Harry Brown character comparison 2

Modern Masculinity research.

Modern Masculinity - Powerpoint presentation

I have created a power-point presentation for which I have included the link above. I spoke about how mascunility is presented in the modern world and what is expected of men in terms of masculinity. All my comments and stills are included in the presentation above.

Representation of Gender - stills & comments.

There is a big contrast in this scene. The stereotype of a woman is challenged in this scene by the woman controlling and operating the huge digger machine. The close up and long shots of her sitting and operating the machine are creating that effect of the woman being in power and controlling the current situation. There are loads of loud sounds of the digger only signifying even more the contrast.
The clip is fast paced and it cuts from one shot to another really quickly, suggesting the dynamics of the scene.

The man is acting brave, getting the animal out of the way of the digger. He is calling it and then running away to take it away from the woman. This represents the stereotype of a man that is meant to be brave, protect other people and risk his own life. When they are running, the music is fast, intense and loud, with the man's yelling and heavily breathing and then running really fast, and the music is getting tense.

This is another, a very good example of a contradiction to a typical gender representation. The man is dressed in a pink shirt, a waistcoat, scarf and a hat. This is stereotypical a very feminine choice of colours and style as typically women are more into 'fashion', than men. However, the man putting the object down carefully symbolises the bravery and fearless approach to the situation as a man should stereotypically show. there is a very good contradiction in the mis-en-scene and the action that is going on in the sequence.

This is a typical representation of gender in a TV drama. The shot is high angle at the girl, from the man's point of view (over the shoulder shot), as the girl is talking and arguing with the man. The man is presented as tall, looking down on the woman as it is usually represented in media and society. Meaning that girls are usually presented as the dominated ones by men in different kinds of situation. The girl is looking straight at the face of the man with a hard look on her face, suggesting she is making a point that is very important to her and she has strong beliefs about it. The woman is presented as the moany, "difficult" person and the man is the one who is poker-faced, with no emotions showing.

Another example of representation of the masculine woman in the sequence fighting off the animal with the huge digger to turn the animals attention away from the guy that is trying to escape it. It is an act of bravery and loyality to her friends, as if she had the personality of a man, in other words, the woman is presented as a masculine girl.

The man is risking his own life, against the wild animal by jumping in front of it and then falling to the ground as the animal is jumping over him. This symbolises the bravery of the man and the representation of typical gender role specification.

In this still, the woman is presented as a vulnerable human being as a stereotypical gender role is represented. This is represented by the woman lieing on the ground with her arms up in the air, and the man pointing the gun at her. This is a nice contradiction to what she was like before this scene as she was being presented as this powerful, strong woman expressing her own views with strong, unbreakable faith in them. Now she is presented as vulnerable person in skirt and a white coat lieing in the dirt/on the ground and the man looking down on her being now in the powerful position.

Primeval - exam assessment research.

I was asked to look at the marking criteria and see what is asked of the candidates, what information examiners seek in the candidates response in order to get the highest marks.

For level 4, candidates should show an excellent understanding of the task, meaning that they should show in their work if they understand what they were asked to do for the task by correctly identifying the topics mentioned in the question. They should also write about the technical aspects used in the extract, so identify and describe the different techniques used in the extract to represent their knowledge and understanding of it. Also, they must link the extract's representations to textual analysis and analyse the extract in terms of the representations. All answers to the first paragraph must be relevant to the set question and they must be clear, showing an excellent understanding of what the candidates were asked to do.

Another paragraph for separate marking is the use of examples in candidates response. For example, if they are writing about how gender is represented in the extract they are looking at, they must provide a relevant example from that extract. There also must be lots of relevant examples of each technical area (techniques used in the extract to present the topic in the question). All examples must be strongly relevant to the extract and the question that has been set.

Another part of the answer being marked separately is the use of relevant and accurate terminology used to discuss the subject of representation in the extract. The terminology must be correct and advanced, using professional terms for techniques used in the extract and ways in which the representation has been used in the extract.

