Friday the 13th

I have been asked to create a studio pitch for my own 'Friday 13th' hybrid movie if i was the film director. Below i have researched and have come to a conclusion on what elements of the film i would keep the same and what elements i would change.

I have decided to keep the same setting as the lakeside is present in all the previous Friday the 13th movies and would be a shame to change the setting and loose the whole meaning to the film. As the lakeside is a significent point in the movie it has been kept in my own version of Friday 13th.

Within todays society women's roles have changed dramatically and laws have become more leniant allowing females to take on a more independent role. I have decided to change the representation of the main character to represent the zeitgiest. I have choosen to show the young lady as the final survivor, reinforcing the idea that women are more strong and independent and no longer need to rely upon a man. I have also decided to scrap the male gaze as women have always been exploited and no longer need this stereotype upon them.

I have also decided to add a new character to this sequel as it will help keep the story going and make it more exciting. I have come to the decision to add another family as Jasons pregnant teenage neice as teenage pregnancy is an important issue within society today. I have choosen to show her struggles of being a teenage mum and have a huge twist in the plot. I am going to have Jason to take the life of the child.

The sound effects and editing will remain the same, as the sound of shrieking and heavy breathing is stereotypically associated with horror movies. The begging will consist off a montage of shots of the previous films to jog the audiences memories to help them to remember what happened in the previous films. I will begin with a cliffhanger to help keep the viewers 'glued', the effect of this will keep the audience wanting to see more to find out what happens next.

cover work - Tues 17.03.09

'Halloween:UK'

The task in hand is to remake the "grandaddy" of all horror movies "Haloween". We have been asked to repeat some elements from the original movie and to replace some elements with our own unique idea's. Below we have discussed what has changed and what remains the same, stating the reason why we chose this decision.

Iconography refers to the images and symbolic representations that are traditionally associated and seen within certain movie genre's. As all horror films consist of iconography that is familiar to the viewers, we have decided to keep most of iconographic symbols and images that have been used in Halloween. This then makes it easier for us to decide who we will market and produce this movie for and will be less time consuming for us as we wouldn't need to take time out to generate questionnaires and then go hand them out to the public to find out what they would prefer.

We will keep such iconography such as knives, masks, group of teenagers and the pumpkin that is used at the opening of the original movie. I will keep knives as the main prop as this the main weapon that is normally associated with horror movies. The audience movie effect will also remain the same, that of Visceral. The begging of the movie will be kept the same, chants will carry on playing in the background as spells and chants are normally associated with halloween and in this case reflects the title of the movie.

As a group we have decided to change the setting of the movie as horror films are normally set in houses. To create a sense of orginallity we have decided to move the setting from a suburban midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois to a large mansion that has a graveyard in the back. This will be used to scare the audience as graveyards are normally associated with halloween and are visited by a number of youngsters in society today to get some sort of adrenaline rush and excitement. By adding a graveyard will allow us to use it as a scare tactic and allow us to create scenes where the audience are unaware of what is going to happen. Music and sound such as heavy breathing, shrieks and the upbeat sounds of a heartbeat will be used to create suspense and add to the scare tactic.

As in society today there are a number of issues that have arised that are to do with the way women have been represented and exploited and how men are shown to be more superior then women. We have decided to change the order of who dies when, this time round the females will be seen as the survivors rather than the males, this will then go against the stereotype. As the issue of anorexia is also on the rise, we have decided to use an obese character to show equality and to show the audience that you don't have to be anorexic or slim to be successful. This may then help the issue of anorexia reflecting the zeitgeist.

Cover work - Wed 10.03.09

Unit 1:

• Genre orginates from France, it is a french term given for "type" or "categorry"
• Genres are not fixed
• By having a genre it makes producers, audience and scholars understand a range of films.

Unit 2:

There are different ways how genre can be classified. Some include the following:

• Iconography refers to common images and icons that are seen to be in a particular genre
• style refers to the camera angle, the way the film has been edited, special effects etc
• Setting - location
• Audience response- audience reactions, physical ,emotion, mental.

Unit 3:

• Altman is a theorist who analyse's and looks at characteristics of a particular movie associated with different genre's
• "B" films and genres, like genre fiction, were seen as "low status" by critics and commentators
• Another theorist Maltby stated that 'Hollywood is a generic cinema, which is not quite the same as saying it is a cinema genres'

Unit 4:

• There are a number of different pleasures that people get from different film genres, they are...

1. Emotional Pleasures - Movie genre's make people feel different feelings. for example romantic genre's may make the audience feel happy and in love, a horror genre may make them scared

2. Visceral Pleasures - The style of the film has a particular physical effect on an individual

3. Intellectual Puzzles - This allows the audience to get involved within the movie, trying to solve the mystery and unraveling murders etc

4. Counter-Culture Attractions - This is where the audience can find out the genre by its typical conventions of that particular genre

• The apparatus theory is a theory that argues that audiences are passive recipients; the reading of the film is imposed upon them by the films structure
• The strongest elements of genre is the emotional response

Unit 5:

• Theorist Dyer stated that Stars are seen as "Commodity", which is an important asset or element of making and selling a film
• Theorist Ellis states that stars hold a promise to the audiences
• Film theorist "Dyer" stated that Stars are seen as "Commodity", which is an important asset or element of making and selling a film

How Does The Following Links Represent India/Indians?

