Carol Distribution and Production

The Production Companies: Weinstein Company, Film 4, Studio Canal etc.

UK Distributor of Carol:  Studio Canal

Production Budget: $11,800,000

The amount of cinemas Carol was released on in the UK: 304

How the number of cinemas Carol was released on changed the longer the film was out: Carol was initially released in a limited amount of cinema's as it was an independent film therefore didn't have a lot of advertising. However due to the awards and nominations in received via film festivals it then opened up many more cinemas - in the UK it increased up to 540 cinemas.

Carol trailer and Poster:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH3zcuRQXNo

Was there any digital marketing, social media presence for Carol?   - In spite of the fact that Carol was a independent film therefore didn't have the same volume of advertising in comparison to mainstream films, it still however had a presence online as it had various social media accounts (twitter, facebook, Instagram)

How much money did Carol make a) Internationally b) In The UK?

Internationally -  $27,560,644    

In the UK - $3,976,888

Star Wars the Force Awakens

1) Disney produced Star Wars the Force Awakens

2) Lucasfilm, Marvel and Touchstone pictures

3) Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis.

4) Lucasfilm, Bad Robot, Truenorth productions

5) $245,000,000 production budget ( estimated)

6) Around $200 million

7) https://youtu.be/CTNJ51ghzdY

8) China

9) It was released in 670 cinema's in the UK

10)  $163,599,922


10b) Germany: $111,351,219


12) Disney and Bad Robot


13) Multiple social media accounts such as SW: TFA Twitter: https://twitter.com/starwars, Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/StarWars  and YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/user/starwars.

14)

   15)  On the Graham Norton show in the UK Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Carrie Fisher all made appearances along side David Beckham and Kylie Minogue which would have increased the range of the audience.

16) Disney was one distributor of star wars the force awakens

18) You can download Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Amazon

19) You can watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Sky Cinema

20) Disney plan to continue the star franchise making an episode 8 and 9 and will also be shooting separate spin off movies on between the release of each new episode to the franchise.





        Fingersmith  

 

Camera: The close up shots of the two women throughout the extract emphasise the desire that they have for one another. As Maud - the lady,  has flared nostrils and lips. This represents lesbian relationships as lustful and delicate.

 

The shot of the man positioned between the two women shows that he is an obstacle and he is keeping them apart. This is shown through his positioning in the frame and the positioning if the camera. This thereby represents heterosexual males as difficult and a drawback in their forbidden relationship.

 

Sound:  The dialogue of the extract shows that the heterosexual male is manipulative and sociopathic. This is shown as he says " she'd laugh in your face if she knew; if I told her" after he discovers Maud's love for the maid. The fact that he insinuates that he will tell the maid indicates that he is attempting to blackmail Maud. This thereby shows heterosexual males to be manipulative. This also represents heterosexual males as dominant and in power as he has Maud (a lesbian female) in his scope.

 

In the extract lesbian women are represented as caring and kind. We know this through the use of sound in this case dialogue as Maud says: "wake her, she'll burn" to the male which seems to be opposing her and threatening to wake the maid up. This is seen as an act of kindness as she doesn't want the gentleman to wake her up.

 

Mise en Scene: The mise en scene of the extract represents heterosexual males as intimidating and violent. This is shown through the body language of the male in the extract. He exhibits anger through his body language as he grabs the defenceless maid by the throat while he pushes her up against a tree. The fact that her is attacking a defenceless maid represents his as not only violent and threatening but cowardly at the same time as he takes advantage of the fact that no one is around to protect her.

 

Another way mise en scene is used to represent sexuality is through facial expression. Through the facial expression of the Maud you may induce that she is scared of what she feels for the other women. She almost conveys a sense of guilt whilst staring at the maid. This represents lesbian women as vulnerable, and in this case afraid of her emotions towards the other women since it was very much frowned upon at the time.

 

Editing: The editing technique in this extract represent sexuality through eye line matches. For example, when Maud is painting a picture of her maid there is a eye line match with Maud and the maids breast. This indicates sexual attraction between Maud and the maid. Which subtly tells the audience her sexual orientation.

 

Another way in which editing is used in the extract to represent sexuality is through the sharp quick and violent cuts which are used when the heterosexual male enters the scene. The fact that when he appears in the extract the editing is a lot sharper and uses techniques such as match on action speaks volumes about the different way they are represented. This is different to the cuts when both the females are in the scene as the edits consist of fades and dissolve cuts - which are much more artistic, delicate cuts. This thereby represents the heterosexual male as more aggressive and the lesbian females as elegant and calm.

