Historical Texts (part 3/5)- 'Jurassic Park' (1993)

About the Text:

Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster film ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993) is one of the most successful films of all time. It is currently the tenth highest grossing film of all time. The film involves an amusement park inhabited by genetically engineered dinosaurs that escape and cause havoc.

Significance in the development of the genre/ achievements for the genre:

· Not only was ‘Jurassic Park’ one of the most successful films of all time but it was the film that proved to be the springboard for CGI animated. The films use of CGI stunned audiences all over the world and really brought the dinosaurs to life. Thanks to CGI the dinosaurs were made to look almost life-like. Before the film CGI was not fully recognised, however Jurassic Park demonstrated to the world the potential of CGI. This film was to change the movie industry forever.

Society at the time (in general):

1993

· The Great Blizzard of 1993
· Zambia national football team die in an air crash
· World Trade Center bombings

The film’s ideologies and values were to alert the public to the dangers of biotechnology, science and computers. ‘Jurassic Park’ was used to show what could go wrong and the consequences of ‘acting as god’ by creating life. In 1996, Dolly the Sheep, a cloned sheep, was created.

Source/s:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_Park_%28film%29
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993
3. http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/jurassic.html

Historical Texts (part 2/5)- 'Walt Disney 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937)

About the text:

Walt Disney has produced many animation feature classics that we all know and love. Classics such as ‘Pinocchio’ (1940), ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (1959), ‘101 Dalmations’ (1961), ‘The Jungle Book’ (1967), ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1991),’ ‘Aladdin’ (1992), ‘The Lion King (1994), the list is just endless. Altogether Walt Disney created 37 animation feature films in total and it all began with ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ (1937).

Significance in the development of the genre/ achievements for the genre:

· Since founded in 1923, Walt Disney has become one of the largest and most successful industries in the world ever. 'The Walt Disney Studios distributes motion pictures under Walt Disney Pictures - which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios and DisneyToon Studios' (5).

. 'It was after ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989), that Disney changed there method of animation from hand drawing and painting to ‘CAPS’ (Computerised Animation Production Systems). This reflects the development in animation moving from traditional hand drawings/paintings to computers. It also shows how technology was advancing. Computers have now become involved in creating animation films.

· Walt Disney movies starting from 1990 and beyond (8 in total) were all made using ‘CAPS’ , with ‘The Rescuers Down Under’( 1990) being the first Walt Disney film made through the new method. Others such as ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1991) and ‘The Lion King’ (1994) followed
· the first full-length animated feature film in colour

Society at the time (in general):

1937

· Dandy, the worlds longest running comic strip was first published (Dec 4)
· The Great Hong Kong Typhoon killed 11.000 people
· Recession of the Great Depression- American economy going downhill, productions declined as did profits and unemployment increased



Source/s:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_%281937_film%29
2. http://www.animated-news.com/
3. http://www.justdisney.com/animation/animated_features.html
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937
5. http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/overview.html

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Note: After traditional animation, Stop-motion animation developed and animations transformed from being 2D into 3D. ‘Wallace and Gromit’ and ‘Chicken Run’ are two examples. The arrival of stop motion animation was part of the development of animation however when CGI finally arrived, stop motion was disappearing

Historical Texts (part 1/5)- 'Gertie the Dinosaur' (1914)

About the Text:

In 1914, Windsor McCay created a short animated film titled ‘Gertie the Dinosaur’. The dinosaur character was based on the best known sauropods dinosaur, Diplodocus. The film was created before cels were introduced. To create ‘Gertie the Dinosaur’, Windsor McCay hand drew thousands of frames on 6.5 x 8.5 pieces of rice paper. This was a painstaking and tedious task. Whilst in production, McCay invented many techniques such as ‘animation loops’ (E.g. A dog walking- a frame by frame of a dog walking is drawn out once, as this motion of the dog is repetitive, the same drawings of the dog walking can be used again and again to illustrate the dog walking continuously. This prevents the animator from re-drawing the dog walking motion again), which are now standard in the industry.

Significance in the development of the genre/ achievements for the genre:

· Windsor McCay’s ‘Gertie the Dinosaur’ inspired many generations of animators to bring their cartoons to life.

Society at the time (in general):

1914

· World War 1 began
· Paramount Pictures is formed
· The last ever ‘Passenger Pigeon’ died in the Cincinnati zoo on September 1st. The passenger Pigeon is now extinct
· Gertie the Dinosaur, released 15th September 1914

From the events and looking at others, it seems that ‘Gertie the Dinosaur’ did not reflect society at the time. However the only link that I can make, although not a strong link is that Windsor McCay may have chose to make the character a dinosaur as they were known to be extinct and it was around this time the Passenger Pigeon was near the threat of extinct, which eventually they were, so the character was made as a dinosaur.
Also, animation was an area not explored until Windsor McCay illustrated its potential. By animation starting to blossom, it reflects how the film industry was developing at the time.




