Blog 12

 Feminist Theory: Van Zoonen

Still video from The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

In The Silence of the Lambs, the scene of Clarice playing sports challenges the idea of patriarchy and shows female agency, such as the framing shows her as a whole person and not part of her – not focused on a specific part of her body – and despite the fact that the camera follows her at all times,  She is shown to be a strong, capable and cautious character. Her character gives the impression of always being watched but she is aware of it. She is not the stereotypical character who needs to be saved. However, when she encounters her FBI partner, she is viewed with concern/inferiority. Also, despite the fact that there are more women in the FBI center, she is shown contrasting in scenes such as in the elevator where she is surrounded by men. When she arrives at her destination, the elevator is empty and only she remains, this may reflect that her character is undervalued for her gender but that makes her stronger when she manages to break that stereotype.

This excerpt does not reinforce the idea of the female body as a spectacle, the framing shows her as a whole person and not part of her – not focused on a specific part of her body – and despite the fact that the camera follows her at all times, she is shown as a strong, capable and cautious character aware by the fact she is being observe.

The excerpt partly reconfigures male power, on the one hand, the men of the FBI are represented as strong but not capable characters. For example, Clarice is shown as an active, energetic and enthusiastic character, willing to prove everyone wrong, while the men who work in the FBI offices are walking, talking, distracted and unfocused. Also in the elevator, Clarice is surrounded by men and even though they are taller and more robust than her, they do not intimidate her and she stays focused.

Clarice is an active character, she controls the gaze, makes her own decisions even though she has to follow instructions and drives the narrative. In addition to the fact that he has more screen time. On the other hand, men are represented as passive because they do not take action and are not relevant to the narrative.

Blog 11

 Representation/Hall

Still video from  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2019)

In the scene where Miles sings 'Sunflower' emotionally while drawing, in his messy but colorful room; The Filmmakers appropriately show a smart and creative teenager being simply a teenager. Then when he is called by his father, he communicates with his mom in Spanish, with his dad in English and with his friends in both languages, we can see the multicultural side of Miles, through his expressions and languages. Miles is bilingual and speaks English and Spanish representing his Latino and African-American roots. That makes him an identifiable and diverse teenager because normally superheroes are adult white guys - DC reference-. Miles is a very expressive and charismatic boy who through his art, languages and music shares his culture with the audience. Filmmakers use counter typical representation through the contrast between their old school and their new school. On the one hand, in his public school – a more urban environment – he was an outgoing, popular and admired boy and he felt comfortable there because his friends were there and, in addition, he was admired by them, teenagers who share the same cultural context. On the other hand, in his new school, Miles tried to be friendly but did not get the reaction he expected from his classmates, also his classmates are just as intelligent as him and competitive, he no longer stands out as in his previous school. That contrast challenges stereotypical portrayals of Latino and African-American teens because they are often portrayed as problematic in films. Deconstructed representation: Miles is a character who breaks stereotypes, he is an intelligent, creative, sensitive boy and represents himself through his way of communicating, music, drawings, humor, charisma and colorful world. He represents a cultural mix.

Blog 10

 Postmodernism/Baudrillard

                          Still video from Electioneering - Radiohead (Remastered) 2017

Radiohead's song "Electioneering" reflects the idea that authenticity is impossible in a world where politicians know exactly what to say and do to appeal to their audience, the citizens, and get their votes through empty promises and false actions. With lines like "Say the right things when electioneering, Trust I can rely on your vote," they demonstrate that political speeches and political promotions function as marketing strategies that turn politics into a baseless spectacle. Words are repeated frequently, both in the song and in many political campaigns. This saturation of words makes their meaning increasingly less impactful; just like the Implosion of Meaning. This causes words to lose value because they are constantly used superficially.

Blog 9

 Structuralism/Levi Strauss

Still video from Shaolin Soccer (2001)

The purpose of the excerpt is to show the contrast between the humility of the Shaolin Soccer team and the arrogance of the Puma team, highlighting how taking action and humility is more powerful than arrogant bragging and cheating. The meaning of this scene is constructed through Binary oppositions, arrogance vs humility and good players vs bad players.  For example, the leader of the Puma team does not stop talking and bragging but does not take action when playing and complains that the goals by the other team are an illusion. While the leading Shaolin Soccer team stays quiet and collected, plays well and scores goals in every round and celebrates every goal. The differences between teams create the juxtaposition of heroes and villains. The "to create identifiable character types" function suggests that the arrogant leader of the Puma team is the 'villain' - as well as a bad player - and the humble leader of the Shaolin team is the 'hero' - conveniently a good player, characteristic of heroes-.

