Assessment objectives

- AO1: Key ConceptsThis objective is OK, as we used it last year, however i can improve by practicing on my independent study, to see what else I can add in.

- AO2: Wider ContextI will read Media Guardian on a regular basis as well as reading newspapers, which I already do.

- AO3.2: Comparing and Accounting for similarities and differencesI will practice by comparing at least 2 texts a week, and will bring the rest of the assessment objectives in my answer. Then I can see what my targets would be.

-AO3.1: Issues/Debates/TheoriesI will research over the internet different theories and theorists that I will need to use in the future. I will also look at blogs from last year and read a variety of books.- AO5: Research TechniquesI will start to broaden my techniques my reading books

MIGRAIN analysis of REE Trailer

The trailer starts with Milla Jovovich lying in a bathroom and only covered in the shower net. The camera zooms out on her and shows her whole body. In this image she is represented as week as she has no clothes on and looks helpless. She is also represented as a sex object and reinforces the stereotypes that women are seen as sex objects, she also reinforces some of the stereotypes that are linked to Malveys 'male gaze' theory. The lighting is very dark which foreshadows that something bad is going to happen or has already happened. After the shot of her in the shower the camera cuts into some fast cuts of a DNA bottle crashing, helicopters, zombies and bomb blasts, these fast cuts set a genre of thriller, also seeing bombs blasts and zombies also shows a genre of Sci-fi. After the sequence of so many fast jump cuts the camera slows down and we see Jovovich walking first in a dark corridor and then in a white, bright corridor, the cut from a dark lighting shot then a white shot shows an ideology between good and Evil. This could give the audience a clue that the story is line is about good vs. evil. In the next shot we see Jovovich get shot the camera then fades to black and we see her fall to the fall, the fade to black creates a sense of sadness in the audience as it slows the shot down. In all of these shots the music is quite slow paced which build up tension to the audience. We then see a man who looks like a scientist talk about clones and samples of blood, the camera then zooms out and shows loads of Jovovichs in a laboratory this emphasises that the movie is a genre of sci-fi. We then see a shot of the institution sign of the film in big which are, ‘Screen Gems’. Screen Gems is an American subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation. Screen Gems mostly make movies that are thriller or Sci-fi, such as, Zombies and The Grudge. After the institution is shown the movie is kind of gone to a new theme, this is as before the institution was shown Milla Jovovich is represented as weak; this is as she gets killed. However in the shots shown after the institution was shown she is represented as an independent and strong female, her character seems to be challenging the stereotypes that females are associated with weak, emotional, and sex objects. Milla Jovovich is represented as dominant in the trailer as we can see her riding a motorbike which is usually associated to men who are mostly stereotyped as strong and powerful. She is also shown as a powerful character and challenges stereotypes as she is shown using weapons such as guns and machete’s to kill zombies. Also the music in this second half of the trailer is very fast paced and involves more action dominated roles. There are many narrative theories that can be applied to the film, one of them include the Proppian theory. The film contains both hero (Milla Jovovich) we can tell this because she is the main icon on the poster of the film e.g. she’s positioned in the middle also the film starts of with her, and Villain of the film (Iain Glen) this could be identified through his first appearance in the film e.g. in a lab experimenting with clones etc. other narrative theories that can be applied to the film is Todorovs equilibrium theory. However you cannot apply the theory exactly because the film doesn't exactly start of with an equilibrium however there is a disruption and realisation and a new equilibrium where she kills the villain. we can also apply Levi-struasses binary oppositions to the movie, for example there is the binary oppositions of good and evil and light and dark. The film also contains narrative enigmas for example at the beginning you see a big close up of the protagonist eye, it then slowly zooms out showing her in a bathtub with a white cloth over her, this starts getting the audience thinking as to why she’s there and what the situation and the slow paced music also builds up tension which therefore leaving them wanting to know more. Milla Jovovich is viewed as the hero ‘who will save the day’ not just through the shots but through the way the shots are put into sequence with the phrases, such as the phrases “One women” “Is the Final HOPE” come in the trailer and after each of these phrases a clip of Milla Jovovich is shown doing an action move or killing someone, this represents Jovovich as a dominant and independent women. Jovochic is represented as powerful, mainly through the use of propp's e.g. her gun. The film Resident evil clearly suggests that the representation of females within the film industry has changed, due to the reason that nowadays there are many female action stars whereas before females were only given parts which fitted in with their stereotypes e.g. housewife or object of sexual desire for the male. By Jovovich taking on a masculine role she is presenting females as more independent and strong. On the other hand it can also be argued that she is still represented as a sexual object, mainly through her clothing, for example at the beginning of the film she is wearing a red dress which is quite revealing, this could portray her as seductive. The text is likely to be aimed at teenagers and adults from all ethnic groups aged 18-35 who are interested in action/horror movies. The primary audience could be males because of the genre of the film; action, which boys are normally associated with, however due to the protagonist being a female it could also be primarily aimed at females. From the text we can tell that the audience would be interested in films that include violence and guns because the film includes many scenes of violence. The audience could be consuming this text mainly for entertainment or division; to escape from the reality they are in. The audience are actively engaged in the interpretation of the text therefore they would be decoding the text in ways that relate to their social experience. The film is likely to be aimed at people of all genders and ethnicity in order to target a wide range of audience, in order for the film to be successful, also the film does not contain any particular ethnic groups e.g. whites whereas it includes ethnic groups such as black and white and also other actors e,g, Oded Fehr, an Israeli.

