Media Essay-

332201895 Evaluation Starwars and Exmachina by Isabel Denney Foster on Scribd

Above the Line and Below the Line Marketing

Theorists

TESSA PERKINS

Believed that the usual five assumptions for the use of stereotypes can be challenged. Tessa Perkins had beliefs that stereotypes were not always used to enforce a negative view, of a group of people, on an audience. It was also believed that stereotypes were not always targeted at minority groups or the less powerful. The idea that the stereotypes are never changed is false, they are always kept ever changing and up to date  so that they relate to all audiences of all ages this also enforces the idea that not all stereotypes are false however some are taken to an extreme level which means that it applies to more people.

FESTINGER

The theory of having conflicted thoughts over an action.
for example: smoking and the conflicting thought (cognition) would be the chance of getting cancer is increased.


ALVARADO
(usual stereotypes of ethnicity)



Dangerous- Viewed as dangerous because they are unknown, we don't understand them. They are different people with different views, customs and morals. The portrayal in the media is a big contender as to why we view some people in this way because of events with a negative effect/ memory (terrorism).
Exotic- Can be shown to be exotic, usually in sexual appeal. Can include cultural aspects to entice and audience out of curiosity and want of knowledge, can also lead to amazement because of little exposure to the aspect of culture.
Humorous- viewing people from certain geographical locations in a stereo typical way, portraying that everyone is like that from that area to a large audience.
Pitied- immersing and audience into and unfair and unfamiliar environment gives the sense of pity and want to help because we have the means and ability to.

Hypothetically, two movies come out on the same day: The Wolf of Wall Street and the new Transformers. You are allowed to see one in an IMAX theater and you will illegally download the other one online. Most people would choose Transformers over The Wolf of Wall Street due to the fact that there are robot dinosaurs and everyone else is going to see it in theaters. Those robot dinosaurs will look a lot cooler in a theater rather than on a laptop. Many people then realized how lacking the movie really was after walking out of their local theater’s showing of Transformers: Age of Extinction. Meanwhile, many of the same people went on to watch The Wolf of Wall Street online to realize that it was actually a really good movie. Most people don’t realize that this is at all a problem, and at first glance it’s not. However, after more in-depth research, the problem soon becomes apparent. Transformers: Age of Extinction only gained an 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (Transformers, Rotten Tomatoes), one of the most critical and most trusted film-review sites online. The Wolf of Wall Street, however, gained a 77% rating on the same site (Wolf of Wall Street, Rotten Tomatoes). It was also nominated for five different Academy Awards. The Wolf of Wall Street is clearly the better film. Yet, besides the fact that Transformers was clearly not a great film, it somehow managed to be named the highest grossing film worldwide of 2014 and earned over one billion dollars in the Box Office (2014 Worldwide Grosses). The Wolf of Wall Street went on to be the most pirated film of 2014 with over 30 million illegal downloads (Spangler, 1) and didn’t even gross $117 million, giving the producers and the studio under $17 million after the production cost, which is not a much of a profit at all for such a high-budget film.

Piracy has become more of a problem in the past decade than it ever has before, specifically movie piracy. In fact, a study from Columbia University came out recently that said at least 45% of US citizens pirate movies actively, but that number bumps up to 70% if you include the younger demographics as well (Mick, 2). This act of pirating is growing more and more common every year and most people do it mindlessly, not realizing what it costs. Everyone has seen the text at the beginning of movies saying “Piracy is not a victimless crime,” and this is completely true. Piracy is extremely harmful to the movie industry and its effects are larger than anyone could imagine.

But Where Do These Pirated Movies Come From?

There are many different ways that people pirate movies. One of the most classic ways people pirate is by “leaking” them. This involves a person going into a movie theater with a camera or a phone and recording the movie as it plays. It is usually a poor quality, but many people still download these recordings anyways instead of going to see it in a theater. This usually occurs when it is only in theater since that is the only version most people are able to see. Sometimes these leaks occur before the movie is even premiered, often because it is filmed during a special premier before the opening night. This is referred to as a pre-release, and they tend to result in a 19% decrease in how much the movie makes at the Box Office (Hart, 2). Many people defend pre-releases because it gives a movie more publicity so more people would want to see it, but the facts state otherwise. Leaking a movie that’s in the theaters always tends to decrease how much the movie makes regardless of when it is released and sometimes even leads to the movie not even making as much as there was put into it.

One of the other common ways for a movie to be pirated is for it to be digitally hacked. This one has become more common lately as technology improves. One of the most extreme and recent examples was the Sony hacking. Though some people will claim that Sony faked the hacking, evidence shows that they were legitimately hacked. During this hacking, many of Sony’s movies were released illegally online, such as Annie and Fury (Note: Annie had not even been released yet). A hacking involves someone digitally cracking into the studio or company’s computer system and taking the movie from their files. This logically would actually decrease a movie’s Box Office revenue by even more than someone’s recording of the movie would because it’s a better quality.

