Sexuality

Sexuality

Theorist ANDY MEDHURST (1998) claims that sexuality disrupt representation claims, like those made by Dyer (“How we are seen determines in part how we are treated; how we treat others on how we see them; such seeing comes from representation” Dyer, 1993), because in the REAL world you cannot ‘see’ sexuality. Unless someone tells you they are homosexual you have no way of knowing. 

In the media there are loads of stereotypical views on sexuality, the key example of these are, gay men being queer and camp, and lesbian women being butch, or a "dyke." Andy Medhurst argued that the stereotypes of gay people are typically done to make the heterosexual viewers, feel more safe, strong and superior, as they believe they are "normal." 

In TV drama, or films the typical gay person's story line involves them coming out, or about them having a hard time about being gay. Overall in TV drama, there are a lot of stereotypes and comments about gay people. There are magnified which relates to Medhurst's theory, of things in the media being magnified for the audiences views. 

“This is why stereotypes of sexuality strive so vigorously to create two, polarized sexualities, hetro and straight, and to insist with such obsessive reductiveness that people who belong to those poles are easily identifiable – hence the recurring presence across media texts of the screaming queen and his female equivalent the butch dyke.”

The video of Ben Mitchell from Eastenders, is a great example of how gay people are portrayed in the media, although Ben almost breaks the idea of gay men being queer and scream queens, he appears to be more tough and hard like the typical straight man, however his boyfriend is the perfect example of the typical gay man you would see in the media. 

“Stereotyping becomes ideological the moment it stops being simply a method of description and becomes a vehicle for values: the image of the screaming queen does not just mean ‘all gay men are like that’, it means ‘all gay men are like that and aren’t they awful’, which in turn means ‘and they are awful because the are not like us.”

Another good example is Orange is the New Black, OITNB shows the typical "lipstick lesbian" with a more butch woman, together in prison. It shows them together and blows up the whole image of gay people being together, showing the stereotypical views. 

The other video shows the stereotypical view of a character called Boo From OITNB. Boo fits into the stereotypical view of a lesbian, showing her with short hair, dressed manly, with a masculine attitude. This would support Andy Medhurst's view on how the media grabs something and magnifies it to make it a huge issue. 













Practice of essay on sexuality: 

In the clip, it shows Christian a character from Eastenders, being the stereotypical gay character. He's well dressed and looks well looked after, like he looks after himself with a tight white shirt making his muscels stand out, the way he presents himself he has a camp attitude to him, his posture also gives off the impression he's gay. This would support Andy Medhurst's theory of the media magnifying stereotypes and certain topics. 

Essay work

How is gender portrayed in the extract of Hustle through:

Camera work

Mise-en-scene

Sound

 Editing & theory?

In the extract of Hustle the theories of Mulvey (1975), Mackillon (2002) and Gauntlett (2002) are both supported and distrupted through the media language present in the clip. I will now explore this in more detail with reference to how; camera work, mise-en-scene, sound and editing contributes to constructions of gender representation.

The opening shot is a low angle medium close up, of a middle aged man wearing an expensive suit and jewellery. The angle shot gives him a masculine status, and makes him look powerful as he is above the female walking up the stairs. This could fit into Gaunletts 2002 theory, however by the way he is standing it is not a masculine pose, making him look more feminine. In the background there is a younger, more attractive female in the clothing shop, the positioning of the camera angle, supports the traditional theory of males being more superior, as she is lower down. The opening scene is also supported by non-diegetic sound, which is quite sexualised, this changes when the woman comes into the shot, and is very feminine. This contributes to Mulvey’s 1975 theory. Continuing on, the music also de-masculinises the male character and makes him look more camp, which its into his setting as working in a dress shop. The shots are linked together with a sound bridge, and continuity editing is used to not distract the reader.

