THEORIES I'VE LEARNT

This post explores the various theories we have explored in depth, exploring the theorist and the theories. The theories mentioned in this blog are:

• Male gaze
• Bechdel Test
• The Gant Rule
• Digitisation
• Disruption
• Convergence
• Postmodernism
• Deconstructionism
• Intertextuality
• Simulacra
• The Auteur Theory

MALE GAZE

In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world, in the visual arts and in literature, from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer.

The idea of male gaze was introduced by a film maker named Laura Mulvey, and was introduce in 1970s, when she wrote an essay on visual pleasure and narrative cinema. She claims that most popular movies are filmed in ways to satisfy masculine scopophilia.

It is linked to the Bechdel test (see next), as like the male gaze, the failure to pass the Bechdel test is done for the pleasure of the viewer.

Here is a video explaining the male gaze theory in detail.

BECHDEL TEST

The Bechdel Test is a measure of the representation of woman in fiction. To pass the Bechdel test, a movie simply must apply to ONLY 3 rules.

3 RULES:

It has to have at least 2 (named) women in it
These 2 women must talk to each other
They must talk about something other than a man

FILMS WHICH PASS:

A Star is Born
Black Panther
Ocean's 8
The Meg
Rampage

FILMS WHICH FAIL:

Toy Story 2
La La Land
Avatar
Finding Nemo
Thor: Ragnarok

VIDEO EXPLAINING BECHDEL TEST:

THE GANT RULE

The Gant Rule is an observation that a movie will make approximately 10 times more box office in the US than the UK. There are around 10 times more cinemas and screens in the US.

US

No. of movie screens

No. of movie theatres

UK

No. of cinema screens

No. of cinemas

EXAMPLES

BABY DRIVER

domestic (US), international and worldwide box office

UK box office

Baby driver, released in 2007, directed by Edgar Wright, is an exception to the Gant Rule as the UK box office is only 6 times less than the American box office.

AVATAR

domestic (US), international and worldwide box office

UK box office

Avatar, released in 2009, directed by James Cameron, is an exception to the Gant Rule as the UK box office is only 5 times less than the American box office.

DIGITISATION, DISRUPTION AND CONVERGENCE

DIGITISATION

The ongoing but advanced process of moving from analogue (eg VHS, 35mm film) to digital production, distribution and exchange, which has reduced costs and led to convergence and disruption

DISRUPTION

Radical changes to the established methods of distribution, often leading to new competitors arising

CONVERGENCE

The reducing gap between professional and amateur/consumer/prosumer level equipment; the shrinking distinction between audience and producers as old top-down approaches and passive audiences are replaced by active audiences (web 2.0) and a dynamic two-way flow (UGC); the blurring of once clear divides between media industries - film and TV are notable, and think about how both now extend across web and smart devices too, plus VR

E.G

Film4 and the BBC are UK TV channels/producers with limited funds for film production. Where Amazon and Netflix spend billions worldwide, and over $100m just in the UK, the combined TV/film budget of all traditional UK TV channels (and their film wings) is far less than Netflix's UK spend alone. They pay upfront for rights to low budget films like Warp's output. This, combined with non-repayable grants from the likes of the UK Film Council (today that is the BFI) and its regional wings like EM Media and Screen Yorkshire (using government and National Lottery funding), or EU funds. These grants ensure cultural diversity in film production, which would be impossible on raw commercial terms - US movies would simply take up almost all UK screen time otherwise. What box office prospects does She, A Chinese or Tyrannosaur have?!

Warp generally struggle to get UK theatrical distribution for their movies, never mind international (let alone China...). However, you will see Optimem Releasing on several of their movies - a StudioCanal subsidiary that has now been relaunched as StudioCanal UK, forming an unlikely link with Working Title.

POSTMODERNISM, DECONSTRUCTIONISM, INTERTEXTUALITY AND SIMULACRA

POSTMODERNISM

There is no ultimate reality. Argues that all the 'isms', eg capitalism, communism, are now meaningless - the meta-narratives no longer have the power to explain the world or reality. It is of course self-contradictory: postmodernism is an ism.
Strinati argues there is a collapse in the high/popular culture divide - all are now equally valid.

DECONSTRUCTIONISM

The ironic use of existing conventions in a knowing way; the audience is assumed to be in on the irony. E.G: in Scream the Matthew Lillard Character cries out dramatically "I'll be right back", an old horror trope being that this denotes a character will be killed. The other teens at the party respond with that in mind, in a scene where they're sat watching Halloween. Craven is poking fun at the very genre he helped to create with 1972's The Last House on the Left.
This occurs across all media - this Depeche Mode video is a classic example, deconstructing the band's poor tawdry image and the male gaze.

INTERTEXTUALITY

A simple but profound concept originating with Kristen - the preferred reading (Stuart Hall) of two texts are linked; the viewer needs knowledge of the earlier text to be able to follow the preferred reading of the newer text. TV shows like The Simpsons are built on this, and there is a strong vein on this running through the slasher genre.
John Carpenter cast the daughter of the 1960 scream queen as his final girl, used to help get publicity.

SIMULACRA

There is no ultimate reality, we live in an endless chain of signifiers. Everything is a signifier of a signifier of a signifier. An example of a simulacra would be 'Scary Movie', it exemplifies the ideas above, taking intertextuality to a new level. 'Scream', had the working title of 'Scary Movie', and this film is a satirical remake, quite literally signposting the conventions (eg Carmen Electra scream queen sees a sign giving the options for either death or safety... and runs up the stairs where the death sign points to, as the dumb scream queens tend to).

These movies have been much analysed, not least for gender representations. Baudrillard might argue that this leads nowhere as there is no ultimate meaning behind an endless sea of signifiers: Scary Movie is an expression of many exisiting ideas or signifiers, which cannot be tracked back to any concrete 'true reality' or meaning.

THE AUTEUR THEORY

When the director takes all credit for the creation of a movie, ignoring everyone surrounding him including producers, actors, writer and so on. Along with this, he has his own distinct style which breaks away from the normative movies. An example of this would be Quentin Tarantino. He is famous for directing several very famous movies (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and so on...)


RICHARD CURTIS - A counter example?
Another interesting example is Richard Curtis, who has won 2 awards including an Emmy in 2006 and a BAFTA in 2007. He has directed films including Love Actually.

 Here is his Filmography...

Richard Curtis may or may not be considered as an auteur. He is heavily successful in the commercial side of film making (makes lots of money when making his movies) but doesn't win awards often. He follows a distinct genre of RomCom (hybrid), although also has his very distinct style, therefore it is tough to decide whether he is an auteur or not. He also ignores the whole social topics including racism, sexism, poverty etc. (follows white, middle class, southern English actors). However, he is known for working with a mainly female centred genre. Just as is the case with others such as soap operas and women's magazines, this is considered "trashy". This issue of sexism is what perhaps prevents him from being an auteur.

SHANE MEADOWS

Shane Meadows is associated with the Indie genre and has directed films slightly less known, for example

Indie film producers are more likely to explore social issues as their audiences are narrower and  are more realistic. This is England explores the issues surrounding racism, which is a serious topic at the moment. It is Shane Meadows own personal story as a child. It is a Warp film and had a budget of 1.5 million GBP. The fact that the main character is in poverty shows has he is an auteur and has his own distinct style (social realism style).