Critical Evaluation

The production of my twenty key frames was a reflection from the research I gathered from my textual analysis revolving around the topic of the "Feminist Film Theory".  When reverting back to the information I received from my research, I focused most intensely on "The Male Gaze VS The Female Gaze". When communicating this information through my artifact, I focused on the key concepts that I gathered from my textual analysis: spectatorship, voyuerism/scopophillia, and the use of code and conventions. Overall, I feel that I analyzed the Feminist Film Theory successfully through my intense research which is portrayed in a creative light through my artifact .

During my research, I found that a major point that defines a large amount of the feminist film theory was the subject of spectatorship. The most common case for spectatorship to influence a individual is gender, which constructed different interpretations when analysing my primary texts.  This is because it allowed for the audience to align themselves with the characters differently; for example, how a man would in contrast to a woman. 

When I found that Mulvey's theory was challenged occasionally by my primary texts, I decided to interpret this idea within my artifact. During the frames before Cortina gets rejected from her promotion, I emitted the visualization of the male spectator as much as I could. This was because I wanted the contrast between the gendered spectator to be apparent when the narrative changed later within my keyframes; presenting that there is more than one spectator, despite sexuality or gender. For example, evidence of a male spectator was represented when Cortina is making Marlon's coffee. In this shot, I constructed the camera to be of a slightly high angle with the kitchen utilities to be centered within the frame. Furthermore, the combination of the low angle shot and involvement of this dressing of mise-en-scene provided a housewife image upon Cortina, with the low angle representing the higher power of the male spectatorship looking down on her.. To reinforce my research conclusions even more, I then constructed a shot to represent female spectatorship to present both spectators, however I done this through the male character's point of view ironically. When Marlon is tied to the chair, he looks up at Cortina creating an low angle shot, however with his vision extremely blurred. I constructed this shot to represent spectatorship through the idea that I extracted from my research: my Hollywood primary texts directed by men did not follow aspects of the feminist film theory as strongly as my Independent primary texts directed by woman did. This relates to Haskell's theory that "male directors can not portray women correctly". I therefore took this idea in to mind and made Marlon's vision blurred when looking up at Cortina; representing the fact that men can not view women in film as beholding power over them or behaving as the 'active sex'.

 I feel that I successfully interpreted my research of gendered spectatorship creatively through the use of camera angles emitting authority and by setting my film in the early 1970's. This allowed for my keyframes to portray the message that the film industry were not comfortable with the idea of the feminist film theory during the 1970's as it was a recent film movement that could cause a impact on the patriarchal film industry. Therefore, this is why I chose to slowly unveil the idea of female spectatorship as my narrative continued and to form the women character's revenge on the boss as a daydream; the 1970's film industry was not ready for this revolution in the film industry. My strengths of this aspect of my creative artifact was the visual filtering of making the frames appear as if they were shot during the 1970's. Additionally, I could of presented the idea of gender spectatprship greater if I made my camera angles more clearer through the possible use of a tripod. I could of explored with more camera angles to convey power in order for a clearer representation of spectatorship through cinematography. 

Moreover, another significant factor of the feminist film theory that reoccurred was the subject of voyeurism and scopophillia. This idea was made evidently clear in "Nine to Five" through Geroge's and Doralee's charcater.  In my research, with "Nine to Five" being released in the 1980's, the feminist film theory was made more comfortable within the film industry. We can see this in an example of "Nine to Five" of the idea of voyeurism being communicated in a light-hearted and humorous mannerism when George is peeping down Doralee's cleavage.  I took this example of "Nine to Five" into account when creating my keyframes and decided to not visually present "The Male Gaze" in a scopophillic mannerism, but to instead avoid the idea of voyeurism and play around with the typical "Male Gaze" structure. For example, like in the bar scene in Thelma and Louise, the camera slowly tilts down from Louise's head to her toes in a slow and sexual nature. I took this idea of challenging this theory of Mulvey's where we are first introduced to Miura and Minnie.I chose to interpret the women's shoes as the main subjects within the keyframe,as shoes are a stereotypical item related to feminity, especially high heels that Miura is wearing. Moreover, I presented the woman's shoes to present the contrast in the characters feminity and challenge the stereotypes of the physical appearance of women; Miura is in heels whilst Minnie is in flat boots. However, this keyframe was also created to present evidence of feminity being represented without the essence of scopophillic viewing. For instance, there is no part of the ladies bum, breasts, legs, etc within the keyframe, unlike the usual use of fragmentation through "The Male Gaze". I could of communicated the idea of femininity being represented in a non-scopophillic mannerism greater by choosing another fragmentation of the characters body instead that could be perceived as a non-sexual image. Moreover, I feel that the slight high angle shot of the stilettos elongated her legs,which could possibly represent sexual desire due to the combination of the elongation of her legs and the feminine choice of costume. Perhaps a fragmentation of both their hands may have been of a more appropriate subject in not communicating a scopophillic image. Additionally, a close up shot of the feet that would take up most of the framing would deflect the image of sexual desire of Miura's elongated lower part of her leg as well. 

Finally, the dressing of mise-en-scene within my keyframes was important as the features of the mise-en-scene would control to what extent the "Male Gaze" was apparent within my artifact. Moreover, mise-en-scene acts out as a artistic form of symbolism within my short film. Furthermore, one of my primary texts; Thelma and Louise represents a transistion of Thelma's character as at the start of the film, she is dressed in white to represent feminity, however towards the end of the film, she is dressed in black and dirty shades of denim to portray masculinity. I found that in my primary texts, the use of code and conventions to conform or challenge stereotypes of gender was used a vast amount. Therefore, I took this feature of mise-en-scene dressing into consideration when I constructed my keyframes. For instance, during my research, I came across the female archetypes in film during the 1970's to which I extracted within my own artifact characters. The main archetypes consisted of the timid yet smart woman, the desirable yet fiesty woman, and the independent and threatening woman. When creating my characters, I put these archetypes in to mind communicated them through mise-en-scenes; similar to Doralee, Violet and Judy in Nine to Five. For Minnie, I dressed her in long black flared trousers to represent a sense of sensibility to her character as well as challenging the stereotypical feminine portrayal of women in film. Moreover, I dressed her in trousers as this communicated the fact that Minnie has a hidden personality that we later see as the disruption of the narrative unfolds. In contrast to the loudmouth character of Miura, who wears a revealing dress, Minnie is guarded within her costume of a shy nature. For example, this is why I placed the position of Miura in front of Minnie in the close up of their shoes. Miura's vibrant stilletoes,placed much closer to the camera whilst Minnie's shoes are framed further away, emitting Miura's upfront personality and Minnie's timid characterisation. I feel that I communicated the portrayal of the female archetypes of the 1970's successfully through my characters appearance. However, this could of been communicated greater if during the editing process of my key frames, I heightened the vibrancy and sharpness of the female characters appearance to clearly represent the characters archetypes through use of colour, material, cut, etc.

