What film noir conventions are present within Drive?

Drive adheres to typical conventions of film noir, within the technical, mise en secene and iconography, character and narrative themes conventions.

Technical Codes 
The contrast of low key lighting, throughout, on Ryan Gosling face emphasises the battle of good versus the bad, a connotation which is typical of a noir film, linking with character traits of a cynical protagonist. This is evident within the hotel room scene, when Ryan Gosling has just killed two men, with blood splatted on his face, he slowly walks back into completely dark lighting, this conveys the bad actions he has just done, he then has slight light come into his face, reflecting the element of good, as his reasoning is not only protect himself, as he considers himself as worthless, but instead to protect Irene.

Also the camera angle shots connotes to narrative themes, as it shows the gender politics, typical of film noir. This is also evident in the hotel scene, as when Ryan Gosling is pinning down Blanch, when he's seen, in her perspective, a low angle shot is used, and when Blanch is shown, in his view a high angle shot is used. This evidentially shows she is looking up at him, therefore gaining power, whereas he looks down on her, showing she is lower and less powerful than him, which is also show through him having to protect her.

Narrative Themes
A common narrative theme within the film noir genre is mistrust and paranoia. This is evident in the narrative through Blanch being in on the job, therefore creating mistrust between her and the driver, however there is also mistrust on top of that between the people who she's working with, who actually kill her.
                                                                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Establish if our studied film texts representation of gender is complex or stereotypical. 

How are males represented in Sin City? 

The male characters within Sin City are all violent and dominant. The characters within sin city all essentially convey to fit into both film noir and comic book genre, creating the perfect hybrid. 

The characters can be both categorised into both film noir and comic book. Senator Roark, Cardinal Roark, Jackie Boy and the Yellow Bastard fit in to these genres through different traits in how they are represented. Through the comic book genre they are seen as the villains and arch-nemesis's to the protagonists. Through film noir they a represented at white middle age men, except the yellow bastard, who are all in positions of authority and power, however they abuse this power, as well as Yellow Bastard who has technically inherited his power, this also represents the element of corruption in 50s, with the example of Jackie Boy, who is a corrupt cop. 

  

Some Secondary Research - Bibliography

"It is like a beam from a lighthouse, only instead of light travelling outwards, appearances travel in."
vimeo.com/51354092 - John Berger - Ways of Seeing Ep.1 BBC4

"Perspective makes the eye the centre of the visible world" 
vimeo.com/51354092 - John Berger - Ways of Seeing Ep.1 BBC4

"I, the machine, show you the world the way nay i can see it."
Minifesto 1923 By Dziga Vertow - The Russian Film Director 

"The ideal image of beauty is becoming more extreme and impossible than ever before." 

Jean Kilbourne -Miss Representation 

A lot of advertising is based on making people feel anxious and insecure 
Jean Kilbourne Miss Representation

Girls learn to see themselves as objects
Jean Kilbourne Miss Representation

American woman spend between 12-15 thousand dollars a year on beauty products 
Miss Representation 

97% of publishing companies are owned by Male 
Miss Representation

Woman comprise only 16% of all writers, directors, producers, cinematographers and editors
Miss Representation 

10% of writers of film are female
Miss Representation

" We replicate the world we grow up in"
Film Director - Miss Representation 

digital "touch ups" turn a model into a veritable Barbie doll
http://www.fastcocreate.com/3020948/watch-photoshop-turn-a-woman-into-a-completely-different-woman

Results revealed that women exposed to sexist ads judged their current body size as larger and revealed a larger discrepancy between their actual and ideal body sizes (preferring a thinner body) than women exposed to the nonsexist or no ad condition.              
http://psp.sagepub.com/content/25/8/1049.abstract          

Material goods are inserted in the happiest of scenes, they are constantly associated with success, power, admiration, love, ease and self-esteem. In the process of applying this basically behaviourist law of association, the true routes to these outcomes are obscured and replaced by new associations between material consumption and personal realization.

Selling Desire and Dissatisfaction: Why Advertising should be banned From Bhutanese Television Dr. Ross McDonald

http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/savifadok/348/1/Selling_Desire.pdf 

 

Direct marketing influence represents an intentional blurring of the true connection between the ends of aspiration and the immaterial means by which these can be best achieved.

Selling Desire and Dissatisfaction: Why Advertising should be banned From Bhutanese Television Dr. Ross McDonald

If one gives into individualized material desire, one falls into a perpetual state of desire, an insatiable feeling of hunger or of lack.

Selling Desire and Dissatisfaction: Why Advertising should be banned From Bhutanese Television Dr. Ross McDonald

  
He believed that in order for advertising to be effective, it should appeal to three innate emotions: love, fear and rage.
John B. Watson
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/02/15/the-psychology-of-advertising/



He believed that advertising had to accomplish four things:

1. Attract a consumer’s attention
2. Focus the attention onto the message
3. Make the consumer remember the message and
4. Cause the consumer to take the desired action (this really determined the effectiveness of an ad)

'Sure, we sometimes get a token man-ass-shot during a sex scene, but in actual screen time most sex scenes are almost completely shot at an angle zooming in on the woman’s breasts, naked arched back or orgasmic face.'

Posted By Bitch Flicks -  http://www.btchflcks.com/2013/06/the-malefemale-gaze-on-bbc-americas-first-season-of-orphan-black.html#.UntqORZgPHh  

"Harry Hollingworth" http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1904/01/the-psychology-of-advertising/303465/

Rosser Reeves - Reality in Advertising.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2010/08/madison_avenue.html







http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1904/01/the-psychology-of-advertising/303465/


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2010/08/madison_avenue.html

Are females constructed in an unrealistic manner in order to help boost sales? Playing particular attention to the J'adore Dior perfume campaign and the Daisy Perfume by Marc Jacobs.


