks.

Monday 15 December 2008

3 contemporay adverts

Diet coke advert

The difference with this advertisemnet for diet coke is that the man is being objectified by all of the women which makes a change to how women are represented as it its no longer the male gaze but the female gaze. This advert suggests now that there is a role reversal to the audience due to the fact that the men have to now identify with the women as they are given the point of view of what the females see in the advert.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4uL-YMCJlRY

GAP Advert

This advert portrays to the audience the life of what its like for a single man. Its clear from how the man is represented that the target audience for the advert is for men however this does comply with the female gaze as all the shots are of the man throughout the advert. This adevrt portrays the man in a more material role due to the fact that the advert shows the man looking after himself and shows him living on his own. Male audeince would identify with this man in the advert and may believe that this is the perfect image of what a man is supposed to be like.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=egBh9lauQDg&feature=related

Kate moss advert

This advert begins to portray how the female character is objectified. The advert links to greer theorys that all women are only interested in beauty products and looking good. This advert shows that its both for the male audience as kate moss is being objectified in order to meet the needs of the men that may be watching the advert. The adverts target audience is females however its shown through the close up shots which are used in the advert that some aspects are shown to meet the needs of men. This can also link to walters (1998) theory that women enjoy fashion and beauty and enjoy looking good which constrasts with the idea that this advert is only shown in order to target and comply with the male gaze.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jeZc6hjW22c&feature=related

3 Historical Advertisments



In this advert the women is portrayed as the typical housewife. It is a typical, however stereotypical representation of what women are like. The advert links to Scheibe (1979) theory that the only concern for all women was cleanliness, family values and pleasing others.



The flash advert again portrays the women as being the typical housewife. From this advert it is made clear to the audience that they want to encourage women to go out and buy the product. The fact that a female is being used as the voice over for the advert shows a way in which the company are trying to sell its products to the main target audience, being females. This links again to scheibe who stated that womens interests were in the house and pleasing others, also is argued with Gunters theory (1995) which stated that women were shown in adverts to have low paid jobs or in the familiar housewife role.



This fairy liquid advert shows the audience that the typical role of the mother. She has to explain to her son about the uses of the product. This may imply that the mother is trying to persaude her son to fulfil the roles in which she is doing as she explains to him about what the uses of the product is as she answers all of his questions. The advert may be trying to show through the young boy the attitude to which men have to helping around the house as they are unaware of what they are supposed to do.

5 female directors

Gurinder Chadha -directed such films such as bend it like beckham, angus thongs and perfect snogging and bride and prejudice.

Amy Heckerling - is an American film director who is one of the few female directors to have produced a number of box office hits. Some of her films include: I could never be your women (2007) Look whos talking too (1990) and clueless( 1995)

Sofia Coppola - is also an American film director and an academy award winning screen writer. She was the third female movie director to be voted for a academy award for her directing and was also an actress beforehand. Films that she had directed included: lost in translation (2003) and marie antionette (2006)

Martha Coolidge- was born on the 17th of August 1946 and directed such films like materials girls (2006) and the prince and me (2004)

Kathy Bates- was born on the 28th june 1948. She is a film director who directed such films like ps I love you (2007) and faliure to launch.

3 ways to get more female directors

1) To encourage female directors to send people their projects. This way more females would be encouraged to become directors.

2) Another way in which women may be encouraged to get the higher roles in film would be if there were more female role models. If there are more female role models doing well then this would encourage more females to achieve the higher roles in film.

3) From an early age people should encourage girls that it would be possible for them to become film directors. Therefore promoting to young girls that it would be possible for them to become female directors.

Subertisements

" I only do the cooking at home when I have a day off from work









"The men like it when women get dirty"




"I don't really like the colour purple, but these men say I look good in it."

Why are women directors such a rare sight?

1) Female directors just dont seem to send in their projects, possibly suggesting that they dont want to become directors.

2) Having children may also play a part in influencing womens decisions to become directors. To become a director it would mean that you are giving part of your inner self and wouldnt have enough time for children.

3) The film industry itself is a heavily dominated male area which would make it even harder for women to try and break into the industry.

4) There are a small list of screenwriters in this country. It is not expected that 50% of working directors would be female.

5) Women are better organisers and traditionally more estoteric or creative.

Monday 8 December 2008

Bibliography

Name- Tasker, Yvonne

Title -Working Girls, Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema

Year published- 1998

"The 1980s and early 1990s saw the emergence of a few female action heroes defined by a quality of muculinity" pg 70

How this book is useful to me.
This book outlines the changes in which women had in film. It mostly explains the changes in which women were represented in film and the different roles that they had to play. This would be useful for my independent study as i would be able to make references to the way in which women have been portrayed in film.

Name- King, Geoff

Title- Film Comedy

Year published- 2002

"When the girlis confronted by the knife-wielding killer in her hallway, a table presents her with a selection of objects from which to choose. She selects the banana(exaggeration of the generic assumption of victim-dumbness)" pg 127

How this book would be useful to me.
This book would be useful to me as it offers me information about how different charcaters are used in order to create humour for the audience. From the quote above it shows how some women are represented in comedy films.

Name- Hayward, Susan

Title- Cinema Studies

Year published- 2000

"Man as producer, Women as the reproducer"

How this book would be useful to me.
This book would be useful for me to use throughout my independent as the book is more like an A to Z of different media terms and key concepts which I could include throughout my independent study.

