Skyfall (WIP)

The plot of Skyfall is a severe departure from the traditional conventions of Bond films. This began with Daniel Craig's adoption of the role of James Bond from Pierce Brosnan in 2005, and it ushered in a new era of emotionally-intelligent spy movies.

The theme of Craig's portrayal of Bond in this promotional poster for Skyfall is relaxed and reassured, but ready to strike when necessary. Craig's face is expressionless but his eyes are directed towards the camera and, by extension, the viewer. It shows that he is unafraid and confident enough in himself to make eye contact with the audience, yet does not want to give away any emotion that could be considered a weakness. Half of his face is slightly shrouded in shadow, which could suggest a mystery to the character. Craig is dressed in a crisp white shirt underneath an impeccable suit. The casual air of the jacket's shawl collar hints at Bond's affinity for leisure and luxury, while the attention to detail in the cufflinks, watch, bow tie, and pocket square show that Bond is still very much a traditional gentleman. This is also shown through his grooming habits, as his face is clean-shaven and his hair is styled in the traditional 'short back and sides' cut. There is a pistol grasped in his left hand. The gun is not raised in any way, not aiming at an invisible target, but resting near his midsection. His other hand is placed in his trouser pocket, which echoes the informality of his attire. Craig's finger is placed on the trigger of the gun. His stance may be casual but he is prepared to fire if the occasion calls for it. We can also see that this incarnation of Bond isn't wearing a wedding ring, which refers to Bond's reputation as a ladies man. This also shows that he is unattached and unencumbered - often the requirements of a spy.

"Explore the representation of women in video games, paying specific attention to 'Bayonetta' (2009), 'Lollipop Chainsaw' (2012), and 'Gone Home' (2013)"

When we think about the people that we assume play video games, images are conjured of socially-awkward white heterosexual males still living in their mother’s basement in their late-twenties. These stereotypes meant that gaming was considered a “nerdy” and “uncool” pastime and caused gamers to band together against their bullies. However, as time has gone on and gaming is seen as more socially-acceptable, many people in the gaming community still feel as protective of their hobby as they were when it wasn’t. Because of this, any minute change regarding equal representation, either in the industry or the games themselves, is perceived as a threat to the status quo. I'll be exploring how different video games handle the representation of female characters and touching briefly on its effects on the industry and the fan-base as a whole.

REPRESENTATION: Easter holiday tasks

GENDER
Here's a link to some examples that I analysed regarding gender representation in the media before I realised I had gone into too much detail. I used the video game Overwatch and the movie The Revenant as case studies.

ETHNICITY
The way that some members of the public have reacted to the relationship between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who is mixed-race, has been incredibly racist. In this article by The Sun, Markle is compared to all of Harry's exes. They say that she is different from his past girlfriends due to her being a brunette and the others being blondes. Blonde hair and fair skin are features associated with beauty in the west so this is a thinly veiled comment about her ethnicity. It also features pictures of her drinking alcohol while reminding readers that many of Harry's exes did not drink and were vegan. Even the quote describing her parents is racially-tinged, calling attention to her African-American mother's dreadlocks and nose stud.
The Stanford rapist, Brock Turner, was given a controversially short prison sentence of only six months by the judge due to his age and 'clean record'. This article by The Independent focuses on Turner's release after serving only three months, which was half his sentence. Meanwhile, in the same state of Ohio, a 12 year-old black boy named Tamir Rice was shot on sight by police for playing with a toy gun. The Guardian reported that the white officer would receive no repercussions for the murder of the child.

EVENTS
Stonewall (2015) is a movie centered around the events of the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. This film has been panned by critics for its historical inaccuracies and the whitewashing that many of the key players of the actual Stonewall riots received.
This front page of The Daily Telegraph reports on Barack Obama's election win for his second term as president of the United States. The pictures chosen represent Obama in a relatable and non-threatening light. In contrast to this, the covers of these newspapers published soon after Donald Trump's presidential win are less than flattering, using caricatures of him and images of the Statue of Liberty crying to represent his win instead of pictures of the man himself.

NATIONAL/REGIONAL IDENTITIES
This clip from the broadcast of the Royal Wedding in 2011 could be used as an example for national identity since it encourages the stereotype that the British are very formal and enjoy a lot of pomp and circumstance. Kate's dress is described in great detail while the public are waving flags behind her, mostly the United Kingdom flag. The iconography of the black Rolls Royce is also indicative of the British monarchy.
Episode 8, season 30 of Saturday Night Live has a sketch entitled Italian Stereotypes where an FBI agent is preparing to infiltrate a group of Italian-American gangsters to secure information on a murder. The agent tries to seem Italian-American by exhibiting many Italian-American stereotypes that have been popularised in film and television, such as the constant use of the phrase 'Forgeddaboutit!' and mentioning his childhood with the 'Mario brothers' in Little Italy, New York. The stereotypes are further parodied by having Robert de Niro, an actor known for playing Italian-American gangsters, as the leader of this crime syndicate.