Overall, I feel that I did successfully represent the idea of the feminist film theory within my twenty keyframes. I also found that I extracted significant parts of my textual analysis research within my keyframes very creatively. The strength within my keyframes was choosing the key scenes from my screenplay and visually creating them so that the narrative and meaning behind the shots are clear to follow. My weakness yet strength for my keyframes was my editing techniques.I constructed the imagery of a 1970's film through my keyframes very well, enhancing sharpness and rustic filtering to the shots, however, in some shot I would've liked the use of superimposing my images to be of a smoother mannerism. However, I feel that due to the vintage filtering, the errors in some of my editing techniques were disguised well.What is more, I gathered a immense amount of inspiration from my primary texts such as Nine to Five and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, that I feel I constructed clearly within my keyframes communicating the ideas of the feminist film theory successfully through my create artifact. 

20 Keyframes

Keyframe 1: The first frame consists of Cortina typing away her letter to why she should be offered the company promotion in her open cubicle office.The shot is positioned from a high angle shot through a close up, point of view framing. The effect of the point of view shot heightens the intenisity of how eager Cortina is to get that desired promotion and how women have to prove themselves as an active role in the film industry in a male driven environment. Therefore, through this eyeline shot, the audience is pressured to be aligned with Cortina's character. In order to create the image of the open cubicle office in a professional nature, I used the software Photoshop. In order to get the placement of my actors hands correctly on through edited typewriter, I originally took a photograph of Cara typing on a laptop in order to create a stencil for myself to overlay my edited images over. Furthermore, I extracted a copyright free image of a office cubicle background and inserted it over my original photo graph. I then brought forward my original picture, however this time carefully erased the laptop. I then extracted another copyright free image of 1970's typewriter and used the history brush tool and retrieve Cortina's hands. I then heightened through temperature, sharpness, and brightness to reinforce the imagery of 1970's movie through this retro filtering. The only sound involved within this scene would be the overpowering foley sound of Cortina's keyboard to heighten the intensity of her desire for this promotion. 

Keyframe 2: In this keyframe, Cortina is answering the phone to a angry Marlon. It was essential for me to make sure that my constructed setting linked with the location from the previous keyframe. Similar to the previous keyframe, I originally took a photography of Cara at a desk with a phone to her ear to create a stencil for myself to edit around. I then extracted copyright free images form the internet of a beige looking cubicle office background, a telephone and a typewriter. Moreover, I  could not find a picture of a blue typewriter with just the back of it showing. Therefore, I just copied and pasted the typewriter from the previous keyframe, shrunk it to a small size, and overlapped half of it with a blue colouring, to create a illusion of the back of the typewriter. This frame has been captured in a long shot due to the fact that I wanted to portray the image of a females inferior placement in a male driven industry, using a symbolic convention to represent the film industry itself. I then filtered the frame with a heightened brightness, sharpness, blur, temperature and I then decreased the contrast and tint to achieve this seventies filtering imagery.


Keyframe 3: This frame presents Cortina creating Marlon's coffee in the staff kitchen from a high angle, eyeline shot. The use of the high angle shot emphasises the Male Gaze theory of representing a image of the female character having inferior power within the frame; the spectator is looking down on her. Furthermore, I made sure that the use of mise-en-scene with the kitchen essentials was apparent in the shot to not only communicate to the audience that Cortina is in the staff kitchen, however to also reinforce the passive role that Cortina is acting out through this housewife image that she is presenting. I edited this shot with a yellow dew on the frame, which complimented the idea of a 1970's filtering which promotes the passive role that women had in film during that period.


Keyframe 4: In this scene, this is the first shot to which we are introduced to Miura and Minnie.I captured this keyframe as a close up of Miura's and Minnie's shoes to represent the feminine difference between the two characters; Miura's extremely feminine whilst Minnie is blandly dressed.Due to the fact that when I originally shot this photo, the background from the staff kitchen was a living room. Therefore, I then took a image of an office entrance background, making sure that the colours and lighting linked in with the staff kitchen, and layered it within the picture. I then had to carefully use the history tool brush on Photoshop, and retrieve the previous images of the ladies shoes and the staff kitchen flooring.


Keyframe 5: This scene demonstrates the three women discussing each of their personal hate for their boss. I placed Minnie in the middle of Cortina and Miura to communicate the vulnerable personality she is and how she is always 'caught in the middle' or 'sitting on the fence' when discussing hatred for her boss. I placed the lighting to be of a strong sense from the left side of the room to enhance the brightness that yo would see in 1970's movies when I filtered the keyframe. Moreover, I filmed this keyframe in a medium shot to communicate all of the ladies different reactions to their boss through their different body language and also to represent the idea of a unity between the three women because of the male oppressed environment they work in. Once again, this is subtle representation of the breakthrough of the feminist film theory in the patriachal film industry during the 1970's.


Keyframe 6: In this frame, I have focused the camera on a close up shot of Cortina whilst she is thinking up a devious revenge against Marlon. The point of this shot was to demonstrate the revealing of the feminist film theory and the female spectator through the action of Cortina taking control of the narrative, becoming an active role through the sole focus of the close up shot. In this frame, I heightened the sharpness, temperature and brightness of the photo to emit that 1970's look greatly as this was the first close up of a facial expression in my narrative, therefore the retro editing of the photo was needed to be more apparent.


