Evaluation: Part 2

How does your film represent Women in the opening?

There were a few ways in which women were represented in the opening of my production. Through my shot types, choice of sound, the mise-en-scene and editing I both supported and challenged contemporary gender ideas.

I made some notes analysing the opening...

The opening introduces you with a diegetic, background procession of police cars going past, synchronized with the opening titles. Police cars or other authoritative services connote power, dominance and responsibility, all of which are stereotypcally attributed to male characters in film. Giving the audience this initial impression means they are likely to associate the male characters to be more powerful than any female ones to come, supporting traditional gender roles. Not to mention the central, bold, white titles with a font type that is aggressive and impacting. These features appeal largely to men, establishing initial action and violence, men being my predominant target audience. Traditionally, women have been associated with rounder, more comforting and more gentle font types, alienating them from the film before its even really begun, and reinforcing a dominant stereotype that women aren't supposed to fill these character roles.

The sirens soon transition into my non-diegetic soundtrack. It is an edgy, suspense-filled, bassy film score, which is orientated towards my mainly male target audience, as it implies that a significant, action-packed moment is just around the corner for the viewer. This implication suggests that women would feel vulnerable in this narrative world, playing up to theme of a male-dominated world that gangsters live in, in similar past productions. When you accompany this with the lighting of the scenes, which are dark, misty and grim, you get a further reinforcement of gender-based stereotypes. It again, shows a potentially threatening environment for female characters to be in, and also goes against the the connotations of a female presence in a scene, which are bright colours, happiness and peace.

As the audience begins to see a series of shots showing Ade walking around, we hear a non-diegetic voice over of him telling us about his character. This dominant voice, over the images gives the reader the impression that Ade is more powerful, more knowledgeable and in control in general. With this, it reinforces traditional gender views that men are the more powerful sex, also alienating the female viewers who feel that you need to be male to identify with Ade. This stereotype is reinforced with the long shot showing Ade spreading his arms in the subway. In this shot, his body language suggests that he is control, his arms spread out, making himself the dominant focal point of the scene. However, in the voice-over, there is one section where Ade talks about the loss of his Mother and it's arguable that this challenges the stereotypes in film. He is audibly emotional about his Mum's death which is a more open, vulnerable presentation of his character, historically this has been attributed to women in film.

Further male power is asserted when Ade is walking with the use of a match on action edit, this connotes forward-thinking, dynamism and aggression. This scene alone shows that to be in an authoritative position you are required to be masculine in your action, backed up by the time lapse edit over-looking a city view, again reinforcing this fast paced tempo. In the end sequence, Jamie and Ade feature in a series of music-synchronized cut aways. The two, main focal points are male, along with a dubstep soundtrack, gives the impression that a women would be intimidated or scared, alienating them further.

These are just a few examples of how women are presented in my production. In this genre, their presentation is largely negative, this was something I tried to reflect when shooting and editing mine, also taking into consideration what effect breaking these traditional gender-based roles would have on the viewer.