Films I would refer to:

*Charlies Angels
*Kill Bill
*Catwomen
*Tomb Raider

Representation Of Women In The Media

Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following:
· beauty
· size/physique
· sexual/fragile
· emotional dealings
· relationships
However, this has now changed as women are proving they are just as equal to men and take the same roles men do, because REE Milla Jovovich is represented as a hero/protagonist and is in control, as women tend to be represented as femme-fatal or a damsel in distress. Milla Jovovich breaks this tradition of women just as the 'propp' of a film. However, REE isnt the only film that represents women powerful also films such as 'Kill Bill'.

http://www.mediaknowall.com/gender.html

Women usually tend to be represented as emotional, sexual, beautiful and size/physique. However, in Resident Evil Extinction, Milla Jovovich (Alice) is represented as a strong, dominant and in control. However, can we agrue that this is a fair representation of women? As it is likely that male directors portray women characters different from how women directors portray women characters, simply because it’s harder for them to relate to the characters. So to an extent we can say women are independent, however their are far more independent than before as males were usually associated with the action movie genre, they usually tend to be the protagonist/ hero.

More about Mulvey's Theory and how I'll use it

Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze will be one of the key theories that I will apply to my independent study as I am focusing on the representation of women in ‘Resident Evil: Extinction’.

In REE, males are the primary audience and they are attracted to the movie through the use of female characters in the film. The females in the film are subjects of the male gaze and have the quality to be looked-at-ness. The main protagonist in REE is a woman, Milla Jovovich; she wears clothes to reveal her body to particularly the main audience. She has fetish zed parts of her body to appeal more the viewers.

She also uses phallic objects in the film; Milla Jovovich uses weapons as the use of the phallic object making her appeal more to the male audience. Voyeurism is also something that is used in Kill Bill, it shows scenes of bloody violence and murders making the viewer feel guilty about watching.

In saying it does follow conventions of the male gaze, it doesn’t however follow the fact that women are normally to play passive roles in action films. In REE the main protagonist is an active female this goes against the stereotype and shows how this has challenged Mulvey’s theories.

Theorists

Laura Mulvey
One of the theorists I will use will be Laura Mulvey. Her theory suggests that women and men both gaze upon one another in sexual context. It is normally the male who is gazing upon the female, and in Resident Evil Extinction this is what attracts some of the male audience.
More about Mulvey's theory in debt:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html
http://virtual.clemson.edu/caah/women/flc436/mulvey.html

Levi Strauss
Another theorist I will use is Levi Strauss whose theory is all about binary opposition or opposites. This is true in REE as normally it is a male who is the dominant character in action films and a woman whom takes up the passive role, but in REE it’s a woman Milla Jovovich who is the active and main character.

Indiana Jones

Directed: George Lucas and Steven Spielberg
Genre: Action / Adventure.
Cast: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover, Alison Doody, River Phoenix etc.
Plot: Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr., also called Indy, is a fictional professor, archaeologist, and adventurer who is the main protagonist of the 1981 adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark and its prequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and sequel, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
Also at the time women were represented as passive characters with no real importance in action films. Their purpose was to look good and to be saved by the male protagonist. This proves Laura Mulvey’s point of the male gaze and how women have the quality to be looked-at-ness. Nowadays things have changed and this is proved with movies such as Resident Evil Extinction. It shows has society has changed and become less patriarchal.