Keyframe 7: In this keyframe, the scene is focused on the three women holding hands, representing the unity between them. I tried a few different angles to communicate this strong message female unity; aerial shot, low angle, etc however,  the shot that captured everything within the framing. Also, the use of the women having different coloured nail polishes differentiates them from one another, which communicates the characters unity more so due to their common ground of their hate for Marlon.


Keyframe 8: In this shot, we see the three women, still in the kitchen, looking down at the coffee cups, thinking if they have got the courage to pull some sort of revenge upon Marlon. The scene is captured in a high angle shot to contradict the actions within the narrative with the spectators viewpoint. For instance, the women are devising a plan against Marlon, however the high angle shot communicates a inferior power upon the women in the narrative, communicating the viewpoint of a male spectator. In contrast to keyframe 5, the women all now have the same body language, reinforcing the fact of the unity of the feminist film theory.

Keyframe 9: In this shot, the audience is first introduced to Marlon through a low angle shot, In order to reinforce the idea of the male spectator from the previous keyframe, the use of the low angle shot presents the higher power that the man has in the narrative in contrast to the women. I chose to interpret this idea early within the narrative in order for that when the narrative continues, we see the revealing of the feminist film theory. Also, the suit that I dressed Marlon in compliments the darkness of his costume once I filtered the photo to a vintage look, as in contrast to the brightness of the location, his suit is darker, creating a slight shadow effect and setting a villainous archetype upon his masculine character.

Keyframe 10: In this keyframe, I have chosen to shoot a over the shoulder shot from Cortina's perspective whilst she is having a meeting with Marlon about her promotion. The effect of the over the shoulder shot allows the spectator to align themselves with Cortina's character and put the spectator in the female mindset of Cortina, feeling her developed emotions of anger against the male character Marlon.


Keyframe 11: In this shot, we see a close up focus of Cortina leaving Marlon's office in a rage due to his sexist attitude and his rude decline to her promotion application. Once again, the only use of close up shots are used on the female characters in the narrative, demonstrating the revolution of the feminist film theory and the female characters taking on a active role within the narrative. The anger in Cortina's character is reinforced through the editing of the colour grading of the photo. I lowered the contrasted and the tint in order to create a shadowing image upon Cortina's character, to demonstrate her transition in to a scornful woman.


Keyframe 11: In this scene, the camera is focused on Marlon and his office in a long shot whilst he is obnoxiously laughing about his disruption with Cortina to another male colleague on the phone. The body language of Marlon's character is structured in a sluggish manner which reinforces the negative traits of the male character, reinforcing the aspect of the female spectator looking down on Marlon. Moreover, the use of the long shot emphasizes Marlon's new inferior placement within the film, reinforces his new weakness within the narrative with his office creating a overpowering image against Marlon's weak character. It structures the idea of Marlon not being a man, and just using this visage of power through for instance his office, to emit a 'fake' masculinity. Through this constructed placement of Marlon's character within this scene, it allows for the female spectator to take upon her new superior role whilst watching down on Marlon's character, representing his role of a passive part in the narrative. The gender roles are switched in the narrative, allowing for the feminist film theory to be liberated and the male gaze to be rejected.


Keyframe 13: In this shot, Marlon is startled by the women's sneaky appearance within his office and drops his bottle of beer. In this frame, I originally took a picture of the three women sitting on the sofa so that their body language would be appropriate for when I superimposed them behind a Photoshoped desk. I also originally took a picture of Marlon from a behind shot with his hands slightly loose in order to superimpose the image of the Budweiser bottle within the scene. I used the same image of the office that I used in the previous keyframes, however I cropped out half of the setting in order to create that illusion that the picture was being shot from a different placement. The involvement of the beer bottle reinforces the sleazy representation of men in film.


Keyframe 14: This frame presents a point of view shot from Marlon perspective after being unconscious, looking up at Cortina with a blurred vision. Although the spectator is put within the perspective of Marlon's male viewpoint, the blurring of his vision contradicts the power of the male gaze. Due to women with their new found power within the narrative and the breakthrough of the female spectator, through Marlon's blurred gaze, it communicate both the idea that a male spectator cannot visualize or perceive a correct representation of women in film, stating that the Male Gaze is not reliable. Additionally, this also communicates the struggle of the film industry trying to visualize and come to terms with the theory of the female spectator during the 1970's as they could not think of a industry controlled by the authority of women. Furthermore, the low angle shot on the blurred Cortina reinforces this female power. I immensely blurred this frame with slight actions of the Photoshop smudging tool in order to create this effect.


Keyframe 15: In this frame, Marlon is looking up at the three women, with a vulnerable look upon his face. This shot aligns the female spectator through Cortina's viewpoint as the camera placement of being on a high angle on Marlon performs to the audience his passive placement within the narrative and the control the female roles have which communicates the feminist film theory.


Keyframe 16: In this shot, Miura is taking part in her own personal revenge on Marlon, acting out a dramatic version of how he sexually assaulted her over the years by speaking disturbingly provocative to him, whilst going to lick his face with a gun placed against him. I photoshoped the two images of Miura and Marlon, superimposing them together, making sure that Miura's face was the right scale against Marlon's. I then also photoshoped the image of a gun from the internet. Moreover, in order for all the images to link well together, I colour graded each photo carefully in order for them to behold the same brightness, contrast, etc to create a smooth finish. The gun acts out as a form of phallic imagery within this shot, presenting that the Miura is the active role within this scene, controlling Marlon's masculinity with the symbolism of the gun in her hands.


Keyframe 17: In this keyframe, it presents Minnie's scene of a mental breakdown, representing her transition from a timid women, and after the revealing of the feminist film theory within my narrative, her true colours are shone through. In this scene, I copied and pasted the image of the reoccurring background of Marlon's office and cropped part of it so that it appeared to be shot from a different angle. I then originally took a photograph of Minnie's character and superimposed her within the background. I then gathered many images from the internet of paperwork and copied them onto the shot. In order to establish to the audience that Minnie has ripped up Marlon's paperwork, in some pieces of paperwork, I would crop them in half, extend them in sizing, etc.


Keyframe 18: This frame is focused on a extreme close up of Coritna's smirking smile. I colour graded this photo to emphasize the feminine colouring of Cortina's lips and I sharpened the image for more definition. This photo communicates the power that the female spectator can have, despite the stereotypical imagery of feminine features which conveys a sexist response. The extreme close up for this shot also conveys the intense power that the female characters have within the narrative.


