True Blood analysis on gender and sexuality.

I don't watch True Blood or any vampire TV programmes so I analysed the clip above and extracted any information on the representation of sexuality and gender.

We first see a man on the phone, and a man in the background cleaning up. I/we don't know why he is in such a rush to clean but it may refer to the car pulling up infront of the house. Cleaning is usually seen as woman's role, however a man is doing it when usually they'd be seen doing nothing or something more manly. We then see a woman walking into the kitchen, her costume is very laid back and approaches more of a 'relaxed, house-wife' look. The kitchen is the first room we see her in which could possibly relate to the stereotypical thoughts of 'women belong in the kitchen' therefore are given a lack of power, however, this is then contrasted with another woman walking into the kitchen who pulls the hammer back on the gun and points it at the woman. This is a contrast  because Debbie (gun holder) shows power and dominance over the other woman who is scared. It then zooms to the 2 men who were seen at the beginning cleaning, they speak about Sookie (scared victim), the man on the left is worried as he says "Sookie!"in which the other replies "F*ck Sookie!"  and reassures him of her actions. However, the other runs out as soon as a gun shot is heard and gets captured.

1.27 onwards I find interesting as a woman enters the house, she is dressed in a tight, black outfit with red lipstick and hair tied back which is 'men seducing'. She is presented as a very sexy, sophisticated person which is supported by her accent and her posture which is hands on hips and leant to one side. Her comments are also very sarcastic, possibly adding to her dominant, bitchy attitude: "I can't be the only one whose noticed she's missing half her head now can I?"

 Her ignorance when Sookie asks to change the dead girl also supports her bitchy and her 'hard to get' sexual attitude. When Sookie says "I'll owe you one" the woman immediately changes her mind, giving women of her kind a selfish personality. As she compromises her, the previously captured man is put into the car boot which shows the masculinity of men whereas stereotypically it would be women who are weaker.The woman is shown again this time sitting on a chair with her leg up to the wall. This is a superior and sexual posture.
The retrieval of blood is extracted from her wrist that she bits into, she then pours her own blood into the dead girls mouth. This is done differently/less sexually to how it would be done if it was a man; supposedly including a lot of physical contact.


From 5:20, injured men are shown on the floor in pain in which another ma/vampire approaches them with a gun and says "who wants to die first" at this point the men are too weak to retaliate and are saved a female vampire who stabs the other guy in a back. This suggests that the women has more power in this scene as usually women are seen the victims.
The man and woman then walk towards each other and kiss passionately. Her hair is scrunched up by the man.  The man physically treats her as a sexual object as they continue kissing.

MediaMagazine Conference 13th December 2012

The MediaMagazine conference in Russell Square was very interesting, I learnt a lot more than I expected and had a lot more fun than I expected. There were many 'acts' who spoke about the influences of media on their audiences and themselves. _____ spoke about violence in the media and how it affected the audiences through cinema's, television and most importantly comic books. We saw a few pages of a comic book which included violence of 'aliens' and also had innappropriate names such as 'Shaggur' which the whole lecture hall found hilarious. We also heard from Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein who star in the BBC3 programme The Revolution Will Be Televised. They were exceptionally funny and explained how they got into the media which was really interesting.
5/6 ex-A Level students also spoke to us as they took Media A Level andhave all ended up in secure, good media positions such as on set of This Morning, newspaper article writiers (Guilty Pleasures) and directing small movies. Some got to their current positions in the media by simply starting off a small blog and writing about everyday things and they soon got recognised. I have planned to do this:)
_________ is a journalist of The Guardian newspaper and he spoke about Twitter, and how news can travel faster online than anywhere else and gave examples such as the Summer riots and the end of the world. 
Corin Hardy was amazing, we watched a lot of his work, like his animations where the characters were made out of cigarette packets and also watched a lot of his childhood videos. They were SO good, and also watched the opening to Devlin ft. Ed Sheeran - The Watchtower music video which Corin directed. He also gave us an insight into why he loves making horror so much and what he did to get into the media. We also got a picture with him, and he favourited & retweeted 3 of my tweets! 

