Aeon flux trailer analysis
The first shot of the main female protagonist is her standing from a crouched position. She holds herself in a very powerful way, a typical male stance.
We next see her looking down with her hair blowing around her face- in true comic book style.
We then see her jump off a building and there is a classic ‘flying’ shot as she falls through the air. The way her body is positioned means that her breasts are pushed forward and because of her skimpy latex outfit they are excentuated.
There is a shot of her shoes landing safely on the ground- these just happen to have a heel.
There is a male voice over saying ‘you’re needed’ this then gives the impression that she is under some kind of male authority.
Next the main female characters voice is heard giving information about the film. ‘it is the last city on earth’
There are shots of soldiers all dressed in black- bad guys- and they are all men. Gender battle?
There is a shot of the two main bad guys walking toward the camera they look powerful and in control.
When the voice over says ‘people disappear like they never existed’ a woman is seen being snatched. Damsel in distress, weak and powerless under the male soldiers.
The next shot is in my opinion a pointless one. Voyeuristic camera work shows the female protagonist in a very revealing swimming costume just walking around a futuristic house/flat. This just goes to show that the director is trying to appeal to the male audience as this shot tells us nothing of the film or its narrative.
There is also a scene where a man and woman are kissing passionately. The next shot is the man passing what looks like a pill into the woman’s mouth using his tongue. Showing again that the male is in control.
There are then various action shots with Aeon beating people. You see her being given a ‘assignment’ by a authoritarian figure who is a WOMAN! Unlike most other films where the boss I a male. A boss-man if you will. Charlie of Charlie’s angels, Lara’s dad in tomb raider, the boss types in resident evil.
There are then shots of Aeon and a female counterpart being acrobatic in their skimp outfits and ending up in somewhat revealing/ unfeminine positions. (spread eagled across a wall)
There is a really well framed shot showing what we are to believe is the female protagonist- only masked- and behind her is a enormous billboard with a picture of the man who she has been sent to assassinate.
‘she’s coming get to a safe place’ is said by a woman to the male character, this shows that she is dangerous and in control of the situation.
She uses a gadget to blast trough a wall made up of small metallic balls. Before they explode she says ‘good boys’ in a sexy husky voice. This is almost pastiche of the ‘hello boys’ first ever controversial wonder-bra ad. Referring to them as boys also makes her seem like the more dominant gender as they are doing her dirty work.
Toward the end of an action montage where Aeon is beating up bad guys- all male- she says ‘amateurs’ under her breath. This therefore anchoring the idea that she is all powerful and in control. A dangerous feisty female protagonist.
The last shot of her we see is her shooting with two machine guns, one held behind her head. That goes in time with a pleonastic drum beat.
Friday, 25 April 2008
Thursday, 24 April 2008
resident evil analysis
Resident evil trailer analysis
Starts with conventionally attractive protagonist lying in bathroom naked, draped in a white cloth. This gives the connotations of innocent and a demure damsel in distress feel to the trailer.
It then jumps into dramatic action packed shots of the previous film in order to set the scene and establish the genre and the fact that it is a sequel.
We then see the main protagonist being killed by a machine. This is shocking for the audience as she is known for being almost invincible.
Then a man is introduced saying ‘take a sample of her blood, then get rid of that.’ This now shows that he is in charge of the situation and that the female is seen as a commoditisation. This is then reinforced with a shot showing the main female protagonist’s clones.
We then see ‘the zombies’ trying to attack but being held back by a metal fence. Therefore informing the audience of the original ‘zombie’ problem in the previous film.
We see Alice (the main protagonist) whispering ‘sorry Stevie’ in a sexy husky voice before she shoots a zombie named Stevie in the head.
The rest of the characters are then introduced. A group of people trying to survive and kill as many zombies on the way. Each of the female characters are very attractive e.g. one character is a ex singer named Ashanti who was well known for her sex appeal- she is later killed by a flock of birds ha ha ha.
There is a interesting shot where Alice is talking to a male character where her head in down and he is talking to her in a authoritative way. By using this transactional language he could be proving that he is in charge and therefore the classic male hero of the film is familiar and notable. He is also later killed.
A male character is then seen being attacked by a zombie. The female characters are shown to be tough with a female voice over giving orders ‘you know the drill.’ Paradoxical to the ‘norm’ of action movies.
There is then a cut to Alice looking frightened when a zombie dog attacks her. The audience’s initial reaction is to look for superman to save her but in the next shot Alice is shown to be fending for herself. Therefore the ‘damsel in distress’ ritual is avoided.’
Close up shots of Alice in tight clothing and shots of her legs and eyes are voyeuristic. Classic male gaze is show.
Shot of Alice and another woman saying ‘everyone is scared’ could this be a weak link in the tough female image that is being shown in this trailer?
