Class notes

Laura Mulvey "The Maze Gaze"

Laura Mulvey and "The Male Gaze"

Laura Mulvey was born August 15, 1941 and is a British feminist film theorist. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birbeck, University of London. She worked at the British Film Institute for many years before taking up her current position.

She instigated The Male Gaze which is how an audience views the people being presented. In 1975 Laura created the term "male gaze" to ensure film audiences view the characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.

Things in media such as videos and magazine covers, use figures to catch the gaze and sell the product to people. An audience can be easily distracted by the gesture of what's being presented for an advert for a product rather than paying full attention to what the product actually sells.

The theory is still relevant today because all media companies encourage this way of advertising through using famous music artists and various other types of celebrities or models to publicise products by using their aesthetically pleasing looks to encourage sales of the product.

The theory applies to this magazine front cover as it has David Beckham, a very well known football star and idol to most looking good on the front of a fitness magazine. Initially people will pick up this magazine due to seeing a familiar face such as a celebrity like Beckham. This magazine is mainly for men however having David Beckham on the front could potentially attract women as men's health is known to having topless men being displayed and therefore women will want to see Beckham topless. However referring back to the fact he is seen as an icon for many men will encourage heterosexual men to pick up the magazine.

In this advert Keira Knightley can be seen in a very sexual way. She seduces the photographer and undresses in front of him. This is teasing the audience and distracts the from what the actual product is selling. You only see the actual product for a matter of seconds but the advert is memorable and has captured your attention. Keira Knightley has an amazing figure and this could be seen as something to aspire to if you are a girl watching. Also men will want to watch this advert due to the fact Keira undresses and reveals some of her body on camera.

Mise En Scene (costume) for Citizen Khan
The costumes that can be seen are very stereotypical for an Asian family. Mr Khan is wearing very smart clothing which is stereotypical as Asian families are always associated with being very smart. He is also wearing a Kufi (a Muslim hat/cap) as this helps to create realism as he is a Muslim. Mrs Khan is wearing a Saree type of clothing which also adds to the realism the producers and director is trying to create. The daughter is seen to be in more Western clothing which is also stereotypical as it is thought that usually when an Asian is brought up in a Western society they take to the culture more. Whereas the parents do not and choose more traditional attire.

Look at a text which represents you (your age group, gender, religion, race) are these representations? Who do you think is creating the representation? Is it someone like you? Why do we need to consider these representations?

The Inbetweeners
The inbetweeners are a group of lads a couple of years older than me. They represent youth and having a good time and joking around. They do what they want and aren't too bothered about the consequences as long as they are having a good time. The people creating these representations are all of the four lads themselves. They portray themselves as your average group of boys getting up mischief but it is slightly exaggerated for humour. The group in a way are similar to me which is why I can relate to the series but they are meant to be slightly geeky and stupid and find themselves in situations I wouldn't ever want to be in/have never been in. We need to consider these representations as they have a direct impact on what audiences watch the show.

How Effective is Your Chosen Clip in Hooking the Audience MEDIA

The Kings Speech 
What makes a film British - Most people would define a British film in a few different ways. It needs to have some British cultural elements such as being set in the UK,having a predominantly British cast or based on work by a British author. A film may qualify as British under the films act 1985 such as Bond and Potter films. Or they could qualify by satisfying the terms of an international co-production agreement (has to be certified as British by the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, a number of tests must be met.

Exhibition Issues - Box Office in the UK - The UK's mainstream media doesn't usually pay attention to Box Office.Momentum Pictures's expectations were exceeded with £3.52 million opening weekend. It beat the likes of Slumdog Millionaire (£1.83m) and  Pride and Prejudice (£2.53m). The Kings Speech shadowed the film 127 Hours on its opening weekend as two good UK films came out at the same time.

Exhibition Issues and reviews: The Films Reception - The film got an exceptional response as it was nominated for 14 Baftas and 11 Oscars, including best picture, best director, best supporting actor and actress, best screenplay, best editing, plumiest consonants, loveliest vowels and best medicinal use of swearing (The Guardian). It got reviews such as "as attention-grabbing as plot lines go". Not all of the reviews are as kind "littered with errors" is what the telegraph wrote about the film.  

Critical Reviews of the film - 



Web 2.0 and Exchange - The film received various different opinions. The YouTube reviews from the British people I feel said they enjoyed the film more. However the Americans also enjoyed the film but preferred different actors in the film from the YouTube review I saw.

The films production issues - See-saw films was faced with a decision to cut away a production company they made a deal with in the early stages of the film when Fox Searchlight knocked on the door. However Searchlight was owned by a company that wanted international rights so See-Saw decided to go with the original plan.

The films origins and how it became a co-production - The film became a co-production because in order to get he star that the British directors wanted to play the lead role they had to post a copy of the script threw Geoffrey Rush's door. As he is an Australian actor and played the lead role this lead the film to become a co-production. Also See Saw films is an Australian and British production company.

The Finance - The Weinstein company and Prescience were the first financiers in after UK distributer Momentum. The UK film council and UK post-production company Molinare rounded out the $12 million budget with some equity.

The Production Companies - The Production companies that made the film were, Bedlamp productions, See Saw films.

Distribution and Marketing Issues - 

Research Film companies.odt