Keyframe 19; In this frame, Marlon is about to be shot in the crotch by all three women. I collected images of guns held by women's hand to superimpose into the shot of the original photo of Marlon's crotch. I then copied and paste the left gun, flipped the position of the gun in order for it to be identical to the right gun. I then filtered the photo with heightened sharpness, contrast, temperature and lowered saturation to emit the imagery of a 1970's look once again. The use of the guns, similar to keyframe 16, was to emit the representation of phallic imagery of the women controlling Marlon's masculinity with the guns in their hands, making him the passive role in the narrative. Also, the centered gun is positioned to be in a eyeline shot which allows for the spectator to be aligned with Cortina's charter presenting the act of the female spectator.



Keyframe 20: In the last keyframe of the narrative, we are reverted back to the staff kitchen, with all the three women with their eyes closed and dreamy looks upon their faces. They were daydreaming the entire story. Due to the fact that the male character couldn't attend the day of shooting the shot with all the three women in the kitchen, I had to take a separate photo of him, cut out the unwanted background, and superimpose him into the staff kitchen shot. I then colour graded  both separate images in order to result to a smooth finish. The purpose of this shot was to revert back to the idea of the Male Gaze theory, to communicate the idea that during the 1970's, the theory of the feminist film theory and the female spectator was too surreal for the male film industry to handle,hence why I put the idea of the  women's revenge in the placement of a hypereal fantasy. During the 1970's, the Male Gaze was the superior one, and the film industry perceived the Female Gaze just to be a unrealistic reality.

Textual Analysis

Film Studies Textual Analysis

How has the feminist film theory been represented from the 1970's to the 21st century?

Laura Mulvey stated that in Hollywood "women are projections of male narcissistic fantasies" (1). Mary Ann Doane stressed that "the cinema produces stereotypical representations of women"(2). E. Ann Kaplan protested that in cinema "women are refused a voice…subjected to male desire"(3). Therefore do these powerful points shared by some of the worlds most renowned feminist theorists protest a justified argument? Can Hollywood cinema really represent a true portrayal of the female subject  through male authorship? To what extent has national cinema from the 1970's to the 21st century conformed to the feminist film theory?

It is said by the famous feminist film theorist; Annette Kuhn that "there does not exist one single theory, rather a series of perspectives" (4). Therefore I have took this reliable statement into careful consideration and involved it within my textual analysis investigation by interpreting, in my opinion, the main key theme of the feminist theory: "The Male Gaze VS The Female Gaze".

Moreover,  I will be exploring this key concept of the feminist film theory in relation to my chosen primary texts. This is beneficially significant in order for me to develop a certain knowledge to what extent these key feminist theories are represented in my chosen timeline of filmography. 

The information from my secondary research will be extracted by a variety of resources (books, blogs, scholars, articles, etc)  from reliable and acclaimed film/feminism theorists such as Laura Mulvey, Claire Johnston, and Molly Haskell. 

Additionally, I will be deeply deconstructing into my timeline of chosen primary texts, however comparing two films from the same decade, one being of a Hollywood distribution and the other being of an Independent distribution. This contrasting comparison  will strongly justify part of my thesis argument that the Independent movie industry communicates the feminist film theory much stronger than the Hollywood movie industry.  Furthermore the primary texts that will be studied within this research analysis will consist of: "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (Martin Scorsese, 1974, Hollywood.) , "Wanda" (Barbara Loden, 1970, Independent.), "Nine to Five" (Colin Higgins', 1980, Hollywood.),  "Born in Flames" (Lizzie Pearson , 1983, Independent.), "Thelma and Louise" (Ridley Scott, 1991, Hollywood), and "Boys Don't Cry" (Kimberley Pirce, 1999, Independent.). 

During my research, I intend to evaluate my knowledge between the feminist film theory and my timeline of films. This is in order to be able to construct a valid conclusion to how the feminist film theory over time has significantly influenced the 21st century film industry.

The feminist film theory did not come about fully until the late 1960's,  as a result to the second wave of feminism. Therefore, as Molly Haskell points out in her book "Film reflects society and vice versa"(5) couldn't be more correct. The reality of an extremely patriarchal society has been reflected through the cinema screen for an exhausting amount of time now, brainwashing stereotypical ideologies to the audience through the viewpoint of male auteurs. Therefore, my overall hypothesis argument falls on my proposal that the representation of female identity has been unfairly portrayed through male spectatorship, especially during the 1970's and earlier. However, as the decades passed on, the portrayal of women in cinema has become of a less stereotypical view. I also strongly feel that the cliché representation of women is more so presented through Hollywood films, and the feminist film theory is liberated more within Independent films, which ironically seem to consist of a large number of female directors. Therefore, my hypothesis argument will consist on the three questions;

1. How has national cinema represented the feminist film theory from the 1970's to the 21st century?

2. Can the representation of women be portrayed correctly through male authorship?

3. How has the representation of the feminist film theory throughout the timeline influenced films in the present day?  

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (ADLHA)  VS Wanda

When referring to the subject matter of The Male Gaze and Female Spectatorship, it is vital to start with the founding theorist of "The Male Gaze". Firstly, Mulvey criticizes the theory of the "Female Spectator" and states that it is "inherently impossible" (6). Moreover, she continues to protest within her essay that; " the male gaze directs the viewers, where to go with the protagonist, where to look, and by doing so it's forcing us into a certain ideological position – the dominant, male one.". Despite the fact that famous male movie critics such as Roger Ebert said that ADLHA "belongs outside stereotypical ideologies" (7). However, opposing to Mulvey's persistent theory, E. Ann. Kaplan "Is the gaze male?". Kaplan then further states that "the gaze is not always male, nor is the female always passive".  

