Theorist ANDY MEDHURST (1998) claims that sexuality disrupt representation claims, like those made by Dyer (“How we are seen determines in part how we are treated; how we treat others on how we see them; such seeing comes from representation” Dyer, 1993), because in the REAL world you cannot ‘see’ sexuality. Unless someone tells you they are homosexual you have no way of knowing.However, in the media stereotypes are used to explore ideological positions about sexuality. “Films and television comedies are full of images of gay men as effeminate screaming queens…It chooses that aspect of gay male behaviour (SELECTION), inflates it into the defining male characteristic of male homosexuality (MAGNIFICATION), then establish it as the most easily recognizable image (REDUCTION).”“This is why stereotypes of sexuality strive so vigorously to create two, polarized sexualities, hetro and straight, and to insist with such obsessive reductiveness that people who belong to those poles are easily identifiable – hence the recurring presence across media texts of the screaming queen and his female equivalent the butch dyke.”
Stereotypical lesbian
Stereotypical gay male
Star Trek is a film that actually breaks the stereotypes. Gay characters storylines tend to only revolve around their sexuality, but in Star Trek they publicise on the male character's sexuality by simply showing a shot of him holding hands with a male- they don't make a big deal about it, and don't use him as a stereotype of a gay man.
Practice Essay
How is sexuality portrayed in the extract of Eastenders through:
Camera work
Mise-en-scene
Sound
& editing
In this particular extract of Eastenders, the two homosexual males both support and disrupt Andy Medhurst's (1988) "queer" theories. I will now explore this idea in more detail, go into depth on the camera work, mise-en-scene, sound and editing.
This scene begins with a medium close up of the openly gay male, with his future lover walking in through the door in the background. The openly gay males breaks Andy Medhurt's theory that states how gay males are seen as the "screaming queen"- in Eastenders he is portrayed as butch, which more so supports Gauntlett's of how males in general are portrayed in film. The other male character supports Medhurst's theories more so, but goes against his stat
'As erotic objects of desire for the characters within the story, and as erotic objects of desire for the spectator.'
David Gauntlett 2002
'Images of the congenitally rugged, super-independant, extra-strong macho man still circulate in popular culture.'
Mackillon 2002
In 2002 Mackillon said males are now used in the similar way as women, in so far as they are being presented as sex objects and are seen to be more image conscious and sensitive.
MALES-
Heroic
Attractive (mainly the hero, can get away with more unnattractive males characters than females in a movie/TV show)
Strong
Violent
Brave
Powerful
Muscular
FEMALES-
Powerless
Over-sexualised (18-25)
(30+ especially) typical wives/mothers
Skinny (only fat as a joke)
Victim (specifically in horrors and actions)
Weak
Practice essay
How is gender portrayed in the extract of Hustle through:
Camera work
Mise-en-scene
Sound
& Editing?
Theory
Look to the question
In the extract of Hustle the theories of Mulvey (1975), Mackillon (2002) and Gauntlett (2002) are both supported and distrupted through the media language present in the clip. I will now explore this in more detail with reference to how; camera work, mise-en-scene, sound and editing contribute to constructions of gender representation.
The opening shot is a low angle medium close up of middle-aged male wearing an expensive suit. The camera angle gives him masculine status as it makes him powerful which could fit Gauntlet’s 2002 theory however, the way he is standing is not a masculine pose which means his character also fits Mackillon’s theory as he is looking more feminine. In the background there is a younger female character shown coming up the stairs to the clothing shop, the positioning seems to support traditional gender roles as she appears lower down, and therefore less important, than the lead male character. The opening scene is accompanied by non-diegetic music that changes when the women comes into shot, it is quite feminine and it contributes to sexualising the female character in a way that fits Mulvey’s 1975 theory. Furthermore, it contributes to de-masculinising the male character to a point where he almost appears camp, which also fits with the dress shop setting and his job. The shots are linked together with a sound bridge and continuity editing is used to not distract the viewer.