Slumdog millionaire Trailer:


Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle On India


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/24/oscars-india-slumdog-millionaire-ian-jack

1st Paragraph - Draft

'Mum said she wasn't surprised..you wanting to work in a magazine, don't happen to people like us unless your j-lo or something'. Although the representation of women in modern media has changed considerably, where women are taking roles of protogonists rather than cameo or supporting roles unconditionally, for example Reese Witherspoon who plays Ella Woods the protogonist in the hit Hollywood movie 'Legally blonde' (2001). However the underlining principle remains the same, that is a women do need to

Essay Plan

How has the stereotypical representation of women changed and developed since the past, giving rise to a new and more acceptable image of a protogonsit? Paying particular reference to Ugly Betty

The question in my essay focuses on the representation of women within the media and how their image has changed and developed dramatically. To find these significant changes i will watch a number of different movies and television programmes varifying from the different era's in time to pick out the major differences between then and comtemporary society. My main focus is on the television series Ugly Betty as this is a prime example of change within society, it also focuses on contemporary images of characters. Below i have constructed a detailed essay plan that will later on help me structure my final version of the essay. This structure will allow me to form an arguement for and against my hypothesis, and come to some sort of conclusion about this whole debate.

Introduction:

• In the introduction im am going to rewrite out the question that is being asked and then state the hypothesis to show clearly to the reader what i assume the findings will be.
• I will then briefly touch upon the arguement for and against not revealing the finished conclusion to the readers.
• I will name a few theorists that look at the representation of women and look at the significant changes and the developement of their characrteristics. I'll name only the theorists that relate to my study, stating their name and not what they found
• Mulvey, Gunter, Tushmen are some theorists that i will use.
• I will also state the text that im paying particular reference to which in this case is Ugly Betty, i will give the background information so that i can later relate to this information if needed.
• Finally i will give a brief insight into the historical texts that i am going to use again breifly explaining how they link to my study.

[ Th, I, H, G ]

Paragraph 1:

• I have to make clear reference to SHEP, so that the reader can see the distinctions made clearly
• I am going to talk about the historical representation of women and discuss how it has developed before the second world war
• studies in the 1970's showed that Women were seen as "doormats", (things the men walked over).They were portrayed as obedient and very dependent on the man. Obeying and fufilling his every wish, without questioning whats right and whats wrong.
• According to marxism "women had to breed the next generation of workers and support them emotionally"
• The main image of a women in the media was that of a housewife, cooking and cleaning making sure the environment is suitable for her husband. Women had to take on this role while the husband went out to work to provide for the family as the "breadwiner".
• David Gauntlet: suggested that males were more dominant in the film industry, making it difficult for females to become successful
• Men were the more dominant characters and the decision makers, whereas women would be presented as the obedient housewife who is inferior and powerless
• I am going to use a different number of quotes and explain them in detail what they mean, making sure their is clear relation with my study.
• Historical Tv programmes that show the sterotypical image and character of a female

[ H, Th, R ]

Paragraph 2:

• Discuss points for my arguement, talk about how the characters in Ugly Betty show a change of representations of women. Paying particular reference to the main protogonist Betty Suarez.
• She is unattractive buh is still shown to be successful and popular amongst her peers
• Use MIGRAIN to fully analyse the programme, giving detailed description of each concept. I am going to use MIGRAIN to help me discuss the representtion of the character, by using each section and linking them together.

[ M, I, G, R, A, I, N, ]

Paragraph 3:

• Talk about contemporary society
• Discuss other films and TV programmes that show a similar character to Ugly Betty
• Legally blonde (2001) - Talk about the protogonist - how shes the "blonde bimbo" and is portrayed as 'dumb' and 'slow' but proves them wrong and becomes a successful lawyer. This is a change from the past as she is shown as independent and more superior and not the sterotypical character that of being a housewife and being dependent on a man.
• The devil wears parada (2006)-
• Heather (eastenders) - Shes unattractive, but has been given a leading role on this popular Tv series. She is not the stereotypical view of a women so it shows that society is changing and is now beggining to accept a newer image of a women.
• Women are no more independent financially and no longer need to wait on a man to help support her.
• waltons

Paragraph 4:

• Even though a wider range of women are becoming more acceptable, women with a perfect figure and appearance still remains important.
• Even though Ugly Betty is unattractive and is shown to be very successful, she undergoes and make over to make herself feel more comfortable and fit in within her workplace.
• Heather from Eastenders even though she has a leading role is still shown not to be taken seriosuly. She is unsuccessful with work, relationships, love and friends.
• Films and TV programmes in general still have the same similar image, that of a tall skinny girl, beautiful skin and perfect facial features.
• How it hasn't changed, Mulvey

[ Th, R, S, H ]

Conclusion:

• Restate my hypothesis
• Include my opinion, so the readers know how i feel about this topic
• Summarise my findings - to what extent it has changed and to what extent it hasn't
• Support the findings with the names of theorists

[ Th ]

Change Of Question

How have representations and the stereotypes of women changed and developed, paying particular attention to Ugly Betty?