When continuing on into the clip, we can see the male overlooking a older woman, who’s covered up this fits into the stereotypical role of women being the traditional house wife. The shot however sexualises the younger attractive woman in the background, showing her curves and her body, this would support Mulvey’s 1975 theory of women being sexualised for the male audience. When the non-diegetic music ends, it is soon accompanied by dialogue. During the dialogue, the shot being used is a one-two shot switching from both characters, this shot makes it look like you’re directly in the characters eye line. An over the shoulder shot is also used during the dialogue scene, as the male character demonizes the older female character, making her look weak and poor. This also supports Gauntlett’s 2002 theory of men being macho and dominate, as it makes the female character look frail.

After the scene between the male, and the older woman, we then see a close up of the younger attractive woman, it pans from her expensive diamond ring, to her face. This represents that the woman is more wealthier, and is more important.

Examples of diegetic and non diegetic sounds

Diegetic and non diegetic sounds. 

Example of diegetic sound: 

Example of non diegetic sound: 

Types of editing

Type of editing

Parallel editing: is the technique of when two scenes happen at the same time but in different locations.

Eyeline match: A technique associated with the continuity editing system. It's from the characters point of view on what they're seeing.

Match cut: This is a cut that makes sense spatially, this could be between two different objects, two different spaces, or two different compositions.

Shot reverse shot: This is a film technique where one character is looking at another, and it reverses so you can see the other character looking at the first character.











Slow motion: This shot is when everything is slowed down, and the shot looks much more slower.

 

Fast motion: This shot shows everything going much faster than what it actually is, very similar to a time lapse.

Fade to Black: This involves a gradual transition from one image to another but with a black fading effect.







CGI: Computer-generated imagery, is when computer graphics are used to contribute with the shots, in films and TV shows.





Sound bridge: Sound bridges are one of the most common transitions used in film, it stresses the connection between the scenes by the mood, which is suggested by the music.





Fade from white: Similar to fade to black fade to white is the same, however instead of black its white. But fade to white is meant to have more of ambiguity sense.





Long take: A long take is a much more longer lasting shot, than a conventional editing page or the film itself.





Iris in/out: An iris out is used at the end of a scene and an iris in, is used at the start of a scene. 

Jump cuts: Jump cuts are when an abrupt transition from one scene to another takes place.







sound

Sound

TV Drama: Sound

In the examination one of the four things you will have to analyse, in terms of representation, is sound. Sound can be put into two main categories:

Diegetic sound is 'realistic sound' where the source is visible on screen or where the source is implied to be present in the action even if the sound source is out of shot (e.g. a door slamming in another room or sirens in the distance) common examples of diegetic sound include: 

- Dialogue (characters voices)

- Sounds made by objects 

- music coming from instruments shown on screen

- ambient sound (background noise that would be present)

N.B. this links to what we discussed last week in terms of TV Drama's needing to create a realistic believable 'diegetic' world for the viewer - sound is part of the verisimilitude.

Non-diegetic sound is sound where the source is not present in the action nor looks like it is meant to be; common examples include:

- Mood music

- Dramatic sound effects that do not match the sound anything on screen would make.

- Narrators commentary.

Sound Terminology

Inside these two categories there are a number of specific terms for different types of sounds that you must be able to use in the examination when you analysis, make note on and write about the extract in terms of representation they are as follows:

Non-diegetic

Title music: theme tunes (connote genre/represent TV drama).

Score/incidental music: orchestral music used to connote tone/atmosphere.

Sound motifs: sounds associated with certain character (often a villain like the shark in Jaws) that connote something good/bad is about to happen.

Sound effects: used to connote atmosphere.

Voice over: often used to give the viewer an insight into the thoughts of a character (creating a bond between the audience and character), set the scene or progress the narrative.  

Diegetic

Synchronous sound: sounds that match what you see on screen.

Sound effects: realistic sounds that match the action on screen creating realism and/or connoting atmosphere e.g. gun shots, door opening/closing.

Dialogue: characters speaking (dialogue progresses the narrative and reveals the character's personality/views to the viewer). 

Ambient sound: natural background noise you would hear if the scene on screen were real - this is vital when creating realism.