Self Evaluation

Attainment-3
*I would give myself a 3 for attainment as my achievements so far in the course are averagely good and could be better. I hope that as I go on with the course my attainment in the course goes better.

Effort -3
*I would give myself a 3 for effort as I believe this term I have not really put in allot of effort in lesson however this is kind of because I haven’t really done much in lessons apart from presentations, hopefully next term we will do more work in lesson therefore I will be able to put more effort in.

Punctuality-3/2
*I consider my punctuality as averagely good this is as sometimes I tend to make silly mistakes. These can be redeemed by using spell check after each piece of work I do. I have given myself a 2 for punctuality as well this is as most of the time I have come to lesson on time.

Submission and quality of homework-2/3
*Sometimes my homework is really good and sometimes it is averagely good, this is as I believe that my work on my presentation and some other homework’s have been really good, however some have been a little less good such as the highlighting homework’s to make these better it would be good if I also annotated the parts that I highlighted. Most of the time my homework is always completed on time.

Ability to work independently-2
*I believe the ability of me being able to work independently is very good, this is as all the work that I have produced on my blog is my independent work and I have done a large amount of work on the blog and most of this work is of good quality.

Quality of writing-2/3
*I have given myself a 2/3 for my quality of written work as most of the work that I have posted up on my blog is of really good quality, however some of the work is slightly less good as I have not put enough effort in that work.

Organisation of Media folder-1
*I consider the organisation of my media folder as very good this is as everything is in order.

Oral contributions in class- 3
*I believe my Oral contribution is OK this is as sometimes I do take part when we have oral discussions or something but then this term we haven’t really had any oral discussions or work in lesson.

Standard of Module 5 blog-2
*I believe the standard of my Med 5 blog is pretty good this is as I have done allot of work of work on my blog which is of good quality.

Standard of Module 6 blog-4
*My med 6 blog is quite poor this is as I have only done 2 posts on the blog so far and the quality is OK.

Action plan timetable

1. Complete my action plan – 20th October 2008

2. Get some books that relate to my question (representation of women)- 24th October 2008

3. Do more research on representation of women- 25th October - 2nd October 2008

4. Do more research and focus more on wider context because I haven’t really focused allot on them so far this relates to A02- 25th October- 2nd October 2008

5. Go on The Guardian at least twice a week- 21st October 2008

6. Do spell check after every piece of work that I complete this will relate to the quality of my written communication and hopefully improve it- 20th October 2008

7. Look at least 10 keywords that would be useful to my text this would link to AO5- 20th October 2008

8. Watch Resident Evil Extinction again- 25th October 2008

9. Watch the other texts that I am going to link my study to this would link to A05 as I would be researching my text more- 26th October- 27th October 2008

10. Read what people have written about my presentation, www and ebi and try to improve on the ebi’s for future presentations- Next presentation

11. Research on the director of the film- 22nd October 2008

12.Copy and paste all links from the sites that I get researh from, this will help me for my bibliography- Everytime I get research from a website

My Presentation...

WWW: =)
*Compared historical image of woman and New image of woman
*Not alot of text on the slides
*Sound on the slides and Colour- looked good
*Explained the points on the slide
*Migrain analysis
*Highlighted key points
*Conclusion

EBI: =(
*I compared historical text to my text
*Spoke a bit slower ans stop saying yeah!
*Customise the animations so each point comes up one by one
*Spell Check!!! PHALLIC ,Not FALIX heehehehe

Targets:
*Research representation of woman more on blog
*Research on the director
*Link theorists to the text
*Analyse the text more

Social Context
Nowadays women have been represented more in action movies and change can easily be seen through the movies. The narrative of a typical action film has not changed much but the character has from male to female. This shows that society is changing and becoming less patriarchal and it shows how women now can do anything men can do. This change is seen through movies developing over time and bringing women from being passive characters to main characters in action films.