Males have dominated the action genre for many years, playing the protagonists in every film. Therefore females were given roles in action films purely because of their physical attraction and to be used as sex objects. Stereotypically women got the passive roles whilst men adopted the active roles. However certain films such as ‘Resident Evil Extinction’ directed by Russell Mulcahy in 2007, portrayed women differently in this male dominated genre. Due to feminism in society, cinema has adapted to the change and has become less patriarchal.

Review 1

The third instalment in the Resident Evil series opens with a semi-naked Milla Jovovich - proving that, if nothing else, this is a movie that knows its audience. Once our heroine is decanted into her traditional cocktail dress and biker boots, it's business as usual: bag as many zombies as possible while avoiding the attentions of the sinister Umbrella corporation. Seriously, how sinister can it be with a name like "Umbrella"? It sounds like an insurance company.

Full review on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/10/08/resident_evil_extinction_2007_review.shtml

Analysis of REE Trailer

Resident Evil: Extintion Trailer

*How have the roles of women changed in Hollywood movies with particular reference to Resident Evil: Extinction

*How have the roles of women in Hollywood films become more dominant, with particular reference to Resident Evil: Extinction

Plot Outline

A deadly virus has been unleashed on the population of Raccoon City. Alice (Milla Jovovich) returns as one of only two survivors of the contained biochemical disaster in the first "Resident Evil." This film begins where the first film left off, with Alice in the heart of a ravaged and deadly Raccoon City. She has been subjected to biogenetic experimentation by the Umbrella Corporation and genetically altered to have super-human strength, senses and dexterity. Alice is joined by survivors of Umbrella Corp’s elite.
They will need to battle their way through a relentless onslaught of undead, as well as Umbrella forces and terrifying bioengineered weapons. The most deadly threat of which is the colossal, heavily armed assassin, code named Nemesis. Nemesis is the resulting mutation of Matt Addison into an unstoppable creature. It will stop at nothing until everything is dead, but it also has another agenda.

MIGRAIN

Media Language
Camera shots and movements allow the audience to identify with the characters and show the female as being superior and the male inferior. Throughout the film Russell Mulcahy uses props such as Guns and swords to show Jovovich’s power in the film and through the use of Gun shot sounds and bomb blasts to make the action scenes very realistic and gives the film a real feel of action.

Institutions

Genre
This text belongs to the genre of an action thriller, and this is clearly shown through the amount of bomb blasts and countless number of fight scenes throughout the movie. The movie also contains a genre of science fiction this is shown through the use of zombies and other creatures in the movies, this is also reflected through the way the setting is shown as it all looks quite futuristic as it is quite sandy and wrecked.

Representation
In my independent study Milla Jovovich is being represented in Resident Evil: Extinction by the way that she plays her dominant role. I have chosen to represent her as I am aiming to find out the development of females roles in action films.As Jovovich is the main character she is going against the stereotype and represented as being better then men and other characters and things such as zombies and weird creatures .

Audience
The text is targeted at a female and male audience. A female audience is attracted due to the main character being female, this will make female viewers believe that they are just as good as men. It attracts a male audience due to the genre of solid action, which is normally associated with males. It also attracts males due to the central character Milla Jovovich, seducing them. The audience can receive the text in a very formal way, however females may take the text with an impact, the text may set out feelings of happiness as they are seeing a female controlling the movie and being the main character in a genre of action and thriller. The main audience will be from the ages of 13 to 29 and will most likely be a middle class audience.

Values and Ideologies
The values of Resident Evil: Extinction is that Milla Jovovich aims to show female dominance, she aims to give messages across of the power the females can have and how they can be equal to men. This can clearly be seen through the way she kills many zombies. This also goes against the fact that men are more dominant in this patriarchal society.

Proposal

I will be using ‘Resident Evil: Extinction’ by Russell Mulcahy as my main focus for my independent study. I will be using this, as this is a great text that can show the changes for females and how dominant they have become in recent action films. The narrative is interesting and stereotypical in some ways as the main women Milla Jovovich sets out on her own as all the humans have been turned into zombies due to a T-virus., fighting other males and females. Women were always stereotypically seen as the passive characters and looked upon as sex objects, while men usually adopted the active roles. Other texts I will use are, ‘Charlies Angels’, ‘Catwoman’ and ‘Kill Bill’, as they have also showed how women have become dominant.