Attainment - B
I feel that my attainment grade is a B

Effort - 2
I put a lot of effort into my work, but need to do more work that is beyond the expectation of the teachers; therefore improving my final grade.

Punctuality - 1
I am never late to class, unless I have a valid excuse to be late.

Submission and quality of homework - 3
My homework is always done, but more time and effort is needed in the quality of my homework.
Ability to work independently - 2
I feel that I can work better within a group as I like to discuss my ideas with other people rather than working independently.

Quality of writing - 2
I feel that my quality of writing is ok, although I need to check my work after I have completed it; also to improve my expression

Organisation of Media folder - 1
The organisation of my media folder is to a high standard, as both teachers have different sections, having the work in the right order.

Oral contributions in class - 3
I tend not to contribute much in class as I feel the answer may be incorrect and tend not to. Sometimes I make them, when definate on the answer, or when asked to say my answer.

Quality of coursework - 2
The quality of my coursework is quite good. I have linked many theorists to my text "Batman Begins". I although need to improve on my expression focusing more on the film and less on comics.

Standard of Module 5 blog (Year 13s only) 3
The standard of this blog is resonable, because I tend to the work to a minimal thus not working to my full potential.

Standard of Module 6 blog (Year 13s only) 2
The standard of this blog is quite good, because of all the research linked with my text, taken from an array of different books and internet sites.

About Laura Mulvey

Mulvey is best known for her essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", written in 1973 and published in 1975 in the influential British film theory journal Screen. It later appeared in a collection of her essays entitled Visual and Other Pleasures, and numerous other anthologies. Her article was one of the first major essays that helped shift the orientation of film theory towards a psychoanalytic framework, influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. Prior to Mulvey, film theorists such as Jean-Louis Baudry and Christian Metz had attempted to use psychoanalytic ideas in their theoretical accounts of the cinema, but Mulvey's contribution was to inaugurate the intersection of film theory, psychoanalysis, and radical feminism.

Mulvey