There are more ways to watch a pirated movie other than just downloading it online. In fact, some people tend to start their own pirating businesses. It’s very inexpensive and easy for a person to start one of these businesses. More recently, people only need to buy a bunch of blank DVD’s, the same amount of DVD cases and a computer that can burn a DVD. From there, they must find a source to get the pirated movies from. Sometimes they will personally film them in a theater, or find a hacked or leaked version online and download it. After that, all they need to do is download the stolen films onto their blank DVD’s and sell them to anyone who is willing to purchase it. Within a short amount of time, this person has made a great deal of money that should have gone to the movie studios.

What Kind of Effect Does it Have?

Most people would just say that pirating has a small effect on the industry and that the studios already have enough money. They believe watching a movie online isn’t going to hurt anyone. The Motion Picture Association of America looked into this belief and discovered that piracy costs around $20.5 billion annually in the United States alone (Plumer, 2). In fact, a study back in 2005 estimated that a 10% decrease in worldwide piracy, including both film and music, over the course of four years would add 1.5 million jobs, $64 billion in taxes and $400 billion in economic growth (Kai-Lung). That, however, was ten years ago and is outdated. Those numbers are likely to be much higher today due to inflation and an increase in popularity of the film industry. This means that the studios are making much smaller amounts of money than they should be making from their films due to piracy.

Quit Talking Numbers. How Does it Effect My Movie Experience?

The decrease in money from studios will often decrease the quality of other movies and even sequels, but more often it will decrease the quantity. A studio is much more likely to throw all of their money into the next big franchise sequel than give half of it to the franchise and the other half to a movie like Twelve Years a Slave simply because Twelve Years a Slave won’t sell as well in theaters as the franchise movie will. Movie studios and production companies don’t look at reviews and DVD sales nearly as much as they look at the Box Office Revenue, or how much it makes in the theater.

In many cases, piracy of a film will even damage the likeliness of a franchise sequel. For example, the Kick-Ass movies came to an end due to lack of funding from piracy. According to Chloë Grace Moretz who stars as “Hit-Girl” in the series, Kick-Ass 2 was one of the most pirated films of 2013 despite having an extremely low Box Office Revenue (Highfill). Because of this, the plans for the third movie in the series have been cancelled. Whether or not you like the Kick-Ass series, it is clear that piracy has become a serious problem and will only continue to damage the film industry.

What About New Movies That Aren't Franchises Yet?

It is not franchise movies that need to be worried about, though; it is the movies by the independent filmmakers. Due to the increase in film piracy, production companies and movie studios are now much less likely to loan money out to an independent filmmaker with an idea than they are to a team of writers and producers working on a Harry Potter spin-off. When people think of the term ‘independent filmmaker’, they think of a man in his 20’s with an Associates Degree in Theatre that wrote a screenplay in two weeks. Though these people are independent filmmakers, I refer to the higher kind of independent filmmakers that actually make Oscar nominated films, but take out enormous loans to do so. Now, due to piracy, no matter how many Oscars their movie is nominated for, many filmmakers are having to foreclose their houses or take out further loans from a bank to make up for the losses in the Box Office for their film due to piracy. It also means that the studios do not get their money back that they invested with and therefore stop funding films without promises of success like Birdman or The Theory of Everything, both of whom won Oscars this year.

Now Let's Think More Economically...

The loss of money affects more than just the filmmakers and studios, however. It helps the entire economy grow due to tax and job increase. Pirating less films will mean that the studios will get more money, which leads to more movies, which employs people like hairdressers, electricians, actors, costume designers and countless other occupations. This will add more jobs to the United States and will also add more tax money to help the country.

But Is It Really Stealing?

Many people argue that piracy is not illegal because they are not technically stealing anything. Though they are not physically taking away anything from anyone, they are stealing intellectual property. Just because you can’t hold a movie file in your hands does not mean that it is not someone’s property. Downloading a film online is the equivalent of stealing a movie from a movie store. It may not come in the same fancy case as a movie at the store, but it still carries the same contents. By pirating a film, you are stealing the money that should have been paid had you watched the movie legally. You do not have a right to watch whatever movies you want to watch without having to pay for them just as I do not have a right to walk into the local Dollar General and eat their candy bars without paying first. As much as people may argue it, film piracy is stealing. It is not your property, so it is not yours to take without paying for it first.

Going Back to my Original Example at the Beginning of All of This...

The Wolf of Wall Street was 2014’s most pirated movie with over 30 million piracies worldwide. Let’s do the math to see how much money piracy actually robbed this movie of had these people gone to see it in a theater instead. In 2014, the average price of a movie ticket in the United States was $8.17 (Linshi, 1). When a person goes to see a movie in the theater, the money spent on the ticket goes to two different places. It is split between the movie studio and the movie theater, with more going to the theater the longer the movie has been out (Campea). For the purposes of now, let’s average that overall the theater and the studio would each get 50% of the ticket price. Now for the part with the actual math. If each illegal download of The Wolf of Wall Street, which more specifically evens out to around 30,035,000 downloads (Spangler, 1) equals one movie ticket that costs $8.17, and the movie studio only gets half of the amount from each movie ticket, that results in about $122,692,975 that was robbed from Paramount Pictures for just that one movie. That amount stolen was more than the movie actually made in the Box Office, and that is assuming that only one person watched each illegal download. Several of those downloads were most likely copied onto multiple different blank DVD’s and given out to others to watch illegally. That is even more money that was robbed from The Wolf of Wall Street. In the Box Office, the movie barely broke even out of how much they spent making the film. These numbers would have helped the studio, the filmmakers and the crew a lot more in order to make even more Oscar nominated movies. Unfortunately, these thirty million people seemed to overlook that.