Name- Silver, Alain
Ursini, James

Title- Film Noir

Year published- 2004

" While there are many female protagonists in film noir, most of them exist in tandem with a male figure"

"No matter how dominating the women may be, without a male figure to equal prominence there is no story, without a man to destroy there is no femme fatale"

How this book would be useful to me.
I believe that this book would be useful for me throughout my independent study as it outlines the history of film in great detail and explains how the characteristics of the roles in film have changed over time.

Name- Gauntlett, David

Title- Media Gender and Identity

"Overall men were more likely to be assertive, whilst women were more likely to be passive"

How this book would be useful to me.
This book would be useful for me to use throughout my independent study as it gives some insight to how the roles of women have changed in films over the years.

“Gaunter (1995: 13-14).”-pg 43

“The role of a woman in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction and the mating games she plays with the male characters”.

Name- Fauldi, Susan

Title- Blame it on Feminism, Introduction to Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women

Year published-1991

"If women have "made it," then why are nearly 80 percent of working women still stuck in traditional "female" jobsñas secretaries, administrative "support" workers and salesclerks?"

How this book would be useful to me.
This book would be useful to me throughout my independent study as fauldi is able to explain in detail on how women are in society represented. I would then be able to link her views to my independent study as both her ideas and the way women are represented in films are different.

Name- Rosen, Marjorie

Title- Popcorn Venus: Women, Movies and the American Dream

Year published -1973

"the Cinema Woman is a popcorn Venus, a delectable but insubstantial hybrid of culture distortions"

Name- Humm, Maggie

Title- Feminism and Film

Year published- 1997

"Film often and anxiously envisions women stereotypically as good mothers or baf hysterical careerists"

Title- Hard Bodies: Hollywood Masculinity in the Reagan Era

Name- Jeffords, Susan

Year published -1993

“Good mother icons are pretty thin on the ground too; we’ve probably got more good fathers these days.”

Reading list......

Title- Impossible bodies, Femininity and masculinity at the movies

Name- Holmlund, Chris

"Exploring whether independent films grant them greater freedom than do mainstream movies and examing how audiences understand the "service" roles they play as spitfires maids and mamas asked to provide sexual favors, perform household chores and proffer emotional glue" pg 111

Title- The media students book third edition

Name- Branston, Gill
Stafford, Roy

" Stereotypes work by taking some easily grasped features presumed to belong to a group putting them at the centre of the description and implying that all members of the group always have thoese features" pg 92

Title- Introducing media studies

Name- Sardar, Ziauddin
Van Loon, Borin

"women are constantly portrayed in the media as objects of the male gaze" pg 82

"Patricia's role is to remind the audience of men's natural intended "rightful" place for women, raising beautiful children and duitfully supporting the more "important" work of men" pg 138

Title- The cinema book 2nd edition

Name- Cook, Pam
Bernink, Mieke

feminist counter cineam theory emerged in the 1970s in tandem with the critique of hollywood developed by Clare Johnston and Laura Mulvey

"If we accept that cinema involves the production of signs the idea of non intervention is pure mystification. The sign is always a product what the camera is fact gasps is the natural word of teh dominant ideology. Womens cinema cannot afford such idealism the truth of our oppression cannot be captured on celluloid with the innocence of the camera. It has to be constructed/manufactured. New meanings have to be created by disrupting the fobric of the male bourgeois cinema within the text of the film". (Johnston 1974) pg 118

"Both argued that since the narrative conventions, iconographic traditions and identicatory structures of mainstream film were shaped by their development in a patriachal society, a change in content alone would mearly reproduce the bias in the system" (Mulvey 1979)

Title- Action and Adventure cinema

Name- Tasker, Yvonne

"The term action babe heroine is intended to capture the yoking together of soft and hard elements which comprise this fantasy figure. Beautiful young women- a babe and equally importantly she is fit". pg 205

Title- Bollywood cinema, Temples of Desire

Name- Mishra, Vijay

" Since the spectator identifies with the male protagonist any shift in the sexual dynamics of the women and the protagonist leads to a kind of mediatized eriticism on the part of the spectator because the protagonist possession is read as his own"
"There is also a considerable weakening of woman as icon of desire" pg 95

Sunday 7 December 2008

Films

1950s



Film High Noon (1952)

This clip is of the opening of the film High Noon (1952). The film, being a western, clearly portarys the men as being the most dominant chracters throughout the whole film. The men are represented as being powerful, assertive and confident whereas the women are prsented as being weak and always needed to be protected. The men in the film are the most powerful and are the main charcters in the film. This was very common within the western genre as films like this one would show men to be men. Meanining that they would have the same attitudes to what men would have at the time. The men in western films like this one would be shown to be the ones which do all of the fighting and the ones which have the most power in films.



The Men 1950

1960s



Film Dr No (1962)

The film Dr No shows the female character played by ursala andress from the point of view of the male character james bond. The cinema clearly objectifies the female character which then means that the female audience are forced into a role reversal as the audeince are positioned to see the women from bonds point of view. This would mean that teh women would have to see from the view of the male character. This can be related to "saturing" as the female audeience have to make a cross gender identifcation with the male character.

Film The sound of music (1962)



This film contrasts with the ways in which women were represented throughout films as in this film the main character is a women. This women is presented to the audience as the madonna and is represented to the audience as a motherely figure throughout the film compared to the whore in fatal attraction. The fact that the women is played in the film is the main character shows the changes in which film had, due to the fact that there were more central roles for women in film.