 

Queer Representation in Film and Media

Queer Representation in Film and Media 

1) The three general criteria for identifying cultural products as queer are: Auteurs, forms and reception.

2 Queer aesthetics typically challenge the conventional ideas which are universally known. There are certain styles and modes of queer aesthetics. One example of a queer aesthetic is the style of "camp" which is often shown in the media. Camp in generally exaggerated, ironic and an over the top view of gay people. Queer aesthetics tend to focus on imagery and symbols in order to represent homosexuality.

3) One way the authors state that homosexuals identify with mainstream texts is because of the fact that some texts are purposely ambiguous, and subtly hint at queer themes. For example Singers use of the coming out troupe in X2 (X-Men 2).

4) Vito Russo analysed Hollywood films from the 1890s to 1980's and he found that lesbian and gay men were portrayed in a cruel and homophobic way. During that time homosexual characters where more defined by their sexual orientation and lacked proper character development.

5) An archetype is a very typical and generalised example of a certain person or thing. A common archetype of gay people in the early Hollywood years was that they were 'sissy'. These characters were often a source of amusement for the audience

6) from the 1930's to 1950's religious and women's groups criticised the way in which homosexual people were represented claiming that Hollywood movies contributed to immorality. This led to the introduction of Hayes codes which was a system of self-censorship that effected the way homosexuality was represented. This meant that characters in films had to be more overtly homosexual.

7) The film Brokeback Mountain was released in 2005 and grossed over $178million proving that movies which represented gay people were also able to do extremely well. However, this film got mixed views from the gay community due to the fact that it was criticised since the movie was about two gay men which couldn't accept their own desires. Some claimed "t was barely a gay movie at all".

8) The Queer Cinema was set up in order to portray homosexuality in a different way to the other mainstream cinemas which were criticised for showing society in a naturalistic style.  However Queer Cinema has now faded slightly due to the fact that it has now become more acceptable in the mainstream media to be gay.

1) in both of the above posters women are represented as vulnerable and small and portrayed as the traditional "damsel in distress" character. In both posters the women are depicted as scared and inferior to the giant beasts. both female characters on the posters appear to be wearing similar revealing outfits - almost over- sexualising the female characters.

On the other hand the males in the two posters are represented as soldiers and are seen with guns and fighter planes attacking the huge beasts. The posters conform to the traditional view of male masculinity.

2) One reason sexuality is represented more prominently is due to the fact that it is in the realm of the fantastic. Thereby being easier to represent sexuality in a genre which tends to go against the norm.

3) Women were traditionally portrayed as weak and submissive in films such as 'King Kong' and 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'.

4) Russell T.Davies is known for his contribution in the 1999 series 'Queer as Folk' as well as 'Doctor Who' representing sexuality in both represented through the likes of the TV series 'Doctor who' and 'Torchwood' which are both part of the sci-fi genre. The character captain Jack Harkness is in both of the programmes and is hinted as being gay in the Doctor Who series due to dialogue and ambiguous provocative remarks which are very minor. This is since doctor who is aired before the water shed and touches on sensitive matters very minimally. On the other hand Torchwood portrays the character Captain Jack as more openly gay as shown by the mise en scene of the character and his physical relationship with his male colleague.

5)  Captain Jack is shown to be heroic and shares all the attributes to a typically masculine heterosexual character. This therefore challenges the stereotype of gay people acting in a 'camp' or feminine way.

6) Captain Jack's sexuality is kept oblique in Doctor Who because of the fact that the show in aired before the watershed and therefore keeps away from more sensitive such as sexual orientation.

7) I believe that the sound aspects in the TV series Doctor Who hints at Captain Jack's sexuality the most through dialogue. This is because of the fact that he is says purposely ambiguous remarks which you may take in a provocative way.

8) I believe that the mise en scene aspects of doctor who challenge the stereotype of gay men due to the fact that he is portrayed as very muscular and physically able as a character which is a counter stereotype of a traditional gay man.

9) One reason audience members may be affected by Jenny and Vastra's relationship in Doctor Who is because of the fact that sexuality is a sensitive topic. Parents might not want to discuss with their children. Especially since Doctor Who targets a younger audience which may not understand or are ready for topics such as sexuality.

10) One way in which Captain Jack Harkness' sexuality is hinted through the mise en scene of a stereotypical gay man is the fact that he is wearing tight leather trousers outlining his physique. Another aspect of mise en scene which outlines Captain Jack's sexuality in his facial expression and the way his lips are slightly parted which is usually considered seductive.