Representation of Gender;

There are six technical codes through which both genders are represented in a tv drama:

1. Superiority and Domination - usually men are shown in dominant positions and women are physically portrayed as less-dominant or co-operating with men (in new dramas).
2. Disememberment -full body is not usually photographed, usually it is parts of it, such as legs or chest,
3. Clowning and Exaggeration - women are portrayed as the less intelligent ones, more emotional and make them seem more foolish where men are presented in positions of reflective thought and intelligence.
4. Male Approval -women usually have to seek for men's approval for different situations. "Males desire and women are desired"
5. The voice-over Authority -there's a higher number of men speaking in voice-overs in commercials than women.
6. Irrelevant Sexualisation of Women and Girls -women's products are used to sell products, even if they are not products for women or directed at women.

^I have watched an extract that was used in last year's exams and I was meant to answer the question and then mark it as appropriate. I watched the extract and wrote about the six technical codes and how they are used to represent gender in the particular tv drama extract.


Superiority and Dominance.
Even though at the start of the clip, the men are presented as the dominant ones in this clip, later on the blonde character represents a high level of masculinity, presented by operating a huge digger machine, which is generally and stereotypically presented as a male job. As the women and three men walk towards the camera, the shot is mainly focused on the three men, which are shown for longer than the women, which only proves that there is a male dominance even if the girl is acting quite masculine. There is quite a significant and clear representation of male dominance when the woman is trying to persuade the man at 4:00 as he crosses his arms and he then gets out the gun and shoots at the floor to show his dominance. Then, as if the woman still did not get the message he pushes her to the ground, the woman looking up and the man looking down on her - which is a simple act of the man trying to underline his dominance and superiority over the woman.

Disememberment.
There is not much of this code present in this clip that could be referred to as gender representation.

Clowning and Exaggeration.
At the begining of the sequence, the man is shown as the calm and sensible person contrasting with the woman who is portrayed as a moany, and whiny person, aggressive and frustrated. Also the camera angles are different and are underlining the dominance in that particular situation when the woman and the man are talking/arguing. Later on in the sequence, the brunette woman is shown as a typical woman who cares about the outside and not the inside. The reaction to the gun pulled out by the man is quite over-dramatic and so is the position she lands in when falling on the floor. First thing she says after she got up was a comment about her coat, which is quite not what is expected to be said by any person in that situation however this is how she is portrayed in the clip - as a 'typical woman'. On the other side, there is a nice constrast shown to what the blonde woman is like, as beside her masculinity shown before, she is the first one to come over to the brunette and ask if she is okay, which is a sign of woman's caring and motherly approach to people.

Male Approval.
The clip when the brunette is trying to persuade the man, she is using her body language and the language she speaks in a certain way to persuade the man into acting or thinking the way she wants him to. Then when he pulls out the gun, she uses words and smiles to persuade the man to look at himself and admit that what he was about to do was wrong. She is running out of ideas how to save herself so she was trying to be a typical woman and smile and maybe try to solve a conflict in the least harmful way possible as a typical's woman instinct would be working like that.

Irrelevant Sexualisation of Women and Girls.
This refers back to points mentioned in Male Approval as the woman is trying every possible woman's weapon from smiles to certain body language to persuade the man to do no wrong.

TV Drama - Commentary.

Examiners thought that overall, there was only a superficial analysis of editing and sound in responses. They also believed that students with better responses or to provide better responses need to study a specific 'case study' of a TV drama, to be able to answer the questions more accurately and in greater detail. There was also apparently a very good improvement of time management at the exams, meaning that candidates did plan out and thought about their responses well.

Representation:
In one of the exams candidates were asked to present their understanding of the represantation of class and status in the extract they have been. Things that would make the responses more accurate and make them score more marks were: give few different interpretations of the representation of the class and status in the extract. A specific examples should be given.

Camera Shots, Angle and Composition.
The use of correct terminology and the ability to describe shot compositions, movemements, framing and angles in relation to the characters and their situation -whether the shot is appropriate for the scene or not. - That would get the candidates good marks.

Mis-en-scene.
Describing location correctly, character's appearance and body language should be all understood well. There should be a great attention to detail paid in each shot - all would get candidates more marks.

Sound.

Music or sound effects in a film should be well recognised, specified and analysed with linking the music to a particular character or a situation well. Appropriate use of terminology relative to the soundtracks and the ways of construction of the meaning of it. There should be also comments how the music relates to the moves/conversation or the status or class of the character.

Editing.
How the ways that the extract was edited in, helped to create a certain mood or character, sense of social class or status, gender etc. How different techniques were used to entertain/captivate the audience and make them want to see more or continue watching the scene. - all to be mentioned for higher marks.