1970s



Film Alien (1979) This film clip is from the flim alien. At this point of time women began to get more central roles in films. This was the second wave of feminism which took place were women wanted to become more independent. The film helped to show the audience that film was changing compared to the way films used to present women throughout the 50s and the 60s. The female charcter is represented as being strong and independent highlighting the change in which women had in film.

Star Wars



The star wars film was centred around the female character of princess leia. She is shown to hav ea certain amount of power in her own ways however she does need the assitance of male charcters to help her.

1980s



Film Aliens (1987)

This film clip is from the film Aliens (1987). At this point of time there was a second wave of feminism which allowed women to become more independent as some were starting to get more job opportunities. This film played an important role in changing the ways in which females were represented in film compared to the earlier years. The main charcter "Ripley" the main female character of the film contrasts in the way in which other females were represented in film. Her charcter in the film however is superior and strong. Dyer had found out that in the 80s there was a change which had more women in central roles in programmes.

1990s



The film Fatal Attraction (1987) saw that there was a male backlash as "faludi" found out that there was a backlash against women having careers and being independent on themselves. The film is able to expolit the different roles in which the women play throughout the film, one being the Madonna in the film is the housewife shown to be caring and innocent compared to the other female charcter she is the Whore as she is the one who uses her sexual appearence in order to get what she wants.

Die another day



The shot of actress hallie berry on this film coming out of the sea again aims to make the female audience indentify with the male character as they are again given the view of the female charcater from the point of view of james bond.

Monday 1 December 2008

Representations Of Gender Today

During the 1990s and into the new century, gender roles on televiion became increasingly rqual and non steroetyped, alothough the majority of lead characters were still male.

In prime time tv shows between 1992-1993 men took 61 per cent of the total number of speaking roles with women having the other 39 per cent

In addition to this, Prime-Time T.V shows presented women as single, young, independent and free from family and work place pressures.

The 1992 1993 study found that only 3 per cent of women were represented has housewives as thier main occupation.

Tv sitcom Friends was good for showing the equality between both the male and female characters. The males were presented in having all the masculine qualities although characteristics of gentleness and sensitivity. Whereas the females are shown as intelligent and independent and not housewifey.

Buffy the vampire slayer made an impact on teen tv and showed the audeience a role reversal in this typically male dominated world of the sci fi genre. The creator Joss Whedon stated that " Buffy is a good role model for not just girls but for everyone becasue she uses her wits and physical strengh to win"

In film, female roles have become tougher eg Angelina Jolie.

The film Charlies Angels presented women in a way for an audience who enjoyed seeing women with power. The film was critised mostly by male film critics.
Micheal Thomson of BBC was upset due to the fact that the films message was feisty but also feminine.

Today women an men tend to have similiar skills and abilities in films

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Women and Men on tv

In the 1950s 1960s and 1970s only 20 to 35 per cent of characters on tv shows were female.

By the mid 1980s there were more women in leading roles but still there were twice as many men on screen.

Men were seen as assertive or aggressive, and women were seen as passive.

Miles (1975) found that there were nearly equal opportunities of men and women in situation comedies although the gender roles could still be traditional and sexist.

A study by McNeil (1975) said that the womens movement had been largely ignorned by television with married housewives being the main female role shown. He also found out that female characters were unlikely to work especially not if they were wives or mothers. If they did work it would not be shown on screen.

Men were more likely to be assertive whilst women were passive. Gunter 1995

In the 1980s Gillian Dyer observed that the number of women in central roles in police and crime series had increased.

Films show female characters in supporting roles

Tuesday 18 November 2008

Pluralistic or Hegemonic View

I believe in both the arguements in which can be raised from both the hegemonic view and the pluralistic view. Out of the two I probably feel more strongly for the views and ideologies from a pluralistic side due to the fact that i consider myself more as an active spectator of the media rather than a passive one, as i believe in challenging some of the representations of which the media like to distribute to the audience.
For example some of the representations in which is given of from the media often portray a one sided view of the accounts which the media believe to be truthful therefore advertising to the audience a state of reality for them, picturing an image of what its likes in society today. For example the representation of ethnic minorities in the media such as the representation of young black males in the media are often negative, portraying all black people as being troublemakers. This highlights,however that every representation is always and already a mis representation and is not an accurate account of that social group in society.Although, I do in some way believe in the ideas of the Hegemonic model which is that the media indoctrinate and manipulate the audience with their views and values which may the create a false consciousness.

Monday 17 November 2008

Points from handout

The formula to achieving a high successful readership within a dominantly male audience reflects and enforces the theory of Laddism and the winning formula has been defined as Beer+Sex+Babes. Gained from titles such as loaded,FHM and Maxim.

Mens lifestyle magazines such as Loaded and FHM are targeted at a media audience stereotyped as Lads. It is referring to men aged between fifteen and twenty five years

Due to the changes both culturally and socially, it is now accepted by society to see fully naked models in such magazines like FHM and loaded

Women are traditionally seen as beautiful, attractive and well groomed. This then puts stress and a burden on women to conform what males think is attractive.

These institutions also present women as the weaker gender and were only made to make men's life more enjoyable and entertaining.

The theory also known as the effects tradition would suggest that mens lifestyles magazines affect attitudes as they imply men to be the more dominant gender over women.

Mens magazines represent women as the prototypical object of sexual desire, presenting the idea that a womens purpose is to look appealing and attractive to male audience thus linking to laura mulveys theory.