There is a shot of some ‘boss’ type men saying ‘make sure she is dead.’ ‘shut her down.’ In the film- but not shown in the trailer- is the fact that Alice is under some sort of control by the men in the film and they are able to essentially switch her off. This is a classic example of male authority being asserted over women just like in Charlie’s angels and tomb raider.
There is a shot where Alice has to avoid a laser and it chops of part of her red dress. This dress is a motif throughout the films and the computer games. Long with a very high slit and cut to reveal her boobs. Further objectification in this film is not only through costume but the lack of it. When Alice finds all her clones they are only wearing pants. So the female body is on show and up for objectification.
These is also a very small shot of Alice kissing the authoritarian male figure. This could be a example of women in action films only being present as a prize or sexual toy for the male protagonist.
The trailer finishes in classic comic book/action film way. Alice standing looking up at the sky which is burning. She is breathing heavily and looks somewhat scared and frightened. Some how I think if it was a male character he would be holding a power stance and looking at the camera whereas Alice is looking away
Starts with conventionally attractive protagonist lying in bathroom naked, draped in a white cloth. This gives the connotations of innocent and a demure damsel in distress feel to the trailer.
It then jumps into dramatic action packed shots of the previous film in order to set the scene and establish the genre and the fact that it is a sequel.
We then see the main protagonist being killed by a machine. This is shocking for the audience as she is known for being almost invincible.
Then a man is introduced saying ‘take a sample of her blood, then get rid of that.’ This now shows that he is in charge of the situation and that the female is seen as a commoditisation. This is then reinforced with a shot showing the main female protagonist’s clones.
We then see ‘the zombies’ trying to attack but being held back by a metal fence. Therefore informing the audience of the original ‘zombie’ problem in the previous film.
We see Alice (the main protagonist) whispering ‘sorry Stevie’ in a sexy husky voice before she shoots a zombie named Stevie in the head.
The rest of the characters are then introduced. A group of people trying to survive and kill as many zombies on the way. Each of the female characters are very attractive e.g. one character is a ex singer named Ashanti who was well known for her sex appeal- she is later killed by a flock of birds ha ha ha.
There is a interesting shot where Alice is talking to a male character where her head in down and he is talking to her in a authoritative way. By using this transactional language he could be proving that he is in charge and therefore the classic male hero of the film is familiar and notable. He is also later killed.
A male character is then seen being attacked by a zombie. The female characters are shown to be tough with a female voice over giving orders ‘you know the drill.’ Paradoxical to the ‘norm’ of action movies.
There is then a cut to Alice looking frightened when a zombie dog attacks her. The audience’s initial reaction is to look for superman to save her but in the next shot Alice is shown to be fending for herself. Therefore the ‘damsel in distress’ ritual is avoided.’
Close up shots of Alice in tight clothing and shots of her legs and eyes are voyeuristic. Classic male gaze is show.
Shot of Alice and another woman saying ‘everyone is scared’ could this be a weak link in the tough female image that is being shown in this trailer?
There is a shot of some ‘boss’ type men saying ‘make sure she is dead.’ ‘shut her down.’ In the film- but not shown in the trailer- is the fact that Alice is under some sort of control by the men in the film and they are able to essentially switch her off. This is a classic example of male authority being asserted over women just like in Charlie’s angels and tomb raider.
There is a shot where Alice has to avoid a laser and it chops of part of her red dress. This dress is a motif throughout the films and the computer games. Long with a very high slit and cut to reveal her boobs. Further objectification in this film is not only through costume but the lack of it. When Alice finds all her clones they are only wearing pants. So the female body is on show and up for objectification.
These is also a very small shot of Alice kissing the authoritarian male figure. This could be a example of women in action films only being present as a prize or sexual toy for the male protagonist.
The trailer finishes in classic comic book/action film way. Alice standing looking up at the sky which is burning. She is breathing heavily and looks somewhat scared and frightened. Some how I think if it was a male character he would be holding a power stance and looking at the camera whereas Alice is looking away
tomb raider trailer to analyse
shows both objectification and tomboyish nature. in some shots she bears resemblence to shara connor in terminator 2. with clothignlike park sunglasses, big boot, and unisex clothing.
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
trailer to analyse
Resident evil trailer to analyse
Game trailer- woman is more objectified, look less like rough and ready character, look’s flawless and attractive.
Real movie trailer for most recent film
Game trailer- woman is more objectified, look less like rough and ready character, look’s flawless and attractive.