Now the Real Question: How Do We Stop Piracy?

It all starts at home, just like it takes a spark to start a fire. Many people argue that “everyone is watching movies illegally online, so why is it different if I do it?” Well the same argument could again go for people that steal candy bars from a store. It may cost more than you like and others may do it, but it is not your property to steal. Like voting, if just one person takes a stand against piracy it will make a difference. Simply quit pirating movies or watching them online. There are many different excuses people use about watching movies online illegally, but it does not override the fact that it is illegal. Even streaming movies online is illegal if it is not authorized by the studio that made the film. If you aren’t willing to pay to watch the film, you aren’t allowed to watch it. This is the way the industry works.

What Can The Theaters Do?

A way for movie theaters to prevent piracy is to change their types of projectors. In the past, the government came up with a way to prevent the filming of a movie in the theaters. They did this by projecting an infrared spectrum over the projected film. This infrared image was not visible to the audience, but it would make the video on the camera someone brought into film the movie into a very low quality that would make the video almost unbearable to watch. Since then technology has improved to attempt to improve the quality of the filmed video regardless of the infrared. Though this has worked to an extent, film pirates have not yet fully recovered from the addition of the infrared. Only more research will be able to help improve the projectors so that this does not happen anymore.

What Happens if Someone gets Caught?!

When it all comes down to it, one of the major reasons you should avoid pirating movies is that its an enormous risk. Since it is illegal, there are certainly punishments for those that choose to break this law. These punishments are severe. For example, if a person is convicted of a misdemeanor in piracy, as in they only downloaded or uploaded a small amount of movies without the owner’s consent, the person would be punished with up to a year of prison time and would have a fine of up to $100,000, depending on the extent of the piracy. That, however, is just for a small offense. For someone that downloads or uploads movies illegally without the owner’s consent in large amounts will be charged with a felony. The punishment of this crime is up to 5 years of imprisonment and up to $250,000 in fines. The fine, though, can be more. In some cases, the fine is set as double what the person gained for pirating the films if they made money off of it, or it set as double the amount of money the person cost the studios he or she stole from (AlanS). In any of these cases, it is clear that movie piracy is not worth the risk.

Piracy is Clearly an Enormous Threat

Filmmakers are in danger of losing their jobs and the movie theaters are in danger of only showing films like Transformers sequels and Terminator reboots. Helping the film industry does not just entail not illegally watching a movie, it also entails going to see those movies in a theater to reverse the mistakes made by those who don’t realize the consequences. Some of the greatest films do not get the proper credibility in the theaters because people are too distracted by other films or because people would think it’s smarter to illegally watch it on their computer than paying to see it in a theater. As stated earlier, this has many more consequences than these people would think, such as taking away jobs, taking over $20.5 billion from the US film industry and decreasing both the quantity and quality of the very movies they are downloading. In addition, is it really worth spending five years of your life in prison just because you didn’t want to pay to watch a movie? It’s time to stop pirating and to stop making excuses for watching a movie illegally online. Film is a form of art. People use it to tell their stories.

EX MACHINA

• Producer- Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
• Production companies- DNA films and Film Four Productions
• Director- Alex Garland
• Distributor- Universal Pictures
• Cast- Alicia Viikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Sonoya Mizuno
• Budget- $15 million
• Locations- 4 weekends of Pinewood Studios London, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England. Juvet Landscape Hotel in Norway.    
• Technology- CGI, the CGI was surprisingly good for a low budget film.
• Number of screen - opening weekend- (1279) 4 on the opening weekend for USA.
• Number of screens - peak number- (1,279)
• Box office figures- $36.9 million

The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
Alex Garland has worked with previous film companies and directors before as majorly writers and executive producers however Ex Machina was his first film to write and direct. Because of his directorial debut being this film, Garland was under immense pressure as he would want to make this film as successful as possible and he was working with some very well known production companies as well as a main distributing company. Companies such as DNA Films and Film Four productions have made notable products before. DNA films were responsible for films such as, Love Actually, The Riot Club and even Far from the Madding Crowd. Successful films mean this company is successful so for this production company to merge with such a low budget film was a great surprise however it meant that there was an expectation for the film to be successful low budget film instead of a complete flop. Film4 productions is responsible for films such as, 12 Years a Slave, 127 Hours and Never Let Me Go, because these films are also successful the same prospect applies for the film to be a successful low budget film.