When referring to these contrasting theories upon ADLHA, I find that overall the concept of the male gaze is not cinematically present through any of the characters within ADLHA, specifically Alice. Perhaps this is because Alice challenges the stereotypical subject of the male gaze by being a mother, middle aged, and ultimately realistic portrayal of a middle aged women. Mulvey also states that there are two types of scopophillia'; Voyeuristc and Fetishism (8), to which I can not see apparent within any part of ADLHA.  However, in two particular scenes involved within ADLHA, although there is no male desired lingering camera movements apparent in ADHLA, there is a essence of the female spectator within two scenes in particular. One of them being where Alice's boss, Janine, makes an embarrassing announcement on Alice's employment (Scene A) and another where Alice goes in to a bar to search for employment and is sexually dehumanized by the male owner (Scene B).

Scene A

Scene B

Although through the audiences perspective there was no essence of the male gaze through the visualization of camera movement and framing within either of the scenes,  through the characters point of view of the long shot in the bar scene, we see Alice become the subject of the other male characters desired gaze in the shot. For instance, due to the use of the long shot within the scene, this represents a comfortable viewing for the female audience, without the sexist involvement of male driven cinematography such as lingering fragmentations, therefore challenging the theory of the male gaze.  However, the diegetic dialogue involved within both Scene A when Alice says "I sing with my face, not my ass", in addition to Scene B when Janine says "You can look but you can't touch" presents the male individuals inner thoughts of the usually silent male gaze through the female characters voice. Therefore, the female characters switch from passive to active roles and vice versa towards the male characters. Overall, after careful deconstruction, I feel that ADLHA doesn't reinforce either The Male Gaze or The Female Gaze theory, however I feel that although there is an absence of both the male and female gaze, we see the narrative structure of ADLHA conforming more so to the female authorship than to the male authorship due to the films non-threatening scopophillic representation of women. 

Moreover, despite the fact that I stated in my thesis statement that the independent film industry conveyed a more positive representation of women in film, in this case my argument is challenged. A relation that is strong between ADLHA and Wanda is their vulnerable and unstable characteristics of the female character when the security of men become absent in their lives.

Scene C

Scene D

Furthermore, Mulvey's idea of women becoming the passive role in film narrative is apparent within Scene C. This is ironic due to the fact of Barbara Loden, a feminism student, to represent her main protagonist in this image. We see the role of a unstable woman during the court scene in Wanda. During this scene, Wanda is late for her divorce hearing and the jury are getting frustrated of waiting. One could interpret that Loden has represented the theme of liberation in Wanda's character;whilst the jury, mostly male, are waiting for her, Wanda is taking on the active role and controlling the narrative. However, I feel that a stronger representation of Wanda being of an unstable and frantic nature, due to the absence of her husbands security is justified greater. This is presented specifically through the placement of mise-en-scene.

Firstly, the costume that Loden has dressed Wanda in is half done: hair rollers and blander clothing than what she wore when she was married. This symbolic representation of mise-en-scene conveys the message that Wanda is now half a person due to the loss of her 'other half'. The lack of care that has gone into Wanda's appearance suggests this unstable personality that Wanda has now become, due to the loss of her other identity; a wife. Additionally, in the court scene, Loden always places Wanda behind her ex husband. This action of placement conveys the message of the man in the scene being of a higher power, therefore more focus is being put upon him in this scene and it further reinforces Wanda's vulnerability and minor power. Therefore, when referring to both these scene, Loden creates the image of Wanda's characterization being influenced by other male characters. therefore conforming to Mulvey's theory of the male Gaze due to Wanda's passive role in the narrative.

Secondly, in Scene D, the idea of women in film being unstable is further reinforced in Wanda's character again. When Wanda struts into the empty bar, despite the man telling her to leave, she goes straight to the bathroom to look at herself in the broken mirror. Slightly reflecting on Jacques Lacan Mirror Stage theory of mirrors representing a struggle for identity (9), I believe this scene reinforces that theory. Moreover, besides the fact that Wanda has fully focused her intentions of this scene touching up her physical appearance which conforms to the female stereotype, the camera also uses a sense of voyeurism in this scene; the notion of looking through the broken mirror. The camera is placed behind Wanda, focusing on her reflection in the mirror, creating a screen on screen effect. The focus on the broken mirror represents Wanda's broken identity since the divorce of her ex husband, and how her feminine quality of good looks will not disguise her unstable nature. Therefore, this scene also conforms to Mulvey's theory of the male spectator due to the degrading portrayal of women in Wanda and the reinforcement of the female passive role. 

Nine to Five VS Born in Flames

The sole message of 9 to 5 was female liberation and even 30 years on is still know as "one of the most female liberated movies of all time" (10), however I find this quite a incorrect statement at times.

When analyzing 9 to 5, I found that the concept of the male gaze was strongly emitted through the earlier scenes of the narrative, specifically through Parton's character: Doralee and her boss. Furthermore, despite the fact that many reviewers have labelled Colin Higgin's 9 to 5 as a feminist favourite, the film contains many aspects of the patriarchal male gaze, for example the perversion of the objectifying gazes of both voyeurism and fetishism.

  In contrast, unlike Alice's character in Scorsese's ADLHA , Doralee reinforces the stereotypical characteristics of the male gaze, hence why Higgin's has chosen to interpret this sexist cinematic movement as part of Parton's premier introduction, in order for the audience to grasp on to Parton's stereotypical feminine qualities. Perhaps, as Mary Ann Doane questions:"There would be no evidence of the feminist film theory without the patriarchy psychoanalysis  portrayal  of women to compare it against" (11). Therefore, one could argue that Higgin's chose to portray such a powerful male driven gaze at the start of  Nine to Five in result to reinforce the power of female liberation throughout the rest of the film's plot. However, the tables do dramatically change, similar to another one of E. Ann Kaplan's theory, of the female becoming the "active individual whilst the male character becomes passive and vulnerable"(12), a symptom of the female spectator theory. 