Real movie trailer for most recent film
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
The types of women
It's worth going back further to the rep of gender of Terminator 2 - does Sarah Connor fit in to either of your types (butch VS fetishised)?
applying this theory
i would like to focus on these two types of women portrayed and to see where a female goes into both catagories.
i could research my age group in order to see if they have seen the films i have decided to focus on (charlies anges, tomb raider, aeon flux, barb wire?, resident evil...)and to see if they enjoyed them. if they think that the women are objectified or showing feminine strengh.
if they watch them, how they feel about them, if they dont watch them why not, would they watch a film with a male action hero, what kind of hero do they like best. or even ,to lighten the mood, their fav charater and what super powers they would have.
this is just a ides for my primary research.
i could also anyalise the beingings to each of the films and see how thewomen are introduced to the audience and how they are represented?
wha'dya think?
i could research my age group in order to see if they have seen the films i have decided to focus on (charlies anges, tomb raider, aeon flux, barb wire?, resident evil...)and to see if they enjoyed them. if they think that the women are objectified or showing feminine strengh.
if they watch them, how they feel about them, if they dont watch them why not, would they watch a film with a male action hero, what kind of hero do they like best. or even ,to lighten the mood, their fav charater and what super powers they would have.
this is just a ides for my primary research.
i could also anyalise the beingings to each of the films and see how thewomen are introduced to the audience and how they are represented?
wha'dya think?
action women
Action Women
Routledge
Yvonne Tasker
1998
In this book Tasker identifies and describes the stereotypical roles women play in action films. These being:
The butch/tomboy type- oedipal, cross-dressing, enthusiastic lack of decorum, ‘butch femme’, acting tough, confrontation and bravado. Sometime in films these women ditch the masculine clothes or a feminine out fit- this then becomes a different form of cross dressing as they have ditched their male clothes to dress as a stereotypical member of their own sex. Seen in films like alien, cut throat island, resident evil and terminator. (also tomboyish character in aeon flux, but objectified due to costume.)
The glamorous or sexual action women. (These are most common and populate the genre.) – fetished figure of fantasy, comic books, soft pornography, exaggerated sexuality, strong women are the stuff of fantasy, dominatrix, built male and female bodies that are put in static positions in order to pose, erotised toughness both inviting and returning of a sexual gaze, an aggressive pouting version of female sexuality. Seen in films like barb wire, cat woman, Charlie’s angels, tomb raider and aeon flux.
Routledge
Yvonne Tasker
1998
In this book Tasker identifies and describes the stereotypical roles women play in action films. These being:
The butch/tomboy type- oedipal, cross-dressing, enthusiastic lack of decorum, ‘butch femme’, acting tough, confrontation and bravado. Sometime in films these women ditch the masculine clothes or a feminine out fit- this then becomes a different form of cross dressing as they have ditched their male clothes to dress as a stereotypical member of their own sex. Seen in films like alien, cut throat island, resident evil and terminator. (also tomboyish character in aeon flux, but objectified due to costume.)
The glamorous or sexual action women. (These are most common and populate the genre.) – fetished figure of fantasy, comic books, soft pornography, exaggerated sexuality, strong women are the stuff of fantasy, dominatrix, built male and female bodies that are put in static positions in order to pose, erotised toughness both inviting and returning of a sexual gaze, an aggressive pouting version of female sexuality. Seen in films like barb wire, cat woman, Charlie’s angels, tomb raider and aeon flux.
Friday, 18 April 2008
Unsure
i dont know wether to use barb wire as it was made in 1996.
the rest of the film i want to look at are more modern. but this film clearly displays the fetishtic nature of female protagonist in action films.
the rest of the film i want to look at are more modern. but this film clearly displays the fetishtic nature of female protagonist in action films.
Action chicks write up
Action chicks
Palgrave Macmillan
2004
Chapter two
Jeffery a. brown
Talks more about the stereotypical women found in action films. (Same as indicated by Yvonne Tasker)
Goes into great detail about the ‘fetishized female sex object.’ Talks about the film Barb wire. Pamela Anderson is the main protagonist. Do I need to tell you more? This film is described as ‘fetished figure of fantasy derived from comic books and soft pornography.’ From watching the introduction on you tube, this is obvious. Voyeuristic camera work continues throughout the film. The intro starts with Pam/ Barb wire pole dancing and on a trapeze swing, I would have included the video but I think it might be a bit inappropriate, she then proceeds to kill a man with her platform stiletto shoe and hops of stage, therefore establishing the genre.
This chapter reports on the film and the introduction:
‘Adolescent fear and desire of female sexuality that is exercised through the figure of all action heroines.’
‘barb wire has comic book origins’. ‘Controlled sexualisation.’ ‘Cross gender performance.’ ‘Symbolic realm of the dominatrix.’ Described as ‘breaking down and exploiting the boundaries between the sexes.’ ‘because of barb wire’s exaggerated sexuality not DESPITE it that the film can make explicit the fetishist nature of the action heroines real toughness’ Angelina jolie also shows this objectification in the film ‘tomb raider.’
Gear magazines review of ‘the transporter’ (2002) ‘how to make a beautiful woman more beautiful, arm her to the teeth’ ‘putting big guns in the hands of wide eyed waifs.’
