The Typical Social Realism Genre Conventions Present in Fish Tank

Many social realism films hold different conventions, making them typical of their genre. In Fish Tank this is present in several different ways. In a short clip of the film, viewed in lesson, these genre conventions were clearly present on screen.  

The clip starts of with the protagonist, Mia, dancing in her kitchen to a music video on the television. As she is watching the video she is copying the moves and expressions of the woman on screen being shown as sexualised and provocative. This is a feature that happens more than once in the film when Mia is dancing or watching people dance. As this film is based in urban, working class environments, many of the representations of success and wealth are shown through the television and music videos. This causes Mia to aspire to be a dancer as she may feel it is her only way of becoming successful and getting away from the environment she seems to be stuck in.

Another convention which is extremely typical of this genre is the male character role. During the short clip of the film, Connor, the lead male character is introduced to Mia. As she is dancing in the kitchen she turns around and he is standing in the doorway watching her. He also compliments her on her dancing, to which she then responds in quite an aggressive and defensive manner, however when his back is turned to her, she begins to admire his body, looking him up and down as the camera shoots from her point of view to capture the sense of realism in the scene. It also becomes apparent, later on in the clip when Connor leaves the flat, as the calm between the characters suddenly turns into chaos 

Sci-fi Conventions Present in The Hunger Games

A narrative theme that appears in the sequence of The Hunger games is the anti establishment ideology. This is shown through the story behind The Hunger Games. It describes district 12 as one of many who tried to rebel against the authority and wealthy district. The underclass districts lost however, and the one power district remains to this day the establishment district. As punishment for rebelling, the poorer districts are forced to compete in The Hunger Games and fight to the death, This is showing them that they will never be in power and they are forever controlled by fear.

Another convention that appears in The Huger Games that also fits in with the sci-fi genre is the iconography of technology. Certain objects such as the train they travel on is clearly an example of the high end technology that the hierarchy have use of. This district also show clear iconography of their power through their extravagant clothes and make up. This contrasts with the iconography shown by district 12. This, and many of the other districts competing are shown a very poor and under established. There is no clear signs of any technology present, in fact, it is represented as it is from the past, as the children know how to hunt. This technology and contrast within the district is also shown when Katniss is being tested on in a lab. She is made to look almost like an experiment, showing where the power lies.

Noir Conventions present in "Drive"

In the 2011 film Drive, there are several different noir genre conventions present throughout. In the 20 minute clip we viewed in lesson, this is clear to the audience. As the clip begins, there is a conversation happening between Ryan Goslings character, Carey Mulligans character, her husband and their son. In this part of the scene, Ryan Goslings character has a flashback of himself, the husband and a man who seems to be a business partner of theirs. This in itself is a classic noir conventions as it shows part of the narrative as being non linear. When the scene switches back to the conversation between the four characters in their home, there is tense non diegetic sound playing over their conversation, even though it is a positive one. This shows the contrast and juxtaposition in the storyline, which is also a noir convention as it is showing that whatever is happening, something bad will soon follow or is already there in the background. 

After this scene the clip carries on to show Ryan Goslings character and the husband, along with a female who is also part of the job they are about to go through with. Again, there is tense non diegetic sound which helps control and influence the motions of the audience as well as foreshadowing the nature of this particular scene and the 'mission' they are on. As the male and female go into the pawn shop, Ryan Goslings character remains in the car and is in the drivers seat. Although the camera does not follow the two characters into the shop, it is clear that a robbery is taking place. As this is happening, the character follows a car into the car park where Ryan Goslings character is waiting. This is shown as threatening to not only the character but the audience as well, even though it is unknown what the other vehicle is there for. The camera begins to zoom on Ryan Goslings characters face, and the non diegetic sound begins to fade, turning to complete silence. 

Throughout this clip, low key shadowing is often used on many characters, especially Ryan Goslings, such as when he is in the car waiting for the arrival of the male and female characters and also at the start when he is in his friends home. This is a classic noir conventions as it indicates the personality of certain characters. For example, when Ryan Gosling is in the car waiting and the camera is shooting a close up of his face, there is a dark shadow on one side of his face, portraying two sides to his character, one being bad and the other being good. This could be to show that although he is prepared to be a criminal and do bad things for money, at the end of it all he is only doing it for one thing and that is for the love of a woman. This, along with the shadowing is another common convention in film noir. It is that every protagonist, whatever the narrative, will always risk himself for a woman and her wellbeing. 