REPRESENTATION: Gender in the media

OVERWATCH

VIDEO GAME (2016)

Overwatch is an online-multiplayer video game that pits one team against another in a battle for the most kills. Users play as set characters (known as 'heroes') that have abilities specific to a certain type of combat. For example, the hero Ana is a sniper and a healer so she would be suited to those who prefer to stay further away from the action, while Tracer specialises in fast and close-combat which is useful for players who like a bit more excitement. 24 heroes are currently available to play in Overwatch, with 11 of those being female. A common stereotype in these online-multiplayer games is that female characters will often be pushed into a support role, such as a healer, who does not take much part in combat. While Overwatch has its fair share of female support heroes, there are plenty of other roles that the women take that defy these stereotypes. For example, the hero Zarya is a large, muscular character from Russia and has abilities that classify her as a tank. This means that she has a lot of health and can withstand more damage before dying. This role is often reserved only for male characters due to its connotations of masculinity, but the amount of female tanks in the game is exactly equal to the number of male ones.
One issue that this game has in terms of gender representation is the skimpy and figure-hugging attire of some of the heroes such as Widowmaker and Tracer, however this is balanced out by the majority of female heroes being dressed in more realistic armour.

THE REVENANT 
MOVIE (2015)

The Revenant was a film made in 2015 that takes inspiration from a man named Hugh Glass who fought for his survival after being gravely injured by a bear on a fur trading expedition in the 1820's. One of the movie's main plotlines is the theme of men doing whatever's necessary to protect the thing they cherish most in the world and dying in the process. Glass, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, risks life and limb to avenge his son's death at the hands of his coworker Fitzgerald before he finally succumbs to his wounds. Tom Hardy's portrayal of John Fitzgerald is so desperate for money and wealth, only to meet the same fate as those he murdered in order to achieve said wealth. Finally, Domhnall Gleeson's Andrew Henry seeks to deliver justice against Fitzgerald for his crimes but meets an untimely end from the very man he was seeking. This same need for justice prompted Henry to feel reluctant about leaving Glass to die after he was attacked by a bear. These three stories represent different paths that people of the same gender took that all lead to death.

It could be argued that, since this movie was set in the 1820's, it would be factually inaccurate to include any multi-dimensional female characters in The Revenant. This being said, the only female characters that exist in this movie are solely to advance the plot of the main male characters. Glass's deceased wife acts as a guide and encouragement to him during his difficult journey through his memories of her. The practice of killing off, or otherwise severely harming, characters for the advancement of another character is known as fridging, and is often reserved for females. Another example of this in The Revenant is when Glass finds Powaqa being raped by French hunters. Her rape is an excuse to show Glass's humanity and compassion when he kills her attacker. The only bit of agency she has is when she threatens to cut her rapist's testicles off, but only after Glass has freed her. Even when it's revealed to the audience that Powaqa has come home safe to her family, she is still shown as under the instruction of her father.

ANALYSIS: Narrative in print media

The main image in print media is chosen to be as relevant to the media narrative as possible. For example, a magazine cover may feature an interview from a celebrity and use a picture of them on the front. This also lends more information about the narrative to those who don't recognise the celebrity's name but are able to recognise their face.

Using a tag line in print text adds to the narrative by providing more information that would be attractive to the audience. An example of this is a movie poster featuring a tag line to gives clues on what the movie will be about.

A good headline should be both consistent to the themes of the narrative and eye-catching. A newspaper headline, for instance, should give a quick summary of the media text while still being vague enough to attract audiences to read on to the rest of the article.

Cover lines are mainly used on magazine covers to influence consumers to buy their magazine. It includes information on the contents of the magazine while keeping a few specifics an enigma. Jump lines used on the front page of newspapers to continue a story beyond the cover are also used to tease the contents and pressure audiences to read on.

Enigma codes are useful for compelling an audience to consume a print text since it omits information that can be found elsewhere within the piece of media. It can be found in most elements of a magazine, but is most obvious in jump lines.

The language and mode of address are also important to establishing a narrative. For instance, the blurb on the back of a DVD cover will deliberately leave out certain plot points to create an enigma and prepare the audience for the potential of twists and cliffhangers.