The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;
Because the film had such a low budget of $15 million it was a surprise to people within the film industry that this small film had such realistic and believable visual effects. The companies had remember an maintain and idea of there budget so that the film would remain successful and still within budget. It was important for Alex Garland to makes sure this film was successful as this could have potentially outlined for further companies what Garland is capable of with the materials he was given and provided with. Distribution and Marketing were very important for the film to gain success and gain a profit, it was important for the production companies to have made sure they had made an impact with their low budget film as well as the fact that Alex Garland was hoping to make a upcoming appearance with his directorial debut. Production and Editing as well as the visual effects used to make the film were important to make sure that the film still managed to gain profits when it was released, in order to maintain success the quality needed to be memorable and admirable- especially in a science fiction film because the ideas were able to be credited and commemorated if the visuals and effects were impressionable. To achieve the editing success the production teams worked with Milk visual Effects who had worked on films such as Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Hercules, Doctor Who, The Martian.. etc, this meant that this team could make visual effects with an impacting elements and they also had the means to make them as cost productive as possible. Double Negative (responsible for films like Inception, Les Miserables, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas) and Artem (responsible for The BFG, Macbeth and Hot Fuzz) also worked with in the production teamed and applied the same working ethics to the production of the film as MVE.

The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
Technology had developed through out the years and there are many benefits with being able to create a film today rather that 20 years ago. The introduction of social media and internet advertising has helped increase the amount of public interest. BLU-RAY DVD is an example of an improvement in technology which effects all of the three processes listed above, the idea of the quality being better for the public and more easily branched reassures the film company of a marginally good figure for success. Sites like Facebook and Twitter allow marketing to be quick and free and widely accessible to society. Production has been made easier with recent technology as well as it being a lost more cost effective and high in quality.

Regional Identity

At the Beginning of the Extract the Setting is Dr by Isabel Denney Foster on Scribd

Media Essay- “Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices”.

328426957 Successful Media Products Depend as Much Upon Marketing and Distribution to a Specific Audience a... by Isabel Denney Foster on Scribd

Representation of Age- Humans


Sound-

Non-Diegetic classical music is played in the opening scene to effectively enforce an elderly stereotype of George. The idea that he enjoys classical music cold relate the fact that he enjoys just the old things he remembers also creating a strong sense of nostalgia and wistfulness.

The sound of  doorbell is alarming however one we would expect in the environment of a house. the sound interrupt the calm and relaxed atmosphere and this shows disruption.

When the company enter the house we can only hear the diegetic sound of dialogue. George sounds tired and he does not speak much, the idea that the care worker speaks the most shows that she has control because of the overtly prestige way she has managed to obtain and go around the conversation.

when George and his synth begin speaking about the wedding with his wife the feeling of remembering and wishful want for the past returns in the form of calm and relaxing music. with this feeling of reminiscence George's attitude changes and he becomes much more positive. because the music is slow this mimics the way that George's mind and memory appears to operate.     

Camera Work-

At the beginning of the scene we are shown the front/ main room of George's house. The camera focuses on the degrees and achievements on the walls to show that the person, whose house it is, has been through a lot and lived a full life. This representation lives up to a common stereotype of old people being proud of their achievements and wanting to show them off.  The camera slowly pans so the George is in the shots, he seems relaxed whilst tidying away some beads. George drops the beads when the doorbell rings and so the shot zooms onto the beads to show how disorganised and disrupted they are. This representation mirrors that fact that the outside world and changing atmosphere has disrupted is calm, relaxing way of life.
 A stereotypical shot of George in the door frame is used to show that George is security conscious. This lives up to the stereotype that old people are targeted for crimes because they are weaker. a point of view shot from Georges aspect is used to see how cautious George is, it also allows us to see how he views the outside world. Over the shoulder shots of the person outside the door are used to show what George looks likes to the rest of society, an old, security conscious man who is scared of the changing world around him.

Editing-

The editing follows strict continuity editing and is paced as slow and unnoticed.

Mise-en-Scene-

George looks like the stereotypical old retired man. He has grey hair, wrinkles and wears old fashioned clothes. He is not physically impaired in any way and even though the idea of him having an illness is subtly dropped into aspect we see that George has enough energy to run a little bit when people come calling on his door, thus defying the stereo type that old people have little energy.
His house is dimly lit, the colours used are what you would associate with rotting and putrefaction. the home is also littered with books and pieces of paper, this shows that he has read a lot information and hordes endless amounts of meaningless junk as well as his wife's old clothes and things. This follows a usual stereotype that old people own a lot of things because they are too frightened to part themselves with the past because things seemed better back then.
When George addresses his synth he calls it 'son', this follows a usual idea that old people follow a term of endearment usually based on the ages of the people they are addressing. young men are usually referred to as 'son' to men who are older than them

Class and Status Representation- Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey is a historic drama series set in the pre WW1. It focusses on the struggles that the upper class family has in contrast to the people who serve them. The idea of the drama is to make sure that we learn to see clearly that we are all part of the same human condition whether we are upstairs or downstairs. During the extract we have watched we can see a clear divide of the classes, many of the characters from each social convention carry many of the stereotypes of each class or background that they have emerged from.