Further on in the scene, after the robbery when the the female and Ryan Goslings character are in the hotel room together, another two conventions of film noir are used. As the female is in the bathroom, there is a clear shadow coming through the window an being shaped like venetian blinds. She then gets shots by a man through the window, who then continues into the hotel room and tries to kill Ryan Goslings character. From this it is clear that the narrative involves mistrust and paranoia as they have been found without knowing how. Mistrust and paranoia is also shown just before the woman is killed as she is found to be lying to Ryan Goslings character about what happened within the robbery, just before the male character who went in with her got shot and killed by the shop owner. 

After this scene, the clip goes on to show Ryan Gosling searching for the men the had crossed him over and caused the death of the male and female characters who committed the robbery. As he is on the way to a club to find them, which in itself in a film noir convention, shots of a dark, damp back alley and sidewalk are used which indicated yet another film noir convention.

From just a short clip of this film, it is clear that although this is not a film of the Noir genre, there are many conventions from the genre used to create the themes of this film

Research Investigation - question on representation

How are women represented differently in order to sell products, paying particular attention to Fairy Liquid and Roberto Cavalli campaigns?

 

 

 “Women have always been very beauty conscious and insecure about their appearances and advertisers have exploited this by bombarding them with ways in which to ‘improve themselves’”(8), whether that be domesticated or completely sexualised. Insecurities develop opportunities to sell products.

 

            In this investigation, I will be analysing and investigating female representation in Fairy Liquid and Roberto Cavalli advertisement campaigns. To show the stereotypes in female representations, I will discuss how companies attach branding and ideology to sell products. Ideologies and representations are carefully constructed to appeal to female audiences. I will use primary analysis and secondary research to assist my investigation including theories. In my investigation I will apply Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory, discussing how women are objectified to help sell products to an audience. I will also investigate the uses and gratifications model to question why the campaigns help persuade women consume these products. I will also question if stereotypical gender roles are also present, representing females in contrasting roles from the motherly, family, domesticated role to the hyper sexualised.

           

            Firstly, I will explore how women are represented, or misrepresented in fragrance adverts to create a hyper reality. I will be focusing on female objectification in a Roberto Cavalli advertisement, and if it succeeds in not just selling products to males, but to females. I will then go on to explore a Fairy Liquid ad campaign, and compare and contrast the existing representations of females. 

 

            When viewing advertisements, it is easy to believe that “women are shown almost exclusively as housewives or sex objects”(4). In the first 10 seconds of Roberto Cavalli advert; this is clearly present on screen, as model Elisa Sednaoui is being drastically sexualised by the camera. The first shot is a long shot of her spread out on a bed, lying on her front with a small section of sheet covering her behind. The camera then shoots a mid shot of her sitting up in bed, pushing her chest out with the sun hitting her golden looking skin. Sednaoui then leaves the bed as the camera shoots a close up of her feet stepping onto the floor; it then cuts to a close up of tiger’s paws walking across the floor. Next, the camera shoots the model standing in front of a mirror, wearing nothing but a silk sheet, putting on a necklace, which is the first viewing of the brand logo of Cavalli in the advertisement. Suddenly, it cuts to Sednaoui standing alone in the room, however now the silk sheet is only covering the bottom half of her body, her top half has nothing on it and her back is completely exposed, this is also objectifying her, as her face cannot be seen. “She is tall and thin with very long legs, perfect teeth and hair and does not have a blemish in sight” (3). The advert represents her as powerful and animalistic, a common trait in the Cavalli advertisement campaign. This causes the viewer to want to buy into this product, thinking it will make them feel empowered via beauty and therefore confidence. “Females are not represented in the Media for doing something; they are represented for how they look” (6), which is proven in this specific advertisement.