REPORT: Post-production draft

Beginning my research for my production included exploring how thriller films use technical codes to create an atmosphere that's conventional for the genre. Since I decided to do a DVD cover and poster I focused more on the visual conventions such as colour, lighting, and mise-en-scene. I was given the opportunity to rewatch The Silence of The Lambs during class where we analysed and compared the technical codes used in the film against ones that are commonly found in thriller movies. We explored the idea that thriller films, and many films in general, often follow a similar structure - there is an initial conflict between the protagonist and antagonist, a period of investigation and minor conflicts, and then a final conflict. Studying the concept of character archetypes and Propp’s character roles also assisted with plot development. The archetypes that I made the most use of in my pre-production were the hero, the sidekick, the villain, and the false hero. Another theory that I looked at was Todorov’s idea of equilibrium and disruption. I decided to create a DVD cover and poster that portrayed the disruption or recognition of disruption in order to create a more intriguing final piece. If I had created material that portrayed the equilibrium it would’ve ended up uninteresting. Another movie I watched to prepare was Gone Girl (2014) which used a muted colour palette that I took inspiration from in both my storyboard and my production.

During pre-production I also took inspiration from some TV shows that I enjoyed and had a similar feel to the atmosphere I wanted to create. These included Twin Peaks (1990-91), The X-Files (1993-2002), Mr Robot (2015-), and Gravity Falls (2012-16). While these programs aren't considered conventional thrillers, they contain enough elements of the genre for me to take inspiration from them. I wanted to draw from an eclectic pool of media texts in order to give my final production an unusual and intriguing tone. The X-Files, in particular, influenced my choice of having two main characters who are trying to uncover the truth, only to be opposed at every turn. It’s also deliberately mysterious about the parties who are working against Scully and Mulder which causes the audiences to be suspicious about almost every other character. This was something I wanted to replicate in my production as this distrust is an integral element of the thriller genre and keeps viewers on their toes. Another main influence of the ones I listed was Gravity Falls, which features twins who spend the summer holidays with their uncle and begin to realise that the town of Gravity Falls is not all as it appears. Although it’s a cartoon marketed towards children, it does feature some genuinely unsettling moments of tension and fantasy horror.

Marketing a thriller film towards a teenage audience can sometimes be more difficult than marketing towards an adult audience. We tend to become more independent in our opinions as we get older, while adolescents are more susceptible to peer pressure. Movies aimed at teenagers often use a more streamlined and easy-to-follow plot so teens don't become disinterested, while too much simplicity could insult their intelligence. They also tend to respond well to protagonists that are the same age as them since it's easier to put yourself in the shoes of people who are in a similar situation. It's this for this reason that I chose to create main characters that are aged 16-18.

The plot of the film also features adults that distrust the protagonists when they try to unveil a town-wide conspiracy. Teenagers are often discounted due to age and a lack of experience so this element of the story would be easy to relate to. Some smaller nods I gave to the target audience was the 15 certification and the mention of famous, but not extremely famous, actresses.

Including a link to social media is another reference to the age group that this film is marketed towards. Young people are the biggest consumers of social media and the internet today so it only makes sense to advertise products on those websites in order to garner interest. I chose to use Facebook because it’s a versatile platform and can play host to many different forms of media such as pictures, videos, polls, etc.

The logo used on my DVD cover to represent the production company for The Quiet Ones is that of Film4 and Runaway Fridge Films. Film4 are well-known for backing many successful films, such as 12 Years A Slave (released 2014 in the UK) and Shaun of the Dead (2004). I listed Lenny Abrahamson as the director of my film who’s most known for directing the films Frank (2014) and Room (2015), the latter of which received critical acclaim. These are used as evidence of the movie’s quality, since the director of a rewarding film will often go on to creating productions of the same, if not higher, calibre. He’s also associated with Runaway Fridge Films, hence using that particular production company.

The DVD cover’s main image was originally shot during daytime but was edited to appear as if it was taken during the early to mid-evening. Darkness is often used in thriller films to signify danger and suspense. It also helps to draw the audience’s eye to significant elements of the text, which is the illuminated windows in my case. I chose to use the colour of the light coming from the windows as an accent colour to give a natural separation between titles, reviews, and text. Concerning the windows, I made it seem as if light was coming from inside the house in order to decode a message of mystery and suspicion.

I used reviews that had come from Empire and Time Out, two publications that are known for giving reliable views on new films and providing expert criticism. Both give The Quiet Ones five stars since people are more likely to give a movie a try if it’s been well-received. The reviews also include quotes which uses hyperbole and promises of pleasure such as ‘the best’ and ‘perfect’ which gives the audience a clue as to why this film was awarded five stars.