Camera work

In the opening of the scene we have a tracking shot following a man on a bike. The man is a post man and is part of a labour force. He is seen cycling up to the Abbey house and the tracking shot that is following him pans out into an establishing shot. Because of the camera choice that has been made here we, as an audience, move from focusing on the postman to the house. The man appears insignificant and small as the house is brought into perspective. This choice of camera work could convey or communicate that the upper class is more powerful and focused on than the insignificant working class.

In the scenes which contain characters from the upper class Steadicam is used to show that the scene is controlled and planned, as though these people live this life of luxury everyday. We contrast from this managed environment to an unfocussed chaotic surrounding when we begin to see scenes form downstairs with the lower class. The camera work used is hand held and gives a jointed impression to suggest that the situation is slightly manic and uneven. This could also convey that these people are not taken into consideration as much as the upper class characters should be because it is difficult to focus on their element of things.
During further filming of the scenes set downstairs we are given constant reminders that the characters of the lower class are being controlled and ordered with what they have to do, these reminders come from the small shots of the bell being rang and the way the upper class have their food served to them in comparison to what the workers are eating at the table around them.

Sound

Lots of elements of sounds are being used in scenes mainly set downstairs because the environment is needed to be shown as chaotic. Diegetic sounds of movement that are constantly heard assist the idea that their working environment is difficult, cramped and laborious.

In massive contrast to this we are given a quiet, calm and serene surrounding when we see the characters of the upper class. Non-diegetic music is used to covey the message that the upper class characters are in control and hold a higher position of authority because they get other people to do their work for them, thus living up to the usual stereotype of upper class people being spoon fed and ungrateful for what they have.

Editing

The editing during scene with the upper class characters appears to be controlled, cleaner and holds a lot of continuity editing. The composition that is used is organised to make sure we get a sense of authority from each of the characters.

In the downstairs scenes the editing is fast paced to show a pressured environment, this supports the stereo type that lower class and working class people only tend to take orders and act them out accordingly.

Mise-en-scene

In the downstairs scenes we see an environment of people working in a dork, dull area. The reason for this is that this area is not on show, there is no reason for it look nice for the servants at all because at the end of the day they don't live there of even spend fifteen minuets straight there because they are usually busy doing horse for the upper class family. The servants, maid and waiters are all dressed in smart uniform simply because they will be scene and inspected by either visitors or residents of the family, therefor they must present themselves as the same to not draw attention to themselves and create this visualisation that they are invisible.
In the upper class scenes we see that the halls and the house are spectacular and decorated with pieces of art work and amazing architecture, this is the way the family show of how rich and powerful they are, through the way they look and where they live. Each of the upper class characters wear their own individual outfit so that, in like the lower class, attention is drawn upon them. They want people to tell them haw they look. the scenes in the home contrast further with the working environment because they are light and airy, we can see so many aspects of their home which ultimately they take for granted.

The ways that these elements are used to portray the two classes helps each class to live up to the expected social classes and they definitely help to enforce the idea of there being a significant divide the two types of people.

How is ethnicity represented in the clip from Hotel Babylon? 

In the opening scene of this clip we are introduced to a calm, everyday atmosphere. We can see a white, male worker from the hotel going about his everyday business he is wearing a suit and looks presentable, this suggests to me, as a viewer, that he works with people who are customers and so therefore is not an illegal immigrant. A tracking shot is used to follow this character and focus on his movements and reactions. The steadicam filming then combines both the tracking shot and an over the shoulder shot. We, as an audience, are still focusing on the white male character when we see that two police officers come enter the same shot, as the policemen enter a firm base-like (non-diegetic) music begins to play to influence empathy being felt for the workers at the hotel. The director uses an over the shoulder shot to introduce the police officers, this shocks the audience because it is not something we were expecting from the shot.
When the young male character sees the policemen he is slightly nervous but tries to remain as calm as possible so he does not arouse suspicion. The audience already know that there are immigrants working in the hotel and so the director wanted the character to act this way in order to win over the audience. The male worker greets the police officers with 'Alright?' (diegetic dialogue) which is said to in a nervous tone of voice in order to involve the audience and create tension as well as dramatic irony- the audience will know why he is nervous. 