Favourite pitches and my ideal role

I really liked Ellie's pitch as it was different from the typical vampires biting into necks also had a very strong story line. I thought it was very interesting to have such a mysterious concept which would last throughout the film. It's a very simple story line but you could make it interesting in so many different ways using iconography which I believe will make it a stronger story. I believe the settings would be easy to find however establishing Paris would be difficult as usually the Eiffel Tower would be shown.

I also liked Sheida's idea (not just because she's my friend) because although it has a typical 'lost in the woods' story line, I believe it could also be ade interesting in the ways that each character disappears also the ways the 'ghostly figure' appears. The settings would also be easy to find but there is also the hassle of gathering tents and equipment to establish the fact they're camping and also the difficulty of light a dark area.

My role(s):

My main preferred role would be a minor character because I like to be involved in my work but not  major role because I'm not confident enough to act well. I'd also like to be behind the camera because I am quite confident with my use of shot types and angles. I'd like the role of being the photographer either because I LOVE taking photo's. I wouldn't mind editing either because I have a good feel of how an opening sequence should look like and I can input some original ideas. My last resort would be a producer because I can be quite organised if I need to be (not great at it though) and I believe I can find good locations :)

Wow, I could do quite a bit..

I'll Take You To Paris Script

Vampire synopsis

Brother and sister were the youngest (17 & 14) therefore the weakest vampires out of 100 others part of a secret 'human hunt'. However they were highly trained martial artists by their parents who were unfortunately captured/killed by GBS (Governmental Blood Suckers) for betraying their own kind. However they don't know that they are working for them.
________ soon finds out and tries to pull her brother away from the GBS but he is too sucked in (pun intended) to the programme and dealings that he refuses and ends up fighting his own sister despite their close bond.

The Orphanage

The opening of this film is at a very slow pace. We see main 3 characters, the adopted child and his two carers, they're based in an Orphanage where we see children happily playing, suggesting childlike innocence and also a contrast to the horror genre. The lighting for most scenes are low key, supporting the conventions of a horror movie, this also makes the house look mysterious and allows the audience to assume all the events will take place there. This opening is very relaxed and does not show massive signs of being a horror movie, this could be because they have chosen to 'slowly let the audience in' to the horror later on in the movie.

Young Women in Horror Films

The horror genre is influenced by what society perceives as horrific; war, terrorism, global and political issues. In horror movies, the main character(s) have to encounter a particular problem for the film to go on, the audience can relate to the characters and put themselves in their position. Different genders play different roles in horror movies, as victims, heroes, helpers etc.. Usually women are represented in horror films as the damsell in distress and are usually being attacked by the killer because they have committed a sinful act however that has changed and there are a variety of positions where the female stands in the genre.

Many horror movies involve exorcism and 'magic' and are also based on true stories, giving it a scarier and more realistic feel also a way to grab the attention of people. The character(s) who is/are possessed are usually women. This is because women are portrayed as the more vulnerable and psychotic, also, relating to 'witchcraft', females are commonly associated with satanatic encounters. For example in the movies: 'The Devil Inside', 'The Possession', 'The Exorcist' etc... Although women are presented as victims, they are also shown as hero's as in 'The Rite', the main character solves the 'mystery' herself and finds the will to physically fight off enemies. In 'The Possession', the young girl who is possessed could be seen as a strong victim in terms of she fought off the curse.

However, although women are represented as the damsells in distress, females have begun to hold more power in society and in some horror movies, we no longer see women as victims but as strong women in both hero and killer characters such as in 'Jennifer’s Body'. Megan Fox is the star in 'Jennifer's Body' therefore is seen as a sexual object to the male audience and provides visual pleasure. This is similar to the film 'Sorority Row' where all the main characters are young and attractive women.