Scene E

Scene F

For instance, in Scene E, the audience is automatically placed into Laura Mulveys coined term of The Male Gaze in a effective manner. The audience are placed into the viewpoint of the male character, whilst achieving a strong male dominance  against the objectified female subject, due to the use of fragmentation of cinematography; voyeurism and fetishistic scopophillia. Moreover, Higgin's reinforces the key aspects of Mulveys "Male Gaze" theory through the lingered movement of the male characters viewpoint against the female subject, slowly focusing on the female's breasts. The use of this sexist cinematic film movement focuses just on fragments on the female rather than the individual as a whole, therefore objectifying the female character due to scopophillic focus the female figure. It is as if these erotic images are what makes up the female as a whole, due to the sexist deconstruction through the male spectators view. Moreover, despite the strong use of the objectifying viewpoint Higgin's conveys through the boss's character against Doralee, the role of the female spectatorship is more than liberated as the narrative unfolds. Furthermore, another justified piece of evidence that presents the reinforcement of Mulvey's scopophillic theory is Mulvey's argument in the reason behind the male voyeuristic viewpoint; "pleasure lies in ascertaining guilt - asserting control and subjecting the guilty person through punishment or forgiveness" (13). I find that this particular voyeuristic scene conforms to this given theory from Mulvey due to the fact that after Doralee's scene of dehumanization, her boss pleas for forgiveness for his same actions from the previous day, and states to Doralee "I need you. I want you. It's so hard for me to keep my eyes off you knowing that I'm a married man." Therefore, the bosses erotic scopophillia is partly driven from his guilt, despite the fact of that this is what his guilt has revenued from.   

Furthermore, relating back to my hypothesis statement of the act of female liberation revealing in a stronger sense as decades passed on, we slowly start to see the essence of the female spectator unveil itself, especially in 9 to 5. For instance in Scene F, the audience identification with the female spectator is evidently presented within this scene.

The passive and active roles are entirely turned between the male and female characters during Doralee, Judy, and Violet's marijuana session. The three women transition themselves in to a hyper-real world where the three women take on the active role of the dominant gender against their boss. However, due to this hyper reality that Higgin's has portrayed, he has additionally communicated that it is unrealistic for women to be the active sex due to hyper reality to this scene. Moreover during these scenes, Doralee expresses provocative language towards her boss, in the costume of a cowgirl which heightens the humour in female dominance,such as "You should make those trousers that bit tight to show off that nice ass". Overall, the stereotypical roles of men and women are switched around, however this hyper-real state that Higgin's has presented is a subtle manner of patronizing women as the active sex. Therefore, representing the viewpoint of a female within the text, however, through the course of a male spectator through the humour nature. To conclude on the basis of my hypothesis question, in this case, the portrayal of women is presented in a conversational nature due to Higgin's patronizing representation a female liberation. Therefore, the portrayal of women in Nine to Five from a male auteur in this case has not been communicated fairly. 

Born in Flames

Thelma and Louise VS Boys Don't Cry

In my opinion, Thelma and Louise is a striking representation of the second wave cinema during the 1990's. Ridley Scott transformed the way women were portrayed within Hollywood cinema through Thelma and Louise by challenging the patriarchal spectators and allowing women a voice in Hollywood. The female spectator theory in Hollywood cinema was finally empowered. 

However, Kimberley Pearsons independent yet hugely successful biopic film; Boys Don't Cry challenges aspects of the feminist film theory, although Pearson does not in any way conform to a cinematic viewpoint of a patriarchal perspective.

Scene G

Scene H

From the very beginning of Thelma and Louise, the theme of female liberation and the female spectator is represented through the attempted rape scene on Thelma (Scene G). The scene continues with Louise stopping the disruption by shooting the perpetrator  after he says "You Bitch, I should've  fucked  her anyway" turning  the tables on the ideological viewpoint in society's eyes;granting the audience with the spectatorship of the  female viewpoint. The conventions of the renowned cinematic spectatorship and the dominance of male characters was broken abruptly in one of the first few scenes, setting the message of female empowerment right from the very start. 

Similarly to Ridley Scott  breaking aspects of Mulvey's Male Gaze theory, in Kimberley Pearson's; Boy's Don't Cry, Pearson also challenges many parts of Mulvey's theory as well. Additionally, we see the majority of the film through the view point of a transexual woman, therefore this immediately challenges Mulvey's theoretic statement that "we only see cinema through the eyes of a heterosexual male" (14). 

Furthermore, I feel that Scene D reinforces the theory of the female spectator where Thelma is waiting for Louise in the car out side a liquor store, and J.D catches the attention of her gaze. 

Male objectification and the female gaze is reinforced to a large extent within this scene, involving aspects of both voyeurism and fetishism, therefore switching the roles of the usual patriarchal ideology of the woman being the subject of the desired gaze. 

For instance, Scott involves the effect of shallow focus slowly becoming sharper and clearer on J.D to represent Thelma's seductive observations. The use of shallow focus clearly portrays strongly in this as it presents a blurred and dreamy viewpoint, as if Thelma's emotions within her gaze becomes physically apparent to the audience due to the seductive use of the shallow focus. This cinematic technique reinforces Freud's scopophillic movement of fetishism greatly. Furthermore, the viewpoint of the female spectator in Scene E and the switched dominance and decline of the male gaze is reinforced through Thelma's dominant use of voyeurism as she gazes at J.D through the secretive viewpoint of her wing-mirror. Scott's use of this powerful portrayal of the point of view shot allows the audience to be apart of the female gaze, through the female spectator that is Thelma. This allows for J.D to be a victim of male subjectivity.

In Boy's Don't Cry, Mulvey's theory of the spectator only being a heterosexual male is challenged within Kimberly Pierce's film as we follow the narrative through Brandon eyes; a transsexual man. Moreover, within Kimberly Pierces successful independent production, the theory of the female gaze is reinforced within this film.
 Scene I

Scene J

Pierce represents Brandon's character to be the typical woman's ideal man and the ideal of outlaw masculinity to be presented much better than any other of the male characters within the film. Therefore, Brandon's characters fulfills the female spectators needs and challenges the Male Gaze by its negative representation of men and the "ideal model of a man through Brandon's character" (15).