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Cover Work



At the begining of the film clip the audience are able to gain an insight to the attitude of the characters and the type of lifestlyes they live. This is made evidnet through the fact of the frequent extreme close ups and long shots of the two female chracters higlighting to the audience the genre of the film. The scene which is set at the begining of teh film clip is almost as if we are watching a photoshoot as the audience are given different angles of both of the main characters. The fact that both of them are shown together throughout the opening implies at first a non patriachal society and expresse the closeness of the two characters. The clothes in which they are wearing gives of the impression to the audience that they are stylish and gives more meaning to the fact that the opening scene shows them having thier pictures taken highlighting that the two like to be in the public eye and place a lot of importance in thier appearence. The facial expressions of the characters show that they enoying being in the public eye all the time and enjoy the material things in life.
The diegetic sound used in the begining of the clip is material girls. The fact that this sound is played in the background links well to the opening scene of the film as they are both represented as being material girls and throughout the film this label that they are given is reinforced through the fact that they dont do anything to help out with their fathers business and refuse to take responsiblilty. The editing used constantly throughout the opening are fades in and out showing that the girls are enjoying their lives.
The film is a hybird and teen genre.The narrative of the film and the attitudes of the characters fully justify to the audience why the genre is the way it is.
The social class is a b white females are represented in the opening of the film. To be fair, the representation of the two sisters is a negative one due to the fact that they are blonde and reinforces the fact that they already have a negative label in society this representation it reinforces the stereotype. This could then relate to mediation within the film as the text is constucted to give the audience an accurate view of what people in society are like today.
The ideology and values which are presented to the audience are that these are two young females who enjoy the material things in life which include shopping, dating and going to parties, not being made aware of what is actually happening outside their own world. The film also reinforces the fact about the sterotype of blondes, as they are represented throughout the film. They also are able to create a sense of vaunrabily, as they appear not to be able to look after themselves and also have to rely on other people to ensure that they remain focused on what they have to do in life.
The narrative of the film follows a linear narative and follows in chronological order as it shows at first these two stuck up, young females not having a care in the world about what happens in their lives, even though they are supposed to take responsiblity for helping with the family business. They enjoy going to parties and looking good for the public eye. The film itself creates a sense of forshadowing as its typical for these type of films to open up the film with an equilbrium that sets up the narrative then there becomes a problem and that problem is slowly fixed throughout the film. We could apply levi strauss theory of the binary opposition in the film as it clearly exploits the fact that there are two young female characters tanzie and ava who enjoy the material things in life who in fact compared to fabiella she is a strong independent women who wants to be sucessful.

Monday 3 November 2008

Links for my study

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/Famous_Feminists_and_the_History_of_Feminism.htm
This website shows the differenrt feminist theoriests and gives a history of feminisism.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/10/07/warner-bros-says-no-more-female-lead-characters/
A website which states that warner bros says they no longer want female characters having the lead roles in film

http://www.anitapuni.blogspot.com/
On this blog this person writes about the representation of teenagers in film

http://www.tulane.edu/~wc/text/newsletter/f96/dietzel.html
This is something which i have to read. Article about feminism.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DsRnApVNDFMC&pg=PA106&lpg=PA106&dq=representation+of+females+in+chick+flicks&source=web&ots=ZF_4C-mA2G&sig=AbPnCZpGuj3MYiFYSUHw_rpdn3k&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPP1,M1
A whole book in which i have found online about chick flicks

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1931/is_1_27/ai_n29415748/pg_7
The link above is an article about chick flicks which i could then link to my independent study.

Saturday 1 November 2008

10 Keywords

Appropriately conceptional- This means when texts should be considered in terms of their particular genre. I would use this in my study as I would be comparing other films that have the same genre as my film material girls.

Synoptic- This requires me to show a wide understanding of the media and I would also be able to link my topic to other sources apart from the media which would be useful for my topic

Critical autonomy- I will have to start to apply this more by using my own knowledge and ensure that i am able to research and analyse my text critically and using a number of different sources.

Stereotyping- This would be important to apply to my study as i would be researching if the characteristics of the characters in my film are just used to represent an accurate representation.

Richard Dyer- A film theorist who studied film genre

Inoculation theory- I would be able to use this in my study because often in chick flicks young females have been portrayed in a way which appears to make them seem dim and stupid. This is reinforced in my film material girls as young blondes are represented.

Laura Mulvey- researched that women in film are represented in a way to only fulfill the male gaze.

Binary oppositions- this is a term used by Claude Levi-Strauss. For example good vs evil. I could use this in my independent study as it shows in my film the different representations of the characters.

Bibliography- Throughout my independent study i would have to start recording all the sources i have used throughout my research.

Hypodermic needle- The media are able to manipulate a passive mass audience. Audiences may look at the film and believe that it often shows one view in order to get the audience believing that it is an accurate representation.

Saturday 25 October 2008

Self Evaluation

# Attainment-2
I believe that my attainment is good as i have attended all media lessons and completed all my work

# Effort-2
So far i have put in a lot of effort in my work and have always ensured that i put a lot of effort in ensuring that all my work gets completed

# Punctuality-2
For most of the media lessons i have always got there on time even though sometimes i do come in a bit late

# Submission and quality of homework-1
I have always ensured that my work is completed on time and made sure that it has been done to the best of my ability

# Ability to work independently-1
I believe that i have the ability to work independently as throughout most of the work that has been posted on my blog i have done it by myself however sometimes i do get a bit of help.