Still video from They Live (1988)

The purpose of the scene is to present propaganda as a means of media manipulation that suppresses the truth and is used by aliens to manipulate and control humanity, revealing a world controlled by aliens, in this case the 'aliens' represent humans in higher positions who believe it is their job to rule the world.

From the structural perspective, the meaning of the scene unfolds under the label of 'consciousness vs ignorance' and 'control vs free will', for example, when the protagonist puts on his glasses and sees the world as it really is, everything changes colour and becomes black and white, as if colours were also a manipulation tactic. In addition, signs that appeared to 'offer you everything' and were intended for the consumer were actually a single word or short fraze with a cruder and less picturesque purpose. Meaning is created when the audience sees parallelism with the real world and realizes that their day-to-day life hides a deeper meaning, a world dictated by oppressive 'laws'.

Clearly explain ideas because it divides the world into two realities, true vs. false. The meaning is that we are under constant manipulation by Media until we learn to see their true intentions.

Blog 8

 Genre/Neale

Still video from Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Genre: Sci-fi, action comedy

Convention: Iconography and Narrative Considerations because the jumps between realities of the multiverse – and the whole concept of the multiverse – in addition to the special effects (the travel between universes through the chair) indicate that its genre is science fiction.

 

Subversion genre: The protagonist is a middle-aged Asian American woman (cultural effect) and mother (social context)

 

Sci-fi and action combined with comedy is relevant because it engages the audience and the real-life situations make the audience relatable and at the same time combine it with fictional situations.

Still video from Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Genre: Horror satire, theatrical

 

Convention: Iconography, because of the costumes, masks, lights, stages, music of the 70s and the exaggerated reactions of the characters make it look like a satire.

 

Genre subversion: obsession with being famous (cultural effect) because the protagonist made a deal with the devil to be a pop star and also kills to achieve his goals.

 

Hybridity: A horror satire, the protagonist kills in an absurd and comical way (with the reed opener) and says absurd costumes at the same time. 

Still image from Electric Dreams (1984)

Genre: Romance, Sci-fi, horror

 

Convention: Iconography, The technological elements, the special effects of the computer trying to separate them and the computer becoming aware makes it look like sci-fi.

 

Genre subversion: historical effects, in the 80s, technology, especially computers, was still very recent and many people feared it because of speculations that they would take control and that they were capable of weighing on their own.

 

Romance combined with sci-fi, because it mixes the love of technology -computer- for the user and the love of the user for the girl. Since computers have no consciousness or feelings, then it would be sci-fi too.

Blog 7

 Equilibrium/Todorov

Still video from MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION (2015)

Proppian character: Ethan ‘the hero’

 

Equilibrium: The begging scene were the agent contacts Benji.

 

Disruption : in the scene where the doors of the plane close and it begins to take off.

 

New equilibrium: When Ethan is discovered and the doors open and then he is ejected from the plane, it is a new balance because the mission is completed.

 

In media res: the first scene would actually be disequilibrium because the imbalance has already occurred (but since I'm analyzing that specific scene then it would be equilibrium compared to the later scenes)

 

Multi perspective narratives: The characters are involved in the event in real time but from different perspectives and communicate through networks (waquie talkie/communicators). All the characters have their function and do their tasks differently.

 

The purpose of the extract is to show through missions, action and challenges how the 'hero and his helpers' resolve the conflict caused by the villain. Ethan with the help of Benji and the entire team manages to access the plane and get the packages off the plane. The hero and his assistants resolve the conflict.

 

Blog 6

 Semiotics/Barthes

Still video from Punch-drunk love (2002)

Sign: Unexpected Harmonium 

Signifier : A small Harmonium, used and a little bruised

Signified: A small keyboard instrument which produces sound using air pumping by below

Denotative: keyboard musical instrument in which the notes are produced by air pumped through free reeds.

Connotative meaning: Spirituality, peace and harmony.

Code: The harmonium instrument comes out of the delivery car unexpectedly; it's not something common and it's not even new.

The purpose of the extract is to highlight the Harmonium as important to the plot and imply that something will happen as a result of its delivery. In the extract, when the harmonium is unexpectedly delivered, there is an extreme close-up and it is centrally located. The main character stares at it with determination, and the sound creates the mood of it being an essential object. According to prioretic codes, since the harmonium is unexpectedly delivered and there was a car crash prior to its delivery, it is positioned as an important object for the film.