 

 

 

There are several men present in the frame as the woman is walking through the party. Although she looks like she has a sense of power and authority, the males admire her and she is clearly the centre of attention. The reason she has any power is superficial, it gives out the message that if females appeal to men, they will gain power. “Sexual women are used in advertisements to imply that the product will increase the users appeal to men” (5).  Later in the narrative, Sednaoui chooses the man sat down in a throne like chair, depicting him to look like royalty, however the reality of the advert is that this woman entered the scene wanting to be seen and admired by this specific man. This depicts that "Women are projections of males narcissistic fantasies" (10) explaining why there is now a common ‘male gaze’, especially in fragrance advertisements, objectifying women. A contemporary trend is hyper sexualised representations are being used in advertisements targeting females and creating much insecurity. "Female’s are praised for their appearance or physical beauty" (11) rather than their intellect. This stresses the importance of mistype of products.

From a very young age, girls are exposed to a great deal of television and advertising. This is causing many to grow up with the ideology that what they see is 'normal'. "Media influences on peoples conceptions of reality can potentially 'absorb or override differences in perspectives and behaviour that stem from other social, cultural and demographic influences'"(8) These false conceptions of reality are changing women's opinions of what they should look like, making them insecure from childhood and wanting to change themselves. “Many people suffer from inner conflicts as a result of failure to achieve the body of a top athlete or fashion model.” (9) They buy into products, such as designer fragrances, to almost give them the feeling of bettering themselves and becoming one of these ‘perfect’ women. “Women are constantly exhorted to emulate an ideal, to feel ashamed and guilty if they fail, and to feel that their desirability and lovability are contingent upon physical perfection”(3). This is made clear in the Cavalli advertisement as the woman being represented in this particular advert, is already attractive and then being hyper sexualised and edited via post production to look 'perfect’. The media make problems that do not exist to help them sell products, again, present in the Cavalli advertisement as model Elisa Sednaoui is being represented as an idea of perfect due to the fact she is wearing this particular fragrance, making women buy into the ideology that females are judged superficially. This has helped advertising massively as products are now being sold through advertising that have a false sense of ideology and perfection attached to them.

 

            Another advertisement that stereotypically and falsely represents women is the Fairy Liquid advert, “I Hardly Ever Buy Fairy Liquid”. Though this advert does represent female’s stereotypically, it portrays them in a completely different way to how they are represented in the previous Cavalli advert I looked at. This advert shows the opposite side of women’s stereotypical representations, the domesticated woman.

               

 The advert consists of several repeated sequences; each performed in different decades, showing the length of time fairy liquid has been used in households. The sequence starts with a woman, styled to represent different periods in time, stating, “I hardly ever buy fairy liquid”, portraying the product as long lasting. She is standing in the kitchen by the sink, or in more recent decades, next to the dishwasher. A child then appears in the scene, showing the woman as being a carer, housekeeper and parent, very stereotypical traits of women. The majority of sot types throughout the montage of decades are al so establishing shots, making the setting clear, as it shows the women in the advert and the audience that the kitchen is where these women ‘belong’. The child that appears in every sequence is also female, which almost makes them look like they are aspiring to be this way by following their mother. “Gender roles persist throughout childhood, with parents choosing and rewarding certain stereotypical activities for their children, from playing with dolls for girls to sports activities for boys.”(12) Advertising companies putting a female child in this advert instead of a male is forming the expectations and ambitions girls have of how they will be when they grown up from an early age. Frequently putting girls in these circumstances in the media will subconsciously cultivate young girls to grow up with conditioned ambitions of being a housewife and a mother. 

 

  Another factor that interested me about this specific Fairy Liquid advertisement is the fact that although shot through several decades, each time the woman is in exactly the same role of the domestic housewife. This, I feel, is an unrealistic representation of female evolution, as it shows women’s ‘place’ as being in the kitchen. There is no representation of the successful woman with a career, which would represent a more contemporary and postmodern society. A false representation and ideology is present that this is where women should be, and have been throughout time. Even though, in society today this is not the case, with just “2.04 million women ‘looking after family or home’, a fall of almost 1 million since records began 20 years ago”,(13) advertising is still sticking to to this stereotype to try and help them sell products, no matter how unrealistic it really is. Although stereotypical, this advert shows clear gender roles of the female. It portrays them as nothing but the mother and housewife. Domestic. “75% of all adverts using females were for products used in the bathroom or kitchen and 56% of women in adverts were shown as domestic housewives”,(3) which, compared to the dramatic fall in stay at home mothers previously stated, is a completely false representation of domestic women. Advertising showing women as powerful women with strong careers is rare as many advertising companies are run by men and want themselves to stay the more dominant, powerful sex. "Men and women often have difficulty relating in the workplace because men instinctually want to exert physical dominance over women."(14)