The camera cuts from the white male character to the two police officers during a sound bridge of the policemen talking and the camera is positioned so that it is looking up at the policemen, this is so they are viewed as invading, disruptive and controlling. This scene is slow and based upon minimalistic dialogue so that the action takes place through rhythmical circumstances, the director does this to allow the audience to be enthralled within the tension. The audience understands that the hotel will be searched and that the action coming up will occur due to this. The scene then cross cuts to the front desk of the hotel, the music is still playing which suggests that this scene will link to scene prior. We at given an establishing of the hotel's reception and then camera zooms to another significant character: the receptionist.
As the camera zooms and focuses on the receptionist we can see that she is an attractive blonde, typical receptionist. By casting an actress to play this particular looking woman as the receptionist it could be implied to be an attempted avoidance of immediate suspicion with in the program as to whether of not there are immigrants working at the hotel. Because the receptionist is the first person other characters would see when they entered the building the employers need to make sure she does not arouse suspicion. She is busy doing her normal jobs when the camera cuts to the police walking through the door. We can still hear the music to suggest a threatening atmosphere. Whilst the receptionist speaks to the police the camera work is very smooth, this suggests she is controlled and maintaining the situation. The police man is portrayed through a forwards facing tracking shot and he also expresses little emotion, he is seen as unfeeling and merciless through his facial expressions and actions. This representation of the police contrast to the normal everyday protagonist view we usually hold for them, instead our understanding of the police in this drama is that they are antagonists who are cruel, hateful and insensitive.
We move to the back corridors of the hotel which are lit with minimalistic lights to suggest a working atmosphere which contrasts to the luxurious setting of the front desk. this communicates that the working class at the back of the hotel is not the part that should be on show, it should be hidden. This is because many of the workers at the hotel are immigrants and so they do not wish to be unveiled.   We are tracking the previous white male and a new young dark gentleman through these back corridors. They are filmed using hand held camera to show that the situation is panicked and rushed. these two characters eventually reach an office belonging to a main character, Jackie. All the while the music has picked up in pace ever so slightly and this allows the audience to become more engrossed in what is happening.
We then track Jackie who enters the kitchen and other various work places with hand held camera filming. She speaks to her workers with minimalistic knowledge of the language of her employees. the pace of the music speeds up as she then rushes her illegal workers into a confined cupboard.  When Jackie locks the door the tense music stops suddenly and she can hear synchronous sounds of the people inside the cupboard, they are sighing and speaking with an alarmed tone of voice. Jackie is then composed into the frame as she counts all of the people within the confined space. The confined space is used to suggest that the immigrants have very little escape and are treated like working animals who are hidden away from society.
The music suddenly starts again when the camera zooms into Jackie's face using a focus pull. This suggests to the audience that something is wrong. the scene cross cuts to Arahim when he is hovering a corridor. this scene is accompanied by the ambient synchronous sound of the hover. when location of Abrahim is revealed the scene returns to the immigrants in the cupboard. our focus is drawn to a woman in the centre who looks to be finding it hard to breath. Suddenly she falls and the music speeds up to a quick, tense pace. Our focus is then drawn to a new character who is dark of colour and has an African accent an thus he follows the expected stereo of an immigrant. our understanding of this unintelligent illegal worker is breached when he begins to care for the woman who has collapsed. He looks after her and then reveals that he was doctor before he left home. Our expectations of how immigrants are is turned by this clip because we realise that all of them had individual and meaningful lives before they entered the country.
We return back to Abrahim and a cliché, expected focus pull is used when the police spot him this relieves the audiences tensions because we realise that it is inevitable that someone was going to get captured. A panicked, unplanned hand held camera is used to suggest how manic Abrahim's arrests is.
Throughout the clip many perceptions of ethnicity are shown and many stereotypes are challenged by the characters appearance and actions. Some characters do, however, reinforce representation of stereotypical views.

Task: Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of gender using the following:

• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise-en-scene

Camera Work:

 When Luther and Alice are situated outside there are many establishing shots of the scenery around them. When Alice begins to speaks seductively and alluringly towards Luther the camera zooms in and focuses on her. Alice's voice, in turn, becomes quieter and the camera becomes the closer to allow the audience to think they are drawn in to her provocative nature, just like Luther is. This is Alice's way of gaining dominance and power by exploring Luther's desires.

 We are given an off the shoulder point of view so that we understand why Luther finds her so alluring but not given the full extent of her effects over him. In this scene Alice allows herself to become controlling and powerful by using her sexuality as her weapon.  

Whilst we are inside the apartment the camera uses tracking shots to follow Alice around the apartment. This shows that Alice is the main focal point in this scene and that Luther has no control because she has the dominant ground. Alice does not conform to the natural stereotypes of women being innocent and quiet when confronted.

 When Alice begins to talk about the painting of the black hole she has in her apartment a point of view shot from Alice's perspective is used to show that her opinion is the one that is important and valid in this situation. This idea does not conform with the natural expectation of women, usually a woman's opinion is dismissed or ignored, therefore it is strange to see that a woman's view is of main focus in this scene. Using the point of view shot shows us that in this scenario Luther has no control over Alice's intentions or actions.  

When Luther begins insulting Alice we zoom into her facial features and this is so we can understand the effect his words have on her. Luther comes closer to Alice and when we are given Alice's off the shoulder point of view we see that Luther is viewed at a higher angle, this gives the impression that Luther has now become a threat to Alice. This idea follows normal gender stereotypes that males have more power than females. Alice is viewed as slightly smaller to Luther and this could suggest that Luther is the more dominating sex and person in the situation.  

In contrast we see Alice's face through an off the shoulder shot. We can see that Alice's emotions override the usual expectations of women, being weak and sensitive, because she changes the subject so drastically.

However, when Luther gets close Alice the camera zooms in Alice's facial expressions which gives the impressions that Luther has become attracted to her intense, sexually alluring and provocative nature.  Alice is definitely perceived as someone who owns her sexuality in a non obvious yet covert and tactile way, thus contradicting the innocent and pure stereotype of women. Alice is the person who breaks off eye contact with Luther and the tracking shots of Alice continue to show that Luther had no effect on her and that she still maintains dominance and control.