# Quality of writing-3
The quality of writing on my work is average as i believe that throughout my work i need to make more detailed references to the assessment objectives and add more migrain context to my work

# Organisation of Media folder-2
My media is well organised. I have put all my media work into one folder which would help me when it comes to revision

# Oral contributions in class-2
So far i have contributed quite a bit through lessons and got involved with people when they were doing their presentations.

# Standard of Module 5 blog-3
My module 5 blog i believe is up to a reasonable standard however i need to continue to post all my work on my blog. My blog is also well organised.

# Standard of Module 6 blog-3
I think that i need to spend more time on posting work on my med 6 blog as i have put more effort in my med 5 blog. However i have also completed all work which has been set and posted it up on my blog.

www
Have attended all media lessons
Kept med 5 blog up to date
Complete all work set on time

ebi
do more work on med 6 blog
do more research for my independent study

Monday 20 October 2008

Action Plan

Make a bibliography and post all information on to it throughout independent study

Complete all work which is set on blog

Watch material girls again

Start and go through my independent study and highlight all the important information. When i go back and refer to my work it would be easier to find the most important information.

Find more relevant links that would help me throughout my independent study and post it on my blog

Gain a better understanding of SHEP and start to include it more throughout my independent study.

Use more books to research my topic. I will start using the school library more and find books to read relevant to my topic.

Do more analysis on the films that I am going to make references to throughout my independent study.

Research richard dyer

To all be completed hopefully by November 4th =D

I thought that it would be better for me to set a more realistic date for when this would all be completed by as i would be able to ensure that it all gets completed in much detail.

Thursday 9 October 2008

My Presentation

WWW
Researched my topic well
Good use of sociology in presentation
Good Knowledge of text

EBI
Use less text
Do more work on my blog
Write down what I plan to say in the presentation
Ask more questions

Targets
Do more work on my blog
Research using books

Sunday 5 October 2008

Self Assessment of Blog work

AO1
This assessment objectives requires me demonstrate knowledge and application of the media Key Concepts. I believe that throughout my work I have made relevant references back to the key concepts. I used the key concepts in order to answer questions for the summer research project. In my opinion I believe that media representations and ideology is the most easiest concept to analyse as I have done enough work throughout year 12 and have a clear understanding of what information I have to include. However i believe that i have to include more information about the film itself. i will have to find some reviews and articles about how the roles of women in film have changed over time then link it to my study. In order to also ensure that i know enough information about my topic i will also start reading more books in the library. This would benefit me and my independent study as i would be able to include information of wider concepts and expand my knowledge of my topic.
WWW
Completed all of the tasks which were put on the blog
Used all information that was give

EBI
To read more books
research my topic more on the internet and through the libary

A02
fOR A02 i haven't made many references to shep as i feel that this is the most difficult to write about therefore i would have to research more information about my topic through the internet and by reading more books. This also has to be done in order to improve the information I have to find for A01
WWW
Being able to write about A02

EBI
Research more about shep

A05
Throughout my independent study i have researched many different websites in order to fully understand and answer my question. I have read articles from the internet on how the representation of women in film have changed over time and i have learned how women are often represented as being nothing more other than being sexual objectives to fulfill the male gaze. Films often forget to show the women as being independent however through time this representation has changed as in some films women are only shown as being housewife's. I have looked on the internet for many reviews about the film material girls and have found out the many different opinions which have been put across by the critics. Material girls have often been reffred to as the tween genre for the reasons because it has been seen that the acting in the film i snot believable and the film itself is a typical representation of young females. My question is based upon if films give the audience an accurate representation of what young females are like today in society however it could be suggested that they are used just to fulfill the traditional stereotypes which have been created through time. My hypothesis is well structured as it states what texts would be relevant to my study. Although on my blog I have put on relevant texts which I will be able to relate to my study I have no yet analysed them in much detail or explained how it would link to my question. I have also included information about relevant thoerys and theorists that would be relevant to my topic including laura mulvey and Ann Oakley. I believe that i still need to analyse different scenes of my film and show why it would be relevant in answering my question. So far i have put most of the links that i have gained information from on my blog so that in the future i would be able to use them in order to get information.
WWW
Researched and gained an understanding to different theorys and theorists

EBI
Have to watch the film for a second time

Synoptic Ability

Throughout my independent study I have been able to link it to my med4 study as we are researching about the representation of women in the media. This would be useful for my topic as all the information which i learn throughout classwork i would then be able to apply that knowledge into my independent study, therefore increasing my knowledge about the subject. At the moment for my med 6 study we are looking at different types of institutions. This would also help me with my independent study as i would be able to realise what information i would be required to look for when writing about the institution of my film. To be honest i haven't really looked at the media guardian for any stories or reviews which would be relevant to my topic however i have made it one of my main targets to always look at the site and try and find any information that i can then use for my independent study.
WWW.

EBI
look at the media guardian more in order to find more information about topics which would i could then imply to my independent study.