 

“Women’s representation in popular culture facilitates the stereotype of the simple-minded, emotional, and domesticated female”(7)

 

            This is a representation that the reason for these structured and controlled representations of females in advertising are shown, as they are desirable to both men and women. As advertising companies strongly believe men see the sexualised or domesticated woman as attractive and therefore will respond to these portrayals of women, it cultivates women to feel the same as they believe they will achieve happiness through love and romance if they conform to these ideologies. It is a concept that is thrown onto females from a young age through television that you have to be skinny and attractive to find happiness and once you find that happiness, your role belongs at home, cooking, cleaning and looking after your children. Although this is an extremely unrealistic representation of what women should be, many females still conform to this role as they feel it is the easiest and most successful way of finding happiness, because although the figures for stay at home mothers have drastically dropped since records began, the numbers are still quite high, with “2.04 million women ‘looking after family or home’”(13).

            Throughout this investigation I have selected research and analysed opinions and theories of representation of women, whether people see these representations as negative or not. I have looked at both the similarities and differences between the two dominant representations of females in not only advertising, but the media as a whole. It is clear from my findings that woman are predominantly represented as sex objects and domestic housewives. I have also discovered that not only do these representations appeal and sell to men, but also to women, as they are the primary audience of the two texts I have focused my study on.

 

Word Count: 1563 (excluding references)

 

Sin City Homework

How typical is Sin City of it's genre?

The film Sin City is a hybrid of the two main genres film noir and comic book. It is a post modern text. Film Noir shows narrative themes of fear, mistrust and paranoia and comic book shows classis Propp character roles such as a hero and a villain. Together, these conventions form the hybrid genre that Sin City falls into.
In the first scene of this film, we are introduced to the character John Hartigan, who is one of three protagonists. As he enters the scene he is wearing a long rain coat, which is a typical film noir convention but could also be seen as a connotation for a superhero, which fits in with the comic book genre. The coat is flapping in the wind which almost makes it seen as a cape.
This is also shown again through Marv's character, as is usually seen wearing a long trench coat. However, when he commits crimes he is always shown taking it off and then putting it on again once he has killed. This could be to show that the genres are clearly swapping from one to the other.
Another way that shows this film is typical of the film noir genre through the visual conventions used. The film is shot in black and white which is typical of film noir films. The low key lighting also gives the audience a sense of the dark and gloomy themes of cynicism.
It also shows the comic book genre well through the use of voice overs, giving the audience a clear idea of the characters ideology and background.
These factors all show the way in which this film is a hybrid film of both the film noir and comic book genres.

Fish Tank - how is it typical of it's genre?

Social realism is a genre that represents real life and all of it's difficulties. The film Fish Tank portrays this is many ways. It is shown through the realistic settings, realistic events and situations, believable film technique, economic hardship, life struggles, gritty style and urban locations. 
A scene that shows some of these conventions is when Mia is at the caravan park trying to set the horse free. This clearly shows economic hardship through the urban location as it is shown as very run down and dirty. The people there are also not very well kept and are very protective over their land as it is all they have. The horse that they keep there also portrays a struggle as this horse is tied up, and looks very weak, frail and helpless. This could also foreshadow what will happen to Mia, as although she is not physically tied up, she is very trapped in an underclass lifestyle and is quite helpless. Although she may want to escape this lifestyle it will stay the same for her all through her life. 
Another convention of social realism is that it represents real life, and mainly focuses on urban issues and environments. In Fish Tank, the way this is shown is through a few different ways. For example, their obvious money struggles, shown through Mia mainly. Stealing money from Connor's wallet, going to his work and asking him for money and telling him she has no money when he takes her to the train station which results in him giving her some. It seems that Connor is financially stable, made even more clear towards the end of the film when Mia visits his house. Another way it is shown is through the characters unstable relationships, mainly between Mia and her mother. The way Mia is represented in the film could be shown in a negative way as that is the way her mother has brought her up and treated her. Her mother could also have been treated this way by her mother which is why she is that way, and it will probably carry on to Mia's children, which is why they will never escape the underclass lifestyle. 