Furthermore, although the Male Gaze is challenged through the audience viewing the film through a transgender male, aspects of the male gaze are used sufficiently throughout the scene through Brandon and Lana's character. A strong example of this is evident in Scene I.During this scene, it is the first time that we are introduced to Lana's character. The scene revolves round Brandon's gaze upon Lana, conforming to the voyeuristic and scopophillic viewing of women in film from The Male Gaze theory. Furthermore, although Lana's introduction to the film is through the sexual use of cinematography, it is done in a tasteful nature from Brandon's point of view. This reinforces the idea that Brandon still beholds that status of the female spectators ideal man through this evidence of his respect towards women. During this scene, Pierce does involve a long duration of slow fragmentations of Lana's body with the involvement of low key lighting and soft rock music to reinforce the sexual tension between Brandon and Lana, however, Lana's character is aware of Brandon's gaze. Due to this, it does take away the objectifying image upon Lana that you would normally perceive from the usual Male Gaze as Lana herself is choosing represent herself like this and is taking on an active role within the scene. Lana controls Brandon's gaze as once the gaze tilts up to her face, the camera then acts out continuous shot reverse shots between the two characters. In these shots, Lana is smirking whilst Brandon suddenly looks awkward, reinforcing the idea of female sexual liberation within this scene.

The theory of the female gaze within Scene J is a complicated one. This is due to the fact that during this scene, Brandon's identity of a women is found out by the men in the film, which then instantly leads to Brandon being sexually abused. One could interpret that due to Brandon's female identity coming out, his respect and authority is instantly destroyed, representing that women have no respect or authority from men. This powerful scene represents the Male Gaze through the course of the Brandon's character now becoming the passive role within this scene with the men as the active  role, along with Brandon instantly being perceived as a sexual object. However, although in basic content the Male Gaze is presented within the narrative, due to the fact of the disturbing scene and the villainous image that Pierce has wrote upon the male characters, this represents a negative and immoral image of men. Therefore, another interpretation that comes through the eyes of the spectator and not the action taking place within the narrative, the Female Spectator is apparent. Moreover, the use of the extremely low key lighting, heavily dreary music, and the unhygienic physical appearance of the men reinforces a disgusting image of men, which then reinforces the female spectator looking down on the male characters.

To conclude my analysis of research, my argument referring back to my previous hypothesis questions have slightly changed in certain aspects. For example, when exploring how the feminist film theory has changed over time, from my research, I feel that the idea of the female spectator has become more apparent in films as the years have developed. The film industry in the 1970's, both Hollywood and Independent, beheld a strong representation of a patriarchal society due to the 1970's only recently being introduced to the feminist film theory. Therefore this idea did not sufficiently sink into the film industry then. Moreover, when referring to the 1980's, the representation of the female spectator was evidently stronger, however, still with the strong essence of the male gaze due to the humorous portrayal of active roles of female characters in film. However, during the 1980's is where the division between the Hollywood and the Independent film industry started to clearly divide through the Independent film industry's stronger representation of the female spectator. Finally, coming to the 1990's, female liberation starts to present itself in a powerful nature through Hollywood, but once again, the Independent film industry is ahead of Hollywood by questioning other gazes; transgender gaze, queer gaze, black gaze etc. Therefore, the subject of the female spectator does continue to develop, however the independent film industry represents this theory clearer and faster. Furthermore, this links with my other hypothesis question of whether a true representation of women can be portrayed by male auteurs.Moreover, as evidence from my primary texts, of all my Hollywood films being created by male directors and the Independent movies by female directors, due to the independent film industry representing stronger messages of female liberation ahead of Hollywood, male auteurs therefore can represent women in a correct light through certain aspects, however, not as strong as female auteurs.Since the development of the feminist film theory from the 1970's to the 1990's, the revolution of the female spectator and the feminist film theory has been rejoiced through both Independent and Hollywood movies such as; Suckerpunch (Zack Synder, 2011), Bend It Like Beckham ( Ghunda Chadha, 2002), Monster (Patty Jenkins, 2003) and The Hunger Games ( Gary Ross, 2012) becoming a general convention found in the film industry. The development of the feminist film theory from the seventies has resulted to a positive and active portrayal of women in film in the 21st century, leaving audiences to question if the Female Gaze has become more overpowering than the Male Gaze.


Bibliography of secondary sources: 

1 Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. United Kingdom: Screen, 1975.

2 Doanne, Mary Ann. Femmes Fatales: Feminism, Film Theory, Psychoanalysis. USA: Routledge, 1991.
3 Kaplan, E. Ann. Looking for the Other . USA: Routledge, 1997. 
4 Kuhn, Annette. Women's Pictures: Feminism and Film. USA: Verso 2nd Edition, 1994. 
5 Haskell, Molly. From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies. USA: University of The Chicago Press, 1987. 

6 http://imagemoving.blogspot.co.uk. Stefan Milanavonic, 2011. 

7 http://www.rogerebert.com. Roger Egbert, 1974. 

8 http://www.virginiabonner.com. Virginia Bonner, 2007. 

9 http://www.wordpulp.com. Nathan Snelgrove, 2012.

10 http://www.feministezine.com. Anneke Smelik, 2006.

11 Doanne, Mary Ann. The Desire to Desire. USA: Indiana University press, 1987. 
12 Kaplan, E. Ann. Women and Film: Both Sides of the Camera. USA: Routledge, New Edition, 1990. 
13 Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. United Kingdom: Screen, 1975.
14 Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. United Kingdom: Screen, 1975.

15 http://aazkmedia.wordpress.com. Judith Halberstam, 2011.

Risk Assessment

Treatment

Keyframe 1

The short film begins with an opening scene of Cortina Ford’s antique typewriter. The camera performs a close up of Cortina’s typewriter whilst she is in the process of writing her statement, with the bold statement: ‘Why I should be given the promotion’. This shot has been chosen as the opening scene from Cortina’s behalf to portray Cortina’s hard-working attitude to the audience and to also emphasise the point that women have to prove themselves able to be trusted for a significant role within the working environment. This particular part of my short film links with a scene in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese) where Alice has to continuously attempt of getting her dream job as a singer, to which she is also continuously rejected by her male higher authorities, conforming to the male spectatorship theory within the feminist film theory; women not being seen as capable workers for a significant role.

The camera then focuses on a medium shot of Cortina continuing to type on her typewriter to which her office phone then abruptly rings with Greg Marlon: Cortina’s boss on the other line. The camera focuses on the office phone through a medium shot whilst it is ringing then to a long shot of Cortina answering the phone with a busy office background behind her. The camera then zooms to a close up shot of Cortina to where we hear Marlon demand his coffee and hang up abruptly whilst the camera focuses on Cortina’s frustration.