The non-diegetic music ends when the diegetic dialogue between the worker and the second woman begins, to enable no attention is being drawn away from their conversation. This second woman in the scene disrupts Mulvey’s theory that women are used as ‘erotic objects’, but is instead portrayed as the other version of women in films or TV shows- the house wife. She appears middle-aged and not very attractive, and during their conversation eyeline match editing is used. Shot reverse shot is used along with continuity editing to make the scene flow nicely, and so as not to draw attention away from what is happening. When she speaks, a high angle over the shoulder shot is used, making her appear powerless, inferior and weak. When the male character speaks, a low angle over the shoulder shot is used, making him appear superior and more masculine (although his facial expressions contradict that statement). The woman also avoids eye contact, further contributing to the male’s appearance of power. Throughout a majority of this shot the other female, the one who perfectly supports Mulvey’s theory, is shown with her back to the camera. These shots support Mulvey’s theory, as despite the fact there’s a conversation going on her body is shown off. The feminine non-diegetic music starts up again towards the end of the dialogue as she walks off.
A slight panning close up shot is used when displaying to the audience how attractive the blonde female is, from her hand to her face, which further supports Mulvey’s theory as the woman is clearly only being used for her attractive features. A tracking shot is then used whilst the male walks over to her, to emphasise the importance of her character. During their dialogue, despite the fact she is (like the first female) shorter than the male, they don’t use a high angle over the shoulder shot but keep it eye-level, making her come across as more powerful. The feminine non diegetic music playing further emphasises her sexuality, whereas with the other female it stopped. The male’s change in attitude (connoted by his tone of voice and gestures), proves part of Mulvey’s theory that women are used as erotic objects for the characters in the scene, and not just the audience. Continuity editing is more commonly used throughout the scene, but when the woman tries the dress on they use a fade to black to show that some time has passed. A tilt close up shot is used to display the woman’s whole body in a tight dress, further supporting Mulvey’s theory as the camera work ensures that the audience can admire all of her curves.
Diegetic sound is 'realistic sound' where the source is visible on screen or where the source is implied to be present in the action even if the sound source is out of shot (e.g. a door slamming in another room or sirens in the distance) common examples of diegetic sound include:
- Dialogue (characters voices) - Sounds made by objects - music coming from instruments shown on screen - ambient sound (background noise that would be present) N.B. this links to what we discussed last week in terms of TV Drama's needing to create a realistic believable 'diegetic' world for the viewer - sound is part of the verisimilitude. Non-diegetic sound is sound where the source is not present in the action nor looks like it is meant to be; common examples include: - Mood music - Dramatic sound effects that do not match the sound anything on screen would make. - Narrators commentary.
Non-diegtic
Title music: theme tunes (connote genre/represent TV drama).
Score/incidental music: orchestral music used to connote tone/atmosphere.
Sound motifs: sounds associated with certain character (often a villain like Darth Vadar in Star Wars) that connote something good/bad is about to happen.
Sound effects: used to connote atmosphere (used a lot in horrors, like in this example video).
Voice over: often used to give the viewer an insight into the thoughts of a character (creating a bond between the audience and character), set the scene or progress the narrative.
Diegetic
Synchronous sound: sounds that match what you see on screen.
Sound effects: realistic sounds that match the action on screen creating realism and/or connoting atmosphere e.g. gun shots, door opening/closing.
Dialogue: characters speaking (dialogue progresses the narrative and reveals the character's personality/views to the viewer).
Ambient sound: natural background noise you would hear if the scene on screen were real - this is vital when creating realism.
A system of cutting used to maintain continuous and clear narrative action by following a set of rules. It's meant to be unnoticeable and smooth. For continuity editing to work smoothly, it has to follow the 180 degree rule- which means the camera can only film on one side of the action. This rule can be broken, but mostly in films of the horror genre to help the audience feel more uncomfortable. Another rule that needs to be followed is when you join shots together using shot reverse shot, you need to be careful about eyeline match. This means that the gaze of the character in one shot has to line up with the person or thing they’re looking at in the next shot, as in Shots 3 and 4. To get this right, you should put both camera positions at a similar distance from the ‘axis’. You should also frame the shots with looking space or nose room (more space in the direction they are looking). If one character is higher than another, the taller character should be looking down and the smaller character should be looking up.