CRITICAL AUTONOMY

Throughout the start of my independent study i was a bit lazy and left my work to the last minute. When it came to finding a film that i was going to study it took me a long time to do that and to also write up my independent study proposal. I found this stage very difficult however once i found the text which i was going to study it had become easier and i was able to complete my work. For my research i have often used the internet in order to look for my information and haven't really used any other sources such as the library in order to research my topic in more detail and expand my knowledge of my text.
WWW
I was able to come up with a question by myself
Have become more self motivated

EBI

QUALITY OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
My work throughout my blog is well structured and organised. To ensure that this was made possible i followed the structure given my teachers and looked at other peoples blogs to get ideas. I have always tried to use any media terminology throughout my work when possible. To improve my work after I have finished I should highlight the most important information as it would be easier to read and i could always refer back to it.
WWW
Work is well structured
Used relevant media terminology throughout work

EBI
Highlight key information which i post into my blog as it would be easier to make references back to it when needed.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Analysis of Material Girls Trailer



The trailer starts with camera shots of the two main characters of the film, ava and tanzie. From these shots cuts are used to show both characters, however also highlighting the close relationship the two sister have with each other. The camera cuts through both characters showing to the audience what there lives are about and also giving meaning to why the film is called material girls. The lighting at the beginning of the trailer is bright and the two characters are both wearing white highlighting that even though they may appear as being uncaring and focused on looks and the material things in life it nay also link to the purity that the both girls have.
The text is likely to be aimed towards young girls aimed between the ages of 12 to 15. The genre of the film is drama, comedy, however the film has been heavily critised to not having believable acting from both of the sisters however they do show to have a close onscreen relationship.
The institution of the film is Metro Goldwyn Mayer. In a way throughtout the trailer the two girls arr reinforcing the sterotype of young blondes as being independent and dizzy as they are unable to complete simple tasks, or decide to take any responsiblity for helping out with their fathers business. The representation of young upper class females are shown in this film. As they are called material girls they link to the representation of this throughout the film as they both enjoy the material things in life. There representation of both females links to the self fulfilling prochecy as this means when people are given a label they instantly act to the label in which they have been given. This label is constantly reinforced throughout the whole trailer.
The narrative of the film shows the lives of two material girls ava and tanzie enjoying the material things in life which include shopping and dating without taking any responsiblity in the running of the family business until they have to defend it against fabiella who aims to help the girls by buying the business of them. Through this the girls realise that it is time for them to start looking after themselves and decide to take more responsiblity for helping the business to become successfull.

Film Reviews:

http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=12242&s=Reviews

"A few funny lines spool out intermittently, but it's the inane-ness of Material Girls that grates. While Hollywood sisters Haylie and Hilary Duff tell each other money doesn't bring happiness, their actions speak otherwise"

http://www.ericdsnider.com/movies/material-girls

"This has been a bad year for movies starring teen queens, with Amanda Bynes' "She's the Man" and Lindsay Lohan's "Just My Luck" having already desecrated cinemas with their senseless plots and inane comedy antics. And now Hilary and Haylie Duff's "Material Girls" has arrived to make the trifecta complete."

Assessment Objectives

AO1-Key Concepts. These consist of..
. Media Language
. Representation
. Genre
. Narrative
. Values and Ideology
. Media Institution

AO2-Knowledge of wider contexts,social historical, economic and political
For this assessment objective I would be required to write about contexts and knowledge of why the text is why it is.
Target:research my topic in more detail using the internet and by reading more books.

AO3i-Issues and Debates
For this assessment objective I would be required to show knowledge and application of ideas, theories, debates and information which would be relevant to the text which I am studying.
Target:Research all the theorists that are relevant to my topic in detail.

AO3ii-Comparing similarities of texts
For this assessment objective I would be required to be able to compare the similarities within texts.
Target:To be able to do this i will have to research my topic in great detail to ensure that i would be able to compare the similarities between the text

AO5-Research techniques
For this assessment objective I would be required to use the appropriate investigative and research techniques.
Target:Make sure that the research i am doing is relevant to my topic.

Tuesday 16 September 2008

Analysis of Stills from the film



This image shows the two characters of the film sisters Ava and Tanzie played by hilary and haylie duff. The title of the film is material girls and this still from the film gives more meaning to why they are given this name. The characters enjoy the material things in life which include dating and looking good as they are always in the public eye. The picture also shows the close relationship they both have with each other.



This image shows the to girls tanzie and ava being pampered. The girls are presented as being gilrs who enjoy the material things in life which includes looking good. The man holding the tray seems to be providing the service for the women and also shows how much dominance they have at this point as the man is doing things for them. Both the sisters are shown sitting together wearing the same colour gown which may highlight the close relationship that they both have with each other. Fabiella, the women sitting in the middle of the picture also highlights her dominance not only because she is the center image but she is the businesses main rival. Her character contrasts with the girls as her main aim throughout the film is to be successful. From the gown in which she is also wearing it may suggest she has different attitudes to life than the girls. Her gown is white which suggests purity however she is constantly referred to throughout the film as there worst enemy as she wants to buy the company of them.

Wednesday 10 September 2008

Material Girls Trailer

Synopsis

For Ava and Tanzie Marchetta, life is a rollercoaster ride of fun parties, cute guys and gorgeous clothes and makeup. Celebutantes who have inherited their father's multi-million-dollar cosmetics industry, Ava and Tanzie only have to show up at the occasional board meeting and let the grownups do the rest. But when an awful scandal takes away their house, their car and all their money, Ava and Tanzie have to learn how to live in the real world… and have the opportunity to discover what they're made of and realize the potential they never knew they had. Hilary and Haylie Duff star in Material Girls, a comedy about love, money and the right exfoliant from the director of Valley Girl, Martha Coolidge.