Special features are found on most modern DVDs so I chose to include a few to add more incentive for consumers to buy the DVD instead of watching it on television or streaming it online. The ones I used were a director’s cut and commentary, deleted scenes, and some footage showing how the film came to be. This will appeal to fans of the movie and to those interested in film production.

On both of the productions I used the name of the fictional town I’ve created and the population as a tagline. I then crossed out the last digit and replaced it with another lower number. This further encourages the theme of mystery since it’s not revealed what happened to the one person that was removed from the town head count. Using red as the colour on the cross and the number signifies danger and perhaps even blood. Combined with the messy nature of the text, it implies a horror element to the movie. Another feature that’s repeated on both the DVD cover and the poster is the inclusion of a billings block which gives credit to the most crucial members of the cast and crew.

The two characters featured on the front of my movie poster are actually the same person wearing two different jackets and photoshopped to appear as if they’re holding hands. I wanted to keep the identity of these characters a mystery, which I’ve achieved by making them face away from the camera. This also hides their expression which keeps their reaction to this shed an enigma.The fact that they look exactly the same adds to this mystery and leads the audience to wonder whether they are identical twins or clones of each other. I chose to have them wearing different jackets to create variety between the two to suggest their individual personalities despite looking the same. The motion blur effect that I applied lends an otherworldly element to them and could suggest that these characters are not the protagonists, but the antagonists.The main image is also reminiscent of a shot in The Shining (1980) of the Grady twins, except from a different perspective.

I framed the shed in the background so that it’d sit between the characters and above their joined hands. This, along with keeping it in focus while the people are blurry, creates an emphasis on the shed and leads audiences to wonder at the significance that the shed has to the plot. The shed is also quite distressed and worn, which I felt added to the intrigue.

I feel that a weakness of my production is that I didn't spend enough time trying to tailor my end product to my target audience. The overall effect of the DVD cover and poster is quite mature and refined, and perhaps a little too mature. I feel happy with my production and I feel that these advertisements would appeal to me. However, I think that I would've benefitted from personalising my production for more of a mainstream teenage audience. Additionally, I think that more pictures that revealed clues about the plot of the film while maintaining the enigma of the entire synopsis would’ve strengthened my final product. I think my strengths came from my prior knowledge of the thriller genre as a whole and my large pool of inspiration that I had to pull from.

REPRESENTATION: Older people

APPLE TREE YARD 

(TV SERIES - BBC ONE)

Apple Tree Yard is a 2017 television series with a plot that's been described as, 'a provocative thriller which sees an eminent scientist caught up in a damaging and compromising lie', and is based on a book of the same name. In the first episode, the middle-aged female lead begins an affair with a stranger which leads to some risque scenes. Older women aren't often allowed to embrace their sexuality in the same way that younger women might and this is largely due to the messages encoded within the media and advertising that surrounds us. No matter the gender you are, to get older is often synonymous with feelings like running out of time, losing your beauty, or becoming outdated and irrelevant. Casting directors will tend to look for younger actors in these sorts of roles to satisfy an audience that they feel is superficial and ageist, while simultaneously being superficial and ageist themselves for pushing this ideal. Seeing a mature woman, and also a mature man, in these kinds of contexts encourages women of a similar age that sex doesn't have to end after the age of thirty, and that age alone is not a quality that could make someone undesirable. 

PASSPORT TO ETERNITY: PHOTOGRAPHING THE FORGOTTEN ELDERLY OF UKRAINE 

(ARTICLE - THE GUARDIAN)

After Ukraine left the Soviet Union in the 1990's, it was required for all citizens to procure a new passport for themselves. Everyone needed a new passport photo and local photographers were more than happy to cater for this new demand. The article tells how one of these photographers, Alexandr Chekmenev, accepted the job to take photos for the older and more vulnerable population of the country for very little pay. He explains that, after seeing the terrible living conditions that these people were subject to, he was willing to take pictures for free.

The article and the portrait series that evolved from his pictures paint a story of how terribly the elderly are treated in Ukraine and in other places around the world. Although conditions such as these are rare in this country, we can draw some unsettling similarities. One woman who was photographed lived alone in a two-room house where she had prepared a coffin for herself in one room and a bed in the other. She seemed to believe that the amount of time that she had left was proportionate to her worth, and therefore spent the rest of her days simply waiting to die. We often hear of the elderly people in our country having no family or friends to turn to, so much so that there are charities dedicated to finding companionship for those people. The article has an air of hopelessness about it which is used to both inform and evoke an emotional reaction from the audience. It shows the elderly as a group of people who cannot fend for themselves and need assistance in order to live happily.