tv drama 3 representation of masculinity
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Representation task
Get into 4 groups.You can pick your own groups, but the only stipulation is
that you must be with people who you haven’t worked with in the preliminary task or the camera angle presentations.... GO!
Read what it says on your sheet. Do not share the information with the other groups.
GET ON WITH THE TASK!
What do we know about representation?
• The term representation refers to “the way the media constructs aspects of real life”
• Point of view, messages and values often underlie media representations.
• Representations often reveal the dominant ideology of the culture which created them
• Representations change over time
When analysing television and film, it is vital to understand how narrative is used to construct meaning
NARRATIVE is the media terminology for story telling. Narrative is the way different elements are organised to create an entertaining, meaningful story.
Narrative structure
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE is the way a story or plot unfolds
It could be open or closedFor example, a film will usually (but not always)
have a closed narrativeWhereas a soap will have an open ended
narrative- there is no final conclusion
Multi-stranded narratives
This is very common in soaps and on-going television dramas.
This means that there is more than one narrative happening at the same time
Linear and non-linear
Linear narratives are organised in chronological order: hours, days, months, years.
Non-linear narratives are organised out of chronological order. Often used to simulate human skills of memory and recall
For example,Pulp Fiction & The Dark Knight Rises
When analysing television drama, it is often useful to consider narrative theories. These can give us an insight into HOW MEANING IS CREATED (representation) and the CODES and CONVENTIONS of the genre or sub-genre
Tzvetan TodorovTodorov suggests there are five stages to how the
narrative progresses:1. The equilibrium has to be carefully shown
(otherwise the disruption may not be dramatic enough to create a strong plot)
2. There is a disruption3. There is a recognition that a disruption has
happened.4. There is an attempt to repair the damage done
by the disruption.5. A new equilibrium is achieved.
The narrative is driven by the characters’ attempts to restore the equilibrium, although the end result is not quite the same as the beginning. Todorov argues that a good narrative involves transformation
When a new equilibrium is achieved, the characters may have changed for the better in their behaviours or their outlook on life
Casualty
Watch the clip and analyse how narrative is constructed
Think about: • The correct media terminology that can be applied. • How the characters and events drive the narrative?• The narrative conventions of the genre?
Can you apply the theory?
Casualty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jiuOvQr_hw
REPRESENTATION OF MASCULINITY
What is representation?A RE PRESENTATION
The way in which the media constructs aspects of society, including:•Age•Gender•Ethnicity•Events/ issues•Ability/disability•Identity (national/regional/sexuality)•Class and status
What is the difference between sex and gender?
Sex: Biological groupingWhat makes us male and female
Gender: ‘Masculinity’ and ‘Femininity’
What it means to be masculine and feminine
Created by social and cultural influence
Redefined over time
So, what does it mean to be masculine?
Gender Stereotypes
Consider:Why might the media utilize a ‘stereotypical’ representation of men?
Who constructs these stereotypes?The media?Or society?
How might different groups of people interpret stereotypes?
Gender stereotypesConsider these two Total Film covers
Ask yourselves:How is Mark Wahlberg presented?How is Angelina Jolie presented?
Audience response
Who do you think this magazine is aimed at?
Are these representations dominant or preferred representations?
Would males/females interpret this text differently?
Vladamir Propp (1895- 1970). He studied folk tales and found fairy tales shared
basic narrative elements. He proposed ways of grouping characters and their actions into eight broad character types or ‘spheres of action’. You can see how these work by their title
• 1. the VILLAIN – known to scriptwriters as the antagonist because he seeks to stop what the HERO wants to do.
• 2. the HERO – known as the protagonist who has to fulfil his destiny in the story. This may be a quest for fame and fortune, or true love or the search for a lost parent or a quest to put right a former injustice or save the planet.
• 3. the DONOR is the character who provides a special device so that the hero can fulfil his or her mission. James Bond has gadgets. A donor can give a magical device such as a sword – Excalibur in King Arthur or be a fairy godmother providing the means for the heroine to reach the prince.
• 4. the HELPER – the hero has to have a side-kick who helps the hero in the quest.
• 5. the PRINCESS – remember that Propp had studied fairy tales so he uses terms that are familiar in traditional stories. The princess is the reward for the hero and often the desire of the antagonist who seeks to involve her in his schemes to out wit the hero.
• 6. Her FATHER – the person who rewards the hero for his achievements and also can provide a moral safeguard for the hero to be measured against. Think of the importance of the king in Shrek.
• 7. the DISPATCHER – the character who sees that something needs to be done and sets up the hero’s quest and sends him out into the world to fulfil his task.
• 8. the FALSE HERO – the character who also lays claim to the princess but is unsuitable and causes complications.
These character types can be shared by one or more characters. The dispatcher may also be the donor who gives the magical ring or sword. M dispatches James Bond and allows him to have the gadgets he needs to achieve the mission
With the person sitting next to you, note down different ways camera angles/shots can be used to represent a traditional Proppian hero and the effects they might have on the audience.
Use the correct media terminology.
You have 5 minutes
SherlockBBC One
Watch the clip and consider how masculinity is represented.
Think about:Does this representation confirm or challenge
traditional notions of gender?
Then, can you draw on the theory?
Now watch it again
Note down the ways in which the extract constructs representations of masculinity using camera shots, angles and movements.
Binary oppositionIt is 'a theory of meaning‘Claude Levi-StraussIn the mid-20th century Claude Levi Strauss had the
important insight that the way we understand certain words depends not so much on any meaning they themselves directly contain, but much more by our understanding of the difference between the word and its 'opposite' or, as he called it 'binary opposite'. He realised that words merely act as symbols for society's ideas and that the meaning of words, therefore, was a relationship rather than a fixed thing: a relationship between opposing ideas.
Examples:
Good vs. Evil- there can only be good when there is evil
Hero vs. Villain
Light vs. Dark
Masculine vs. Feminine
Masculinity V Femininity
Masculinity is ALWAYS connected with, opposed to, and in relation to femininity.
‘Crisis of masculinity’ (?)
‘The male gaze’Laura Mulvey wrote a book called “ Visual Pleasure
and Narrative Cinema” in 1975 and coined the phrase ‘the male gaze’
What is the gaze? The concept of gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented. For feminists it can be thought of in 3 ways:
How men look at women How women look at themselvesHow women look at other women.
Mulvey believes that in film, audiences have to ‘view’ characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.
Features of the Male Gaze The camera lingers on the curves of the female
body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to these events. Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GsRK43Td0U
Watch the following video carefully
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ABNEjPxWEg
Answer the questions
• What colour top were the male and female wearing?
• What bowling lane did they use?• What colour belt were each of the characters
wearing?• What colour shoes?• What colour eyes?
The male gaze and narrative
Feminist theories also suggest that narrative is also determined by the male. They have the power to change the direction of the plot, save the day, and restore the equilibrium
The Tudors
Watch the following clip and answer the following question:
How is gender represented in this sequence?Comment on:Narrative conventionsCamera angles
Apply theories where relevant.
The Tudors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXNf9dxnQrM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTiL8pgNqhs
Warrior (2011)
Watch the trailer
How does this clip confirm and/or challenge the masculine stereotype?
Key terms for analysis
Denotation Connotation
Editing Mise-en-scene
EncodingDecoding
Audio codes Technical codes
Symbols
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