Parallel editing
Parallel editing (or cross cutting) is the technique of alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in different locations. If the scenes are simultaneous, they occasionally culminate in a single place, where the relevant parties confront each other. It's a type of continuity editing.
Match-cut (or graphic cut)
Technical term for when a director cuts from one scene to a totally different one, but has objects in the two scenes "matched," so that they occupy the same place in the shot's frame. The director thus makes a discursive alignment between objects that may not have any connection on the level of story. Match cuts offer directors with one way to create visual metaphors in film since the match cut can suggest a relation between two disparate objects. The match cut, however, is designed to completely hide the transition from the audience.
Shot reverse shot
Film technique used to show two characters looking at one another. It is, in effect a double eyeline match. In a given shot-reverse shot sequence of two characters having a conversation, the first shot is a character looking offscreen. The second shot would be a shot taken from the reverse angle (hence the name reverse shot) of the second character, the object of the first character's gaze, looking back at the first character. A shot-reverse shot sequence will cut between the two shots and is usually bookended by an establishing shot.The shot-reverse shot is a form of continuity editing, and my first example for continuity editing uses this technique.
Slow/fast motion
The technique of slowing down or speeding up a scene.
Fade
A video fade is when a shot gradually fades to (or from) a single colour, usually black or white. A fade is different to a crossfade, which is a transition directly between two shots rather than one shot to a colour. Fading to/from black usually signals the beginning and end of a scene. The timing of the fades indicates the importance of the change in time and/or location between scenes — a slower fade with more time spent on black indicates a more significant end/beginning. A fairly quick fade to and from black could indicate a time lapse of a few minutes or hours, whereas a long drawn-out fade indicates a much bigger change.
CGI
Computer-generated imagery. This can range from a green screen to an animated beast. CGI is used for visual effects because the quality is often higher and effects are more controllable than other more physically based processes, such as constructing miniatures for effects shots or hiring extras for crowd scenes, and because it allows the creation of images that would not be feasible using any other technology. It's used mainly in science fiction films, but as CGI quality becomes more realistic, a lot of movies are relying on it a it.
Sound bridge
A sound bridge is a type of sound editing that occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film. This type of editing provides a common transition in the continuity editing style because of the way in which it connects the mood, as suggested by the music, throughout multiple scenes. For example, music might continue through a scene change or throughout and montage sequence to tie the scenes together in a creative and thematic way. Another form of a sound bridge can help lead in or out of a scene, such as when dialogue or music occurs before or after the speaking character is scene by the audience.
Long take
In filmmaking, a long take is a shot lasting much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate blocking are often elements in long takes, but not necessarily so. The term "long take" should not be confused with the term "long shot", which refers to the distance between the camera and its subject and not to the temporal length of the shot itself. The length of a long take was originally limited to how much film a motion picture camera could hold, but the advent of digital video has considerably lengthened the maximum potential length of a take.
Iris in/out
Most commonly recognised as a technique used in Bond films, this edit is a type of wipe shape that can be circular through the use of the camera's iris. By closing the iris, a blurry circle sweeps inwards to the middle of the frame, drawing attention to the subject occupying this centre space.
Match on action
Match on action is a technique of filming used in many sorts of films. It consists of connecting 2 shots together in which a character finishes off an action in the second shot that was started in the first one, for example a clip of a character walking through a door in which he opens the door being filmed from behind then the clip cuts to him walking through from the other one.
Jump cut
A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forwards in time. It is a manipulation of temporal space using the duration of a single shot, and fracturing the duration to move the audience ahead. Jump cuts, in contrast to continuity editing, draw attention to the constructed nature of the film.