Palgrave Macmillan
2004
Chapter two
Jeffery a. brown
Talks more about the stereotypical women found in action films. (Same as indicated by Yvonne Tasker)
Goes into great detail about the ‘fetishized female sex object.’ Talks about the film Barb wire. Pamela Anderson is the main protagonist. Do I need to tell you more? This film is described as ‘fetished figure of fantasy derived from comic books and soft pornography.’ From watching the introduction on you tube, this is obvious. Voyeuristic camera work continues throughout the film. The intro starts with Pam/ Barb wire pole dancing and on a trapeze swing, I would have included the video but I think it might be a bit inappropriate, she then proceeds to kill a man with her platform stiletto shoe and hops of stage, therefore establishing the genre.
This chapter reports on the film and the introduction:
‘Adolescent fear and desire of female sexuality that is exercised through the figure of all action heroines.’
‘barb wire has comic book origins’. ‘Controlled sexualisation.’ ‘Cross gender performance.’ ‘Symbolic realm of the dominatrix.’ Described as ‘breaking down and exploiting the boundaries between the sexes.’ ‘because of barb wire’s exaggerated sexuality not DESPITE it that the film can make explicit the fetishist nature of the action heroines real toughness’ Angelina jolie also shows this objectification in the film ‘tomb raider.’
Gear magazines review of ‘the transporter’ (2002) ‘how to make a beautiful woman more beautiful, arm her to the teeth’ ‘putting big guns in the hands of wide eyed waifs.’
Thursday, 17 April 2008
charlies angels
i would also like to study chalies angels as i found this particular clip that i think sums up the fiolm quite well.
each of the girls seems to be displaying in the costume a different male fantasy.
Cameron Diaz- innocent viginal woman
Lucy Liu- Dominatrix
Drew Barrymore- Fiesty soldier
this could be used to show the 'male' or voyeristic side of the camera work and costume design that is also displayed in aeon flux and tomb raider.
each of the girls seems to be displaying in the costume a different male fantasy.
Cameron Diaz- innocent viginal woman
Lucy Liu- Dominatrix
Drew Barrymore- Fiesty soldier
this could be used to show the 'male' or voyeristic side of the camera work and costume design that is also displayed in aeon flux and tomb raider.
tomb radier
i would also like to study tomb raider. origninally a male targeted computer game turned film staring Angelina Jolie playing lara croft.
i shll include the trailer. from this alone you can see the 'male fantasy' type female who is overtly attractive yet a action hero, this also follows the 'comic book' hero style that aeon flux does.
i shll include the trailer. from this alone you can see the 'male fantasy' type female who is overtly attractive yet a action hero, this also follows the 'comic book' hero style that aeon flux does.
aeon flux
i have been looking at the trailer and some of the clips on you tube of the film aeon flux in which Charlize Theron plays the main protagonst.
she plays a assasin in a futuristic world where there are limited amounts of people and they are all government controled.
this very much reminds me of george orwells 19(84?) novel from which the concept of big brother was taken.
i would like to use this film as a case study in my project as although she is the main charcter she is objecttified in the costumes and camera work.
this a scene from the film
she plays a assasin in a futuristic world where there are limited amounts of people and they are all government controled.
this very much reminds me of george orwells 19(84?) novel from which the concept of big brother was taken.
i would like to use this film as a case study in my project as although she is the main charcter she is objecttified in the costumes and camera work.
this a scene from the film
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
video
do you think that any of these film would be relevant or do you think that they seem to fall into the wrong genres?
Female action heroes.
this is a somewhat cheesy video i found on you tube. after seaching for female action heroes:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QSjOxe7Zcm8
the films that the stills are taken from are:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QSjOxe7Zcm8
the films that the stills are taken from are:
- resident evil
- aeon flux
- tomb raider
- kill bill
- Van Hellsing
- cat woman
- x men
- charlies angels
- the matrix
- the fantastic 4
- sin city
- king arther
- pirates of the caribbian
- house of flying daggars
- dare devil
- electra
- xena warrior princess
- Narnia
CHANGE OF PLAN!!!
hello shaun hope this is not short notice but.....
instead of focusing on womens roles in the genre of horror i would prefer to look at women in films of the action genre. This i think suits me better as i dont mind gore but i do like explosions. hope you aggree.
You assured me in class that there are a lot of readings on this and that infomation is readily availible. i have the copy of the chapeers on representations of gender-thank you for those- is there any thing you can give me soon-ish?
thanks, libby.
instead of focusing on womens roles in the genre of horror i would prefer to look at women in films of the action genre. This i think suits me better as i dont mind gore but i do like explosions. hope you aggree.
You assured me in class that there are a lot of readings on this and that infomation is readily availible. i have the copy of the chapeers on representations of gender-thank you for those- is there any thing you can give me soon-ish?
thanks, libby.
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