How is sexuality represented?

Case Study post and Evaluation

During the theory side of our media lessons, we have looked into how sexuality is presented in certain TV shows. This post is going try and explain how sexuality is shown through one TV drama in particular. I'll be evaluating the character Emily Fitch from the TV drama Skins. This will link in with our final task of the thriller we will be creating as we will need to decide at some point what characters we want to include in it, and the certain social groups included. This will then link to this blog post as we can see how characters are represented through TV dramas, and use that to help us decide characters for our own clip.

She is a homosexual female who is very open about her sexuality with her close friends, however not accepted by her twin sister or family members so it gets ignored. She has a girlfriend, Naomi, and are both extremely open about their relationship with each other. 

I will be looking at one particular clip from an episode, where Emily comes home from an argument with her girlfriend and tells her family the complete truth about her sexuality instead of telling them she isn't sure. They are all sat at the dinner table as a family, and Emily walks in. 

Below we can see this situation happening being shown through an over the shoulder shot. This shows the family from her point of view, and that she is possibly being looked at as excluded from them all due to her sexuality. It allows the audience to see how her family look at her from her point of view, and we may start to feel sympathy for the situation she is now in. Low key lighting has been used in this scene, showing it to be unusually dark for a family to be sat eating their dinner. This could be to represent that the mood in the house is a negative one, or that what is going to come as Emily has walked in the room is not good.

The way she looks may also determine the way the audience is meant to look at her. The mise-en-scene shows us she has been crying showing her to be a vulnerable and upset character, and how her hair is all a mess may be to portray she may of had a fight or something. Could this be to do with her sexuality? The shot used is a close up of just her face. A family is meant to be united as one, yet this shot could show her exclusion from the family and that she is alone in this - without her family by her side due to her sexuality.

In conclusion, I believe that this is an example of how people with different sexualities such as homosexual and bisexual which are not seemed as 'normal' get stereotyped by the media in a negative way.

The Importance of Lighting

In this post I am going to talk about the importance of lighting in thriller and horror films, the different types of lighting you can get and explain why lighting has been used in certain example shots. If lighting is not used correctly it may create the wrong effect for the certain genre. The lighting in footage can reflect the mood of characters, set the scene and show times of day to the audience. We are studying this so we choose our lightings for our thriller correctly to use effects and make it easier when it comes to filming.

Some different types of lighting are:

3 point fill lighting

• 3 lights to create a normal-looking scene with soft shadows and dark colours. Using a 3-light setup to provide normal lighting across an entire object, the exact opposite of chiaroscuro. Mostly used in normal scenes, yet in this example it is used to keep focus on the main subject in the shot which is the woman and emphasise her importance in the shot.

Chiaroscuro lighting

• This is characterised by harsh lighting that creates an extreme contrast between different areas of the shot, such as the characters face. Can be used with colour, but also can be used in black and white for a different feel. It is common in horrors, dramas and any other type of film where the atmosphere of the scene plays a vital role. This example of this woman face shows eeriness and unawareness due to only half her face being shown. 

High key lighting

• High key uses harsh, bright lights to reduce contrast in a scene, giving the scene a white-washed, clean look that does not have any shadow in the frame. This will create positive emotions and feelings to the audience.

Low key lighting

• Backlighting is when the scene is lit directly from behind, usually from some form of natural or artificial lighting where it can be used to create a silhouette in the shot.  

Natural lighting

• Natural lighting can either be as the name suggests normal light from the sun. Or it could be enhanced by yellow or white hue, possibly used with other effects too. It is used in the shot below to enhance the natural setting around and give the shot a simple yet effective lighting.  

Artificial lighting

• This is from light that comes from obviously intentionally man made light sources, such as light bulbs or fluorescent. This is used to enhance the woman in the picture and highlight her skin against the dark background. 

One Page Pitch Video

As part of planning for our thriller, our task was to explain our one page pitch to Mr Welch and Miss Rogers to 'sell our idea' to them whilst being recorded. Here is the video of us explaining our basic idea of our thriller to them:

One Page Pitch Analysis

Me and Chloe created a one page pitch for our thriller, which will evaluate and explain our film planning. The purpose of this is so we can note down ideas and get a basic understanding of how our thriller will plan out, making things such as storyboarding and filming easier.

Our working title at the moment is 'Taken' which is just for the time being and is most likely to change to one we feel suits the film more. Our film will approximately last 83 minutes however this may also change during post production and editing so is not for definite at all. The only thing that is not going to change from now is our chosen film genre which is a thriller/ horror as we know this is what we want our film to be. We have chosen this as we want our film to be thrillingly scary, catching the audience and hooking them in.


We then decided on a target audience for our thriller, which we chose as older teenagers to adults. This is a wide range of ages which we know, yet we feel it would relate to several ages teenagers and older. Also making our audience larger, increasing popularity and profits.



  Our tag line will help attract the target audience making them curious of the film and want to find out more about it. As it leaves the readers on a cliff hanger, this will hopefully make people want to see it to see what happens and put their minds at rest.

The visual realisation of the film allows us to know briefly what we aim to include in our film, to ensure we do not miss anything out we feel crucial. For example, we have wrote that we would like to include a flashback which will show how the child went missing some time ago in the past. As we have this idea written down, it means we won't forget it and will find it helpful.

Our one page pitch is where we made a final decision on what our target audience will be which is between 17 and 35 year olds. As we have wrote it down, its given us the opportunity to develop our ideas and think into why this target audience will suit our thriller opening.

Seven - Textual Analysis

Art of the Title - The Conjuring

Title sequence of The Conjuring

The first thing we see in the title sequence is this image of two families. The fact that it is in black and white and their old fashioned clothing makes it clear the film has been set in the past, giving it a spooky feeling to start with. The text of the families name is in the middle of the screen showing its importance. It is black writing on a white background of houses making the text stand out instantly to the viewer and drawing them to read it. The clear sophisticated font the text is in also portrays an old fashioned feel to the film that is coming.

 

The black background compared to the white background that was previously on the screen contrast each other as the writing then changes to white s it still stands out. The background of the shot is what looks like an old big house, which is an icon we automatically associate with horror films. This indicates the film setting and gives us an idea of what is coming up. The connotations of having the title sequence of the film in black and white gives the viewer an uncomfortable old fashioned feel of that they have gone back in time to when the film has been set, usual for this genre of film.