references for coursework

Research:

Primary:

(1) Roberto Cavalli ad campaign spring/summer 2012- http://parfums.robertocavalli.com/index_perfume.plp#advertising 



(2) Fairy Liquid advert -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REPyBbOaZFk





Secondary:



(3) - 75% of all adverts using females were for products used in the bathroom or kitchen, 56% of women in adverts were shown as domestic housewives and only eighteen different occupations were shown for women, in comparison to forty-three for men.
- The sex object, according to Kilbourne, is a "mannequin" whose only attribute is conventional beauty. She is tall and thin, with very long legs, perfect teeth and hair, and skin without a blemish in sight. Underneath the surface, there is nothing. The mannequin's beauty is merely superficial. She is used to advertise cosmetics, health products and anything that works to improve the appearance of the body.

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/hzi9401.html 

(4)  - Women are shown almost exclusively as housewives or sex objects.

 - The housewife, pathologically obsessed by cleanliness, debates the virtues of cleaning products with herself and worries about "ring around the collar" (but no one ever asks why he doesn't wash his neck). She feels guilt for not being more beautiful, for not being a better wife and mother. The sex object is a mannequin, a shell. Conventional beauty is her only attribute. She has no lines or wrinkles (which would indicate she had the bad taste and poor judgment to grow older), no scars or blemishes--indeed, she has no pores. She is thin, generally tall and long-legged, and, above all, she is young. All "beautiful" women in advertisements (including minority women), regardless of product or audience, conform to this norm. Women are constantly exhorted to emulate this ideal, to feel ashamed and guilty if they fail, and to feel that their desirability and lovability are contingent upon physical perfection.

http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/beautyand-beast-advertising 

(5) For men - Women are often used in advertisements to imply a sexual relationship between the man who uses the product and the woman in the advertisement
For women - Sexual women are used in advertisements to imply that the product will increase the users appeal to men. 
http://www.slideshare.net/deepakverma/depicting-women-in-advertising 

(6) Females are not represent in the Media for doing something, they are represented for how they look 
http://keca2media.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2013-11-07T08:25:00-08:00&max-results=7 


(7) Women’s representation in popular culture facilitates the stereotype of the simple-minded, emotional, and domesticated female
http://carlislehistory.dickinson.edu/?page_id=215

(8) -"From the images inflicted upon us in the patriarchal mass media that surrounds us, it is assumed that we have been encouraged to mould ourselves into a set ideal. For a woman, that means having beauty, elegance, passivity and good domestic ability" 
- 'one of the reasons why television is resistant to the messages of feminism... is that the sponsors view those messages as conflicting with woman's desire to consume.'
-   Women have always been very beauty conscious and insecure about their appearances and advertisers have exploited this by bombarding them with ways in which to ‘improve themselves’.
http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mcswww/Students/del0001.html

(9)  many people suffer from inner conflicts as a result of failure to achieve the body of a top athlete or fashion model. - http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=6396

(10) "Women are projections of males narcissistic fantasies" - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nmtG3KRr4aUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=laura+mulvey&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LHKwUtaZO5GThQel9oDIBg&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=laura%20mulvey&f=false

(11) "Females are praised for their appearance or physical beauty." - http://www.seejane.org/downloads/GDIGM_Gender_Stereotypes.pdf 

(12) "Gender stereotypes persist throughout childhood, with parents choosing, and rewarding, certain stereotypical activities for their children, from playing with dolls for girls to sports activities for boys." - http://www.svri.org/Modefyinggender.pdf 

(13) "Just 2.04 million women are "looking after family or home", a fall of almost 1 million since records began 20 years ago." - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/10241815/Number-of-stay-at-home-mothers-falls-to-new-record-low.html

(14) "Men and women often have difficulty relating in the workplace because men instinctually want to exert physical dominance over women." - http://malamg01.hubpages.com/hub/SexWar