Source/s:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertie_the_Dinosaur
2. http://www.filmeducation.org/primary/animation/history.html
3. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004008/

Task 11

Laura Mulvey Summary

Laura Mulvey is a media theorist well known for her theory of the ‘Male-Gaze’. The theory suggests that women are seen merely just as ‘sex objects’ (objectification) for the male’s pleasure. One way they are used as sex objects is by holding a phallic object (An object which represents the man’s penis) such as a Banana or Cucumber. This in turn degrades women. The phallic object represents the male’s power in society (patriarchy), as it’s the one thing that a woman does not have that gives the man his power. The woman has womb/penis envy in that she desires the penis as it is the penis that gives the man his power. Psychoanalysis is a psychological method employed by Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis is a psychological therapy which focuses on the repression of wishes, usually sexual, which is preserved in the unconscious. The unconscious refers to the mental functioning by subjects make themselves unaware. This is best explained through the iceberg idea. Icebergs are large masses of ice which float on the water. From a boat we would see the iceberg as large, we are conscious of this, however from the view we feel that the part we see is the iceberg as a whole, however we are unaware (unconscious) that the larger proportion of the iceberg is below the boat. By being unconscious of the large proportion of ice below, this is a resistance of the knowledge of our unconscious mind. So returning to the idea of the women not having a penis, in psychoanalytical terms, as the female does not have the man’s penis, they are to the man’s eye’s castrated (castration), which means that the women’s penis has symbolically been chopped off. Some men feel anxiety and so view women through a voyeuristic view (voyeurism- women are views as virtuous and beautiful). Whilst the other way women are view is in a fetishist (fetishization/fetish- the women is viewed as excessively ‘sexual beings’).

In the narrative cinema, the hero/protagonist is always or traditionally a male character. The hero, in films, are always presented as big, strong, handsome, brave which could be said through a male’s point of view is an idealised version of themselves (idealization). The audience identify with the character through characteristics which they can relate to (identification). Aspects of the mise-en-scene, such as point of view shots is a method used by directors to position the audience (audience positioning/spectatorship) to identify with the hero/protagonist and be in there position and feel what they feel.

Scopophilia involves watching something that can give us pleasure but should not been seen. For example the audience may be watching a sex scene in a film and receive scopophilic pleasure. The audience are watching two people making love, but the audience are watching them but they cannot be seen watching the scene. In addition, usually the audience is assumed to be male. The scene may have a protagonist or voiceover which describes the scene, in turn the audience is assumed to be male.

How the theory could be useful for my independent study

Although Laura Mulvey’s theory does not directly relate to my text ‘Shrek the Third’ (2007), it can be discussed in my wider context S.H.E.P.

The film ‘Shrek the Third’(2007) reflects how women have become more equal in society. From talking about female power and feminism and how females are fighting for equality, I can also debate about how the male backlash and how women are degraded. The film does have phallic objects such as swords for example in the first scene where we meet Artie; he is shown holding a sword. Phallic objects are objects which symbolises the man’s penis and the man’s power. The man’s power comes from his penis as it is the one thing the women does not have and envy’s. In turn, to the male’s eyes, as the woman does not posses the penis, the woman is castrated. So I can have a mini-debate about women’s fight for equality and the male backlash and how the man’s power comes from the phallic and that phallic objects are used in the film.

CGI Animation Films dominate Christmas Schedule

This Christmas, CGI animation will be all over our screens. This year BBC's BIG Christmas movie will be 'Finding Nemo'(2003) followed straight after by 'Shrek 2'(2004). Whilst BBC's rivals ITV1 will be televising 'The Polar Express'(2004).

Usually in the evenings, Christmas TV always provides a big family film. Over recent years, CGI animation films have been shown, for example, only last year 'Monsters Inc'(2001) was shown as the big christmas family movie. This illustrates that animation is not only targeted at children (primary audience) but in that they also appeal to family audiences (secondary).

'Shrek' short film on Christmas Eve

Shrek and the gang will be on our screens this Christmas Eve, but not in one of his feature lenght animated films in the cinema, but in a short film on our TV screens called 'Shrek the Halls'. Once again the 'Shrek' brand is expanding into new areas.

http://www.radiotimes.com/ListingsServlet?event=10&channelId=92&programmeId=71240988&jspLocation=/jsp/prog_details_fullpage.jsp

Subvertisments (Representations of gender)