The representation of women is constructed with in advertising products, specifically perfume campaigns, and within this women's representation differs within this element of the media. I intend to prove this with examples of J'adore Dior and Daisy Perfume by Marc Jacobs perfume campaigns. My aim is to see what ideologies brands attach to their products, as through brands attaching specific images and aspirations to their products this therefore help sell their products. In J’adore Dior’s advert Charlize Theron very sexualised and objectified, as well as selling aspirations of her being powerful, sexy and womanly, which is appealing to bother women and men. However Marc Jacobs, Daisy Perfume advert represents young, youthful women and sells the aspirations of being young, cute, pure and innocent, which influences majority of teenage girls age 15-19 to buy this product, however it may also appeal to older women who aspire to once again be young. I will also analyse whether females are always objectified and if this appeals not only to the women who buy the product, but also the men, which the Dior campaign as well as how successful the campaigns were, in terms of how well the campaigns were received and sold. To do this I will investigate how successful the sales of the perfumes were,  as well as the successes of the adverts alone. I will also apply specific theories, which will be, Laura Mulvey's theory on the 'male gaze', and how the objectification of women is therefore appealing to men, as well as women, who may view this as aspiring. Another theory i will apply is uses in gratifications, where i will explain and analyse the reasons people are engaged in these adverts and therefore what gratifications they gain from this, plus the hyper reality strand of post modernism, in which these adverts give a sense of false reality.     

Ideology is a where a set of beliefs and values, that are shared within society, are used to construct a character to a typical representation of certain people in society. The representation of these characters in the media are not always a realistic representation. In the Dior advert the ideology of Charlize Theron is that she is a powerful, sexy woman, which is shown through the advert, through the powerful strut, gold accessories which she crushes and the naked silhouette of her at the end. However it is a unrealistic representation of most women in society, therefore it is aspirational for many women who watch the advert, therefore meaning this perfume sells, as it leads women to believe that by purchasing the J’adore Dior perfume, they too will become powerful, and sexy, and also appear more attractive to men, as through the ideology the campaign is also appealing to men, as through Charlize Theron being sexualized and objectified, men are able to gain gratifications from this, such as entertainment, as through this entertainment they main gain sexual arousal, however women would gain gratifications through personal identity, such as finding models of behavior.  

A1. To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre?

Sin City hybrid genre of Film noir and comic book. There a several things within this that a typical to its genre.

In Sin City all the protagonist are seen wearing trenched coats. However these trench coats are used to represent cloaks, typical of a comic book genre, as the super hero is usually seen wearing a cloak. This is also stereotypical of film noir, which was typically set in the 1940s-1950s, which sometimes involved this icon coats being worn, as protagonist in film noir films were often detective. Marv is seen wearing this coat, as well as the other protagonists, and during a scene where he beats up to 'messengers' to find out where the man who killed Goldie was he removes he's coat, showing that this goes against the serotype of a superhero, however when running through the streets, you see his coats flapping in the background, stereotypical of a superhero, and a comic book genre.

Also the femme fatale is stereotypical to a film noir genre, as throughout they use their sexuality to gain there power in return for his protection, however they are also seen as naïve and reliant on men, which is stereotypical to comic book genre, as they're saved by their superhero protagonist male. Goldie uses her sexuality to gain Marv's love and affection therefore gaining power over him in order to get protection, however she is killed, but this then goes on to be the reason Marv risks everything for her, linking with film noir genre, as in this time period, people saw life as insignificant due to the threat of the cold war.

A convention which is also typical to comic book genre is the use of silhouettes. This is used a times throughout the film, and example being when John Hartigan shoots himself at the end, we see it in a silhouette, relating with the original genre of the comic book genre. Also through the use of a voice over, which all protagonists also use, typical to film noir genre, we are able to gain insight to floors, John Haritigans being a heart problem, and old age, which is reflected through 'come on old man, prove you're still a damn.' Also through the voice over we gain context to the time period, as Hartigan say 'An old man dies. A little girl lives. Fair trade.', this being he values Nancy's life more than his own, which was typical during the 1940/50s due to the threat of the cold war, also being typical of a protagonist putting his femme fatale first, typical of the film noir convention.






 

A1. To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre?

The text 'Fish Tank' is both typical of the genre social realism.
Ways in which the text is is through the use of camera shots. Throughout the film, the vast majority of camera shots is through a hand held camera. Through the use of this it enable the audience to feel empathy towards the characters in the text, as this enables them to be part of their reality, typical of the genre text. An example of a scene in which this is used is during the scene with Mia and Connor's daughter on the beach. During this scene on the edge of a rock, Mia and Connor's daughter are fighting, and random shots and aimed around, creating disorientation for the audience, as well as Mia and Connor's daughter. This allows the audience to feel empathy towards them, through the use of the camera work, as it then means they feel involved within the the piece, and therefore feeling empathy for them.

Another feature of the text that is typical of social realist genre is diegetic sound, as during in this text no non-diegetic sound is used. The use of diegetic sound helps create the real atmosphere. An example of this is in the scene after Connor has left, and Mia is walking along the road trying to call Connor. During this scene their is noises of cars driving past Mia, as she tires to shout over the noise of the cars, this helping to create a realistic,