When Luther moves to the other side of the room the camera levels appear to even out which gives the impression that the ground and atmosphere has reached a mutually threatening stage between one and another. When Luther begins to threaten Alice for the second time the tracking shots focused on Alice appear to be from Luther's point of view, it appears that Luther is circling and closing in on Alice which shows he is lawfully correct and right in his accusations. In affect Luther has regained dominance in this scene and is seen as a higher authority in association with Alice, therefor he conforms to the usual stereotype of males being the compelling and authoritative gender.

Alice steps into the ring of accusations with no hesitation. Alice is shown as close up and unaffected and this allows us to see that Luther has no effect on her. She empowers the situation by showing that she doesn't care, she does this through her facial expressions. When Luther backs away, this suggests that he has realised he cannot win over this unattainable dominance and so he chooses to resign and leave.

Throughout this clip we see Luther being challenging towards Alice however Alice always ends up maintaining her powerful, dominant position by using her sex and attractiveness to manipulate Luther's action and feelings towards her. Luther views her as something evil however we can tell, as and audience, that throughout this clip Luther finds her attractive.

Editing:

Within this clip a lot of shot reverse shot is used to suggest a conversation is taking place between Alice and Luther. The shot reverse shots seem to take on the angle of the person who is listening. When Luther is listening to Alice speak the camera is positioned so that it is slightly higher and when Alice is listening the camera is almost looking up at Luther. This editing effect could suggest that Luther is seen as more important in comparison to Alice because of his gender.

In tense moments in this scene fast paced editing is used, for example: when Luther is insulting Alice about her inexperience and stupidity when it comes to love. By using fast paced editing it creates a tense, unnatural and challenging atmosphere toward Alice. By speeding up the movements of Luther crossing the apartment towards Alice this shows that he possesses a threatening and invading nature, Luther attempts to assert dominance and power in this scenario. Alice is not seen moving at all and she is seen as very small against Luther which portrays that Alice is the belittled, conforming gender.

Sound:

During the opening seen we see Alice and Luther situated outside around apartment buildings and roads, it therefore makes sense that we hear cars and traffic as an example of synchronous sound. During the same scene we hear dialogue from Luther and Alice which is an example of diegetic sound. Luther obviously has a deep voice and Alice obviously has a light, feminine voice- this is another form of stereotyping.  
When Alice asks Luther to come inside to her apartment the sound of the traffic appears to fade and her dialogue seems more focused. She is whispering in a seductive way which could suggest that she knows she holds power over Luther because of his attraction for her.

When Luther and Alice enter the apartment there is no music because the whispering of Alice needs to be focused on to create tension. As soon as Alice mentions The Black Hole a tense music begins to play as an example of asynchronous sound. The sudden beginning to music would shock a viewer and create and uneasy atmosphere, because the music queues in when Alice speaks this would suggest that Alice is the reason for the tense atmosphere. We could further this conclusion and say that this would reveal that Alice will have some further antagonistic connections with Luther.

When Luther begins to insult Alice the asynchronous sound from the music cuts of quickly to suggest that Alice's way of thinking is being threatened. Perhaps what Luther is saying to Alice is having an affect on her mentally.
 When Luther becomes face to face with Alice there is no music which could portray that they are now sharing a mutually threatening ground. Alice asks Luther, in a whisper, 'Did you come here for sex?' and Luther replies with 'No.'. However when Luther replies it is not in a certain tone of voice as though he is not actually replying back to Alice but talking to himself. Luther is trying to resist his attractions to Alice and control himself.

When Alice steps up toward Luther the music played for the tense atmosphere of the black hole is played once again to suggest that Alice is making Luther tense. The music connotates that Alice holds the power in this situation, Alice has once again began to speak about destruction and evil matters and this could be the part that Luther finds so attractive about her. The fact that the music plays in these situations portrays that this is the reason why Luther cannot trust her or be attracted to her because she holds a wonderfully dangerous power over Luther.

When Alice touches Luther the asynchronous sound of twinkling is heard. this sudden sound matches the sudden movement of Luther. the sound suggests that this new contact of Alice and Luther has triggered something with in Luther which he does not wish to pursue. The fact that Luther is so scared of the touch of Alice shows that  Alice possesses a controlling, manipulative hold against Luther, hence why he leaves so quickly.

Mise-en-scene:

Alice's apartment is the scene where the majority of confrontation and threatening actions take place. there is a continuous battle between Luther and Alice for dominance and power in this scene but it is evident that Alice's always upholds the power because she rules and commands Luther's emotions with the way she embraces her sex and gender.

Alice's apartment is very much like a show room, its too tidy to be lived in. at the beginning of the program we learn, as an audience, that Alice owned a dog, this seems highly unlikely when you look at her apartment. The apartment lives up to the general expectations of women being gentle, neat and tidy. Alice tries to break stereotypes through this scene by dominating the circumstance however she falls right back into a common stereotype when we begin to analyse her living space.

The apartment is feminine, clean and contains a lot of neatly piled books and confusing pieces of art work. There are no phots of her connections with people in the outside world which offers the suggestion that she is an isolated person. Alice's fascination with the painting of the black hole communicates that Alice finds no significance of human life, hence why her apartment is not shown as lived in.