Material Girls Film

PART 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EluLkxPX3VM&feature=related
PART 2 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6aLWpVzDV4&feature=related
PART 3 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzW4wcoM8uk&feature=related
PART 4 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWzeWQsmx64&feature=related
PART 5 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiUyivbnYxk&feature=related
PART 6 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWsUIz7Q3JU&feature=related
PART 7 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE1y7sSBOzE&feature=related
PART 8 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN5itVoN1NY&feature=related
PART 9 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im6TNKI1g5c&feature=related

Material Girls Review

When celebutant heiresses, Ava (Haylie Duff) and Tanzie (Hilary Duff) Marchetta find out that their deceased father's cosmetics company is sinking, the girls' material world disintegrates like the mansion they accidentally ignite. Renounced by the young Hollywood set, the Marchetta sisters seek refuge at the modest walkup apartment (in Jimmy Choos, no less!) of former family maid, Inez (Maria Conchita Alonso). However, the biggest challenge becomes thwarting Fabiella (Angelica Huston), their father's make-up arch rival, and her curiously possible corporate takeover. Thanks to the help of "hottie" chemist Rick (Marcus Coloma) who the girls mistake for a valet, and Henry Baines (Lucas Haas), a "Men's Wearhouse" pro bono attorney, the girls set out to achieve the implausible.

It is hard to say what demographic this movie is geared towards. Although costuming and dialogue are mostly consistent with lifestyle icons like the Hiltons, or Olson twins, the film makes many inappropriate choices for a "Tween" audience. Inez, the Hispanic maid, explains that post 9/11 immigration laws prevent her daughters from emigrating. A "weird" situation is judged on a "Courtney Love" scale, and Tanzie warns Ava that people "pee" on bus seats. Tanzie also lands in jail when she attempts to mirror the Julia Roberts' Erin Brokovitch namesake and dons a bustier to seduce a man for access to a file room. In jail, she fends off advances by cellmates, and then uses sand caught between one of the convicts toes to teach the women about exfoliation. In awe of the girls, a Marchetta intern (Reagan Dale Nies) changes her nose to mirror Tanzie's and her hair to look like Ava's. The message is that to be wealthy and beautiful, you must become someone else.

The riches-to-rags-to riches Duff powder puff concludes with the Marchetta moguls in love and changing the world, one affordable cosmetic at a time, but the only chemistry here is in the make-up lab. Material Girls lacks…material.

Analysis of movie review

This movie critic heavily critises the film as in the article it is evident that they don't believe that the film itself is not as good as it should be. Within the film its got alot of glamour however it has a huge amount of sterotyping in it. The film also is critised for not having great diagioue and teh acting is not believable enough for the audience to realate to the characters even though it appears that Hilary and her older sister Haylie appear to make a good on screen partnership.

Other texts which I could relate to..

Mean Girls Trailer



Legally Blonde Trailer

Wednesday 3 September 2008

Key Concepts

Media Representations


Throughout Material Girls the plots main focus is on the Marchetta sisters Tanzie played by Hilary Duff and Ava played by her older sister Haylie Duff. The characters represent two young women who are rich, spoiled and people who enjoy material things such as shopping and dating. However when the girls find out that their assets are frozen they must adjust to life without their fortune. Throughout the film the girls are represented as women who enjoy the luxuries of the good life and don't place much importance on the running of their fathers business. However in a turn of events they decide to take control of the business as Ava states that they have to take care of themselves from now on. This states that the girls finally realise that the have to take control and want to be more involved in the buisness rather than being material girls.
The men in the film are represented to support the male gaze as Tanzie and Ava take much pleasure in dating and the film is mainly centered around the lives of the Marchetta sisters. Compared to the women in the film the men still have more control over the women as it is seen throughout the film that it is a man who tells them they should find a job and also they work for their dads company which highlights the dominance the males have in this film.
Compared to the other women in the film the Marchetta sister differ from them as they are not so heavily influenced in getting the material things in life. This is evident from the character Fabiella. In the film Fabiella is the companies biggest competitor and wants to buy the business of them. She is described by Tanzie in the film as being their "worst enemy". Fabiella in the film is represented as being a strong and independent women which contrasts with the marchetta sisters as fabiella is not so influced by the material things but money and power.

Media Language and Forms

The title of the film being Material Girls shows a range of different denotative and connotative meanings. The words material girls implies that the main focus of the film is going to be about girls who enjoy the material things in life, such as shopping and dating. Also in the title in the word material instead of the letter i it is replaced with lipstick, which also implies that the girls live a very stylish lifestyle, possibly highlighting that the way the look is very important. The lifestyles of the two girls connotes the high status that they appear to have in society, as they are the daughters of a wealthy businessman. This links to the idea of the male being the main breadwinner of the family as his main responsibility is to look after his family by providing the essentials for them in life. However this may also suggest that there is a patriarchal ideology in this film, because the girl get there wealth from there successful father and his business.
In Material Girls the non-verbal structures of meaning such as the girls clothing and props and the way they speak present to the audience what the characters are like. The clothing that the characters wear are fashionable as the girls place much importance on the way they look as they are always in the public eye.
The settings of the film reflect the type of lifestyle that a young women would have, going to parties, shopping, meeting boys, making sure they look good and spending much of their parents money. The girls are pictured at the beginning of the material girls trailer as being A list celebrities as everyone wants to take their pictures.
When the trailer begins we hear the song material girls and see shots of the two girls being pampered after we are given a brief introduction to who they are. We then get shot of a billboard with the Marchetta sisters on them which suggests that they are of somewhat celebrities. However it could be argued that the only reason that they are seen as celebrities is because of their fathers business.