Historical Context
Earlier in films women were used as passive characters in films and not taken seriously, they were used as sex objects to seduce men and created a bigger audience for films. Now women have a much stronger purpose in films, it started happening slowly and now gradually more films are coming out whereby women have a positive main role in a film just like REE.

Economic Context
Women are respected much more now and it’s not only men who earn for a household now. So from this it shows how women are just as good as men and just as wealthy as men.

Political Context
Most movies have a message whereby it is reflected due to the mood at the time, in REE I think it shows how women have moved and changed so much in society and now society is much more correct and slightly more fair.

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF BLOG WORK

AO1 - demonstrate knowledge and application of the Key Concepts employed within Media Studies and the evaluation of texts and ideas using the Key Concepts

I feel as though I have analyzed my topic with the key concepts quite well, especially when analyzing specific clips from YouTube. The key concept which i have covered most is representation, as my entire independent study is based on the representation of women. I have also looked at audience and media language in detail. I think I have achieved this objective fairly well as I have been doing many MIGRAIN analysis of the trailer and the whole movie. Also I think this is one of the easier objectives as I have been learning how to meet this objective well since yr12. Even though representation is one of the concepts that I have done a large amount on work on I feel that I could still do more as it is the main aim of my research, I will meet this by getting books on representations and finding more useful sites that can help me.

AO2 - demonstrate knowledge and application of the wider contexts (historical, social, political, economic) relevant to Media Studies

I have not yet focused a lot on the wider contexts. I have not covered aspects of SHEP yet. I could cover these by looking at some olden days movies of women for Historical concept.

AO5 - demonstrate the ability to use appropriate investigative and research techniques in carrying out an independent study of a media text, topic or issue

I have not yet fully covered all the available literature of my text. I have used online services to get reviews and quotes of my film however; I need to get more book research to ensure that I get a variety of research from all sources which I then can add in in my essay.
I think I have formulated a good question as it is not a very complicated question therefore it is clear and easy to understand. I feel that with this question I can explore a number of representations which are brought up in the film.
My hypothesis is not very detailed; however it is detailed slightly but could be more detailed, though it does state what intend to find out from my study.
I have considered a few of the issues and debates that occur or surround my study. The issues and debates which are clear from my study are male dominance, representation of women as weak and dominant.
I have undertaken a fair amount of textual analysis and have analyzed the film trailer, and the film itself.
I have viewed my text twice.
I have not analyzed my text in detail from different theoretical perspectives; however I have looked at feminist theoretical perspectives.
I have not yet analyzed other texts from the same/different genre from my texts, however I do definitely intend on doing that soon.
I have been keeping record of useful sites that I have got information from, such as, useful quotes from reviews, but I have not read any books about my text therefore I have not kept a record of any useful pages from books.


SYNOPTIC ABILTY- draw together understanding of Key Concepts, from different parts of the specification in order to make effective textual readings
-draw upon knowledge and application of a wide range of possible relevant contexts, in order to account for the characteristics of media texts.

I have studied my text to other parts of my course such as narrative and theories such as Levi Strauss and Binary opposition. I have not yet read Media Guardian a lot or found any relevant stories, but I am definitely going to research more.


CRITICAL AUTONOMY - apply critical ideas and principles to new situations – and demonstrate media literacy in responses to media texts

I am thinking for myself and coming up with my own ideas.
I am working independently. I have been O.K with my self motivation, as the movie that I have chosen for my independent study is pretty boring, however the related texts are pretty interesting therefore I look forward to research them.


QUALITY OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
-select and use forms and styles of writing appropriate to purpose and complex subject matter
- organise relevant information clearly and coherently, using specialist vocabulary when appropriate
-ensure text is legible, and spelling, grammar and punctuation are accurate, so that meaning is clear

So far I think that my work is presented quite well. My spelling, grammar and punctuation all seem to be accurate; however my work could be better by highlighting key words. I could also use more media terminology to make my work better.

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.