Task: Choose a music video of your choice and analyse using the male gaze theory.

I have chosen the video Roll Deep by HyunA ft. Jung Il-Hoon of BTOB.
HyunA, is a South Korean singer, dancer, songwriter and model.
Synth-heavy hip-hop beats back HyunA on "Roll Deep." She boasts about being high and mighty to the point of being untouchable. Some of the few English-language lyrics include "You can't touch me / Don't touch me!", Therefor we expect a lot of sexiness within this video. HyunA pulls all the stops to assert sexual dominance but instead treads ground already heavily torched by other well known artists such as Nicki Minaj and/or Miley Cyrus.  

1) 00:03 - 00:10

Within the first ten seconds we are given this image of HyunA holding onto chains attached to 6 other women. This gives viewers the impression that HyunA has taken charge of this group, relegating the other women to something less important than herself. In effect we can now view HyunA as the main focal point, HyunA's message is to have her name in shining lights and be the one and only star in the show.

2) 00:13- 00:30

 In this section of the video we see HyunA wearing a Tshirt thus exposing the lower part of her body. she is seen walking in a very sexualised way down a corridor, showing of her body in many different positions and poses. The video is following and incredibly western blueprint: bright lights, lots of colours, manufactured stages and revealing costumes. HyunA is observed being surrounded by signs with her name on which leads us, as viewers, to believe she views herself as sexy, important and irresistible.




3) 00: 34- 00:48

In this section of the music video we can see HyunA posing in a swimming costume (limited, exposing clothing).She is seen with a gun and money which could possibly portray that this image is empowering towards these women.

  She is also posing in very sexualised positions which suggests that she actually finds authority and success in the way she views herself. She clearly has no shame or anxiety in the ways she is being presented to the public.

4) 00:50- 00:53

As we can see we are barely a minuet into this music video and HyunA is choosing to portray herself in a way which allows her sex to be the main focus. This is an obvious effort to receive success because of her arousing nature and movements. This video, unfortunately, encourages all of HyunA's popularity and success to come from her sex appeal.

5) 0:58- 1:16

This part of the video is a breakdown of dance scenes where we can see HyunA and her dancers wearing very little clothing. The dance in this section of the video is quite reserved in comparison to other moves made, this makes it slightly more acceptable.



6) 1:18- 1:35

This section of the video is the second dance break which features vulgar and inappropriate movement which overall objectify women to sexual nature. Originally When I heard, this second dance break coming in I got excited but it turned out to be just twerking and rolling on the floor seductively . Obviously HyunA can manage to get away with this because she is viewed as a very successful idol, despite the fact she is surrounded by a reserved culture in a country which finds the slip of your T-Shirt off your shoulder unacceptable . Among the squeaky clean K-Pop scene, HyunA does her best to stand out in the most provocative ways. 


7) 1:35- 2:06

ENTER Jung Il-Hoon of BTOB! Il-Hoon honestly saved this song for me. Despite the way he is presented in the video, being quite degrading to the women around him, his lyrics are quite supportive towards HyunA and the way he views her. This continues to support the idea that HyunA has authority and the main focus within this video, thus empowering the way she is viewed. HyunA is obviously seen in a positive way by Il-Hoon, even if that is just because of her body.

8) 2:23- 2:43

Once again when I heard this second breakdown coming I was excited and was curious as to weather this would make the sand a fraction better, unfortunately I was balked, beaten and dissatisfied. The dances were relegated to the positions on the floor whilst Hyuna once again flaunted her body and owned her sexual prowess. HyunA obviously found this empowering but me, as a female viewer, find it embarrassing that she can be so comfortable to show herself off so much.



9) 2:43- 3:00

Within this section we see everyone having a good time and partying, this is how I wish the video had ended. everyone looks like they're having fun and there is no visual representation of who is superior in status of power. Its edited with previous choreography and bright lights along with no sexualisation apart from the expected crop top or short shorts.  


10) 3:00-..

This part of the MV is a complete mess. The shock factor, that HyunA usually nails to her benefit,  comes off as forced. If we thought that the inappropriate movements and dances featured earlier on were unacceptable then we were very wrong, in comparison to this last 30 seconds those dances seem like the most innocent things you will view within this video. To accompany the tasteless, unsuitable and indecent dancing we see HyunA and her dancers wearing very unimaginative clothing, at this point we have seen so much of HyunA that there is nothing left for the imagination to do.


The beginnings of this music video is not bad, but it gets weird in the pre-chorus and bridge where the bumpin’ flow of the song is unfortunately disrupted. you cant focus on the music because of the off putting, messy and uneven production along with a lack of progression.Its clear to see that the male gaze was perhaps the main focal point in the production of this video. Although It is nice to see people like Hyuna own their sexuality in such a reserved culture but I wished this would've been less sexy on the choreography. unfortunately, even with the appearance of a westernised style and sexualised dancing, HyunA's inappropriate style and lack of imagination doesn’t help this forgettable song very much.