As Cortina strolls to the staff kitchen whilst quietly mumbling to herself, getting rid of her subtle rage, the camera follows and pans Cortina from a long shot of her walking from her desk to the staff kitchen.

Whilst Cortina is in the kitchen, assembling the objects to make Marlon’s coffee, the camera does extreme close ups and vivid jump cuts on the objects to emphasize Cortina’s rage. This particular shot relates to an aspect of Laura Mulvey’s theory that I studied within my research that within the Classic Hollywood Narrative, women are seen as passive and powerless whilst men are powerful and active.This particular shot presents Cortina frustratingly making Marlon’s coffee and showing traits of the housewife role, however due to the CHN, women are expected to reinforce this passive role, despite their hatred.
As Cortina is aggressively making Marlon’s coffee, Miura Lamborg and Minnie Cooper enter the scene. However, the camera doesn’t focus of Miura and Minnie’s full asset firstly, but a cut-in shot of Miura and Minnie’s shoes as they walk into the room. I have chosen to involve this significant shot this way as it is to present a small opening to the turning of male to female spectatorship in a very subtle manner. Normally, I would’ve constructed the idea low angle shot to present how the both character’s physically look, however this would be totally reinforcing the theory of The Male Gaze and female subjectivity, whereas I want to start showing aspects of female spectatorship. Therefore, this shot will equal out in female spectatorship and part of the male gaze as Miura will be wearing red stilettos whilst Minnie will be in flat loafers to present the contrast between the two females: vulnerable and desirable.

The camera now quickly tilts up from Minnie's and Miura's shoes to their faces, creating a low angle shot which presents the beginning of the women gaining power in the narrative. I found that a lot of low angle shots were also used in Alice Doesn't Live Here anymore as the film went on. For example, when Alice was arguing with her boyfriend about him hitting her son, low angle shots of her are used a lot within this scene to establish new power.
The camera now performs the scene in a medium shot whilst all three women are discussing their hatred for their boss. The medium shot establishes a common ground shared by all three women: their oppressed nature from men. However, all three women express their feelings in different mannerisms. The women's mannerisms were inspired from the characters of my primary texts. Miura takes on the feisty features of Dorallee (Nine to Five), and Louise (Thelma and Louise). Minnie takes on the vulnerable features of Chloe (Boys Don't Cry) and Alice (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'). Cortina inherits features of independence from Wanda (Wanda) and Thelma (Thelma and Louise). These different type of female archetypes were represented within my primary texts strongly which communicated the idea of feminist film theory greater, therefore I felt it was essential to interpret these characteristics from the protagonists that I have studied in my textual analysis.
During this scene, the camera performs numerous shot reverse shots on all three women, giving the characters their chance t communicate their individual plot motif which distinguishes each character. As the scene continues on, the camera presents a close up of Cortina conjuring a plan which is evident through her devious facial expression. I feel that the use of the close up within this shot emphasised the fact of the general "film theory" rules as what Mulvey argues is beginning to show itself being challenged. The camera presents an close up of Cortina, presenting full focus on her character, presenting her importance and her "active role" within the narrative starting to take its toll. Therefore within this case, we see Mulvey's "passive" role of women within film being challenged.
Whilst on the subject of challenging Mulvey's theory which was done a fair bit through my textual analysis research, I wanted to achieve the female spectatorship role as much as I could, however in a subtle tone. For example, when the ladies conversation is interrupted by Marlon to which he invites Cortina to his office to talk, I have structured this scene to be filmed from a over the shoulder shot from Cortina's perspective.Moreover, I felt that by placing the audience within this shot placement  it reinforced the point of the female spectator as full focus was put upon Marlon's character, however in a negative light. Whilst the "Male gaze" normally involves the aspect of voyeurism and sexual pleasure form the male perspective, in this case the "Female Gaze" is quite the opposite. Through the involvement of Marlon's crude character, the audience is immersed in a sens of hatred from Cortina's character through her gaze and the use of the persona over the shoulder shot. This is one of the theories of the Female Gaze, however, in a particular scene in Thelma and Louise, where Thelma is secretly gazing sexually at T.J, we see the Female Gaze in the same light that the Male Gaze is associated with.

After the scene where Marlon tells Cortina that she has not got the promotion, the scene transistions to Marlon's office at nightime , where the main disruption of the film takes place.

The audience is put into the viewpoint of a female spetator through the way that Marlon is presented through this scene. Firstly, we see Marlon being represented in a vulgar nature, with the slouched body language, sluggish attitude, obnoxious laughter; overall Marlon has been represented as a pig as he isslouched in his office chair, feet rested on his desk, whislt being obnoxious about the other female collagues to his male friend on the phone.  Additionally, to reinforce the fact of placing the audience within a female spectatorship, which challenges Mulvey's theory of the audience watching film in a "hetrosexual male pespective", i have placed this scene in a long shot. Moreover the long shot represents the change in power between the gender roles, as the long shot emits Marlon to have a vulnerable feature to the scene. marlon is overpowered by his masculine looking office, stating that he is a weak man that disguises it with this disguise of power. Therefore, the long shot presents the inferior status Marlon has by making his figure small in comparision to his office. This shows the illusion that if Marlon had all of his masculine "image"stripped away from him, he would be vulnerable and weak. This reinforces a feminist view towars Marlon, therefore reinforcing the female spectatorship.

When Marlon is confronted unexpecadley by the three women sat behind his desk with growing sirks on their faces from a over shoulder shot from Marlons's perspective, the scene then abruptly transostions to a point of view shot from Marlon's viewpoint. The piint of view shot is structured from Marlon looking up at Cortina leaning on his desk, arms crossed opposite him. The point of view shot is presented through extremely blurred and shallow focus to emphasize the fact that Marlon has just awakened. Additionally, where Marlon is looking up at  Cortina, this creates a point of view shot and a low angle shot towars ortina; creating the image of the female caracyer as the most powerful one. Moreover, I have also chosen todo a blured vision form the point of view of Marlon to present that although the audience is placed within his viewpoint, it is unclear, therefore subtley stating that the general film theory of the viewpoint only "being male" is unclear; my primary texts that was directed by male directors had a more negative portrayal and unrelaistic image of women than the independent films that were directed  by female directors.