Narrative

The major themes that are so often used in the narrative of Material Girls include comedy, drama, relationships, family, money and conflict with rival businesses. One of the main values and ideologies that it embodies is that for the main characters is that the good characters would always beat the bad ones. For example the marchetta sisters work together to put the business back on track and don't have to sell it to Fabiella.
Heroes and Villains are created throughout the film as there roles become familiar to the audience. The marchetta sisters become the heroes as they take more responsibility and decide to work and stop the business being sold.

Genre

The film itself covers a wide range of different genres, the main ones being comedy, family sister relationships. In films that cover the same genre as Material Girls the major generic conventions that come from within the text may include romance, conflict with other girls possibly over boys or fear competition from other girls, dating and shopping. There is also a way in which the girls speak and act in different situations which makes them appear as being dim however this is very common in films like mean girls and legally blonde. The material girls film is often reffered to as a "Tween" genre. This may be the case because of the films poor dialogue and as its acting is said by critics to being unbeliveable and not as convincing to the audience. The sterotype of blondes being independent refelcts why the film is reffered to as the tween genere as the film is not suitable for teenagers but for girls of an even younger age.
The major iconographic features of the text are the photo shoots they are involved in, the family business owned by their father, shopping, dates and parties.
The major generic themes consist of sister relationship, dating, shopping, family business and conflict with another business rival.
The audience generic expectations of the film is fulfilled through the main characters of the film. The Marchetta sisters represent young women, as in the title who enjoy the material things in life. It involves spending vast amounts of money in which they inherit from their fathers successful business.
Hillary Duff stars in this movie along side her older sister Haylie. Hilary is well known for being an actress and a pop singer. She gained fame for playing the title role in the television series Lizzie McGuire.

Media Values and Ideology

In the film Material Girls the assumptions that are created within in the text are that the marchetta sisters ate spolit on the riches of their fathers business and they don't do anythin to derserve it. It is shown to the audience that all the girls appear to do in the film is spend money on shopping and going to parties. The audience would be made to believe at the beginnig of the film that it is going to be typical of them to have to follow the two girls looking for boys and asking stupid questions, however it is very typical of this genre to have at least one girl who is like that. One of the values of material girls is that good will always defeat evil as the girls finally realise that it is time for them to look after themselves and be more invloved in the running of the business and decide that it is right for them to take more responsibilty as they don't want to have to end up selling the business to Fabiella.

Media Audiences

Material girls is targeted at a family audiennce howevers its primary audeince may be female teemagers between the ages of 13 and 16 as they amy enjoy the humour throughout the film. As the film itself is often refered to as the Tween genre it may suggest to the audience that the film may only be targeted to young teenage girls.
The assumptions about the audiences characteristics is that they may enjoy watching films like these which may include mean girls, where humour is created through the way in which the characters act in different situations.
As an audience member you would have to question the attiude of the girls and if the film gives an accurate representation of what they would be like.

Information

Laura Mulvey:

http://www.answers.com/topic/laura-mulvey

Feminist film theory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_film_theory

Monday 14 July 2008

Independent Study Proposal

Title:How has the stereotypical view of women been reinforced throughout the film "Material Girls"

Hypothesis: The representation of young females in film and the media have developed and changed over time due to way in which society presents them. This is in fact shown in some aspects in the film legally blonde and the simple life. Paris Hilton conveys the traditional stereotype of a blonde. She is portrayed as a person who is unable to complete simple tasks without the aid of help or people telling her what to do.

MIGRAIN

M-1 The camera shots of the two girls at the beginning of the trailer highlights the stylish lifestyle that they both live in and that they are always in the public eye.
2- The voice over throughout the trailer explains what type of lifestyle they live " They were living the good life"
3 -Out of money , out of style, out of place. The captions used throughout the trailer show how everything changes for the two girls as they now have more responsibility.

I- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

G- Comedy, Drama and Teen

R-Representation of teenage females and exposes how they can cope in life when given more responsibilities and limited in the amount of luxuries they can get due to the fact that they have no money to spend.

A- This film may be aimed at a family audeince however its primary audience may be teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 19

I- Equality, Feminism and Patriarchy.

N- Womens roles in society and how they change

Other texts which would be relevant relevant:
I will also be relating the film Material Girls to other texts which are similar and portray which include The Simple Life and other films such as legally blonde and mean girls and in television soaps such as Eastenders and Hollyoakes.

Wider Contexts:
To look at how and why the representation of women over the years have changed i would be studying Feminism, the responsibilities that women had during the war and what impact it had on them. girls in education and womens rights.

Theories/Theorists:
I would be making references to Propp's theory and researching theorists such as Ann Oakley and Laura Mulvey. I will also be researching other theories and theorists that may be relevant to my topic.

Where to and what to research:
To help with my research i will be looking at websites to learn more about how women have been represented and how the roles of women have changed over the years. I would also be looking at different theories and theorists. I will also be looking at other films and soaps and comparing how women are represented in them.

Below is a list of different sites that would help me when i do my research as they would be relevant to my topic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_feminism
http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/material_girls/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_Girls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGW_3lw7Ko4 - Material Girls Trailer
http://www.mtv.com/movies/movie/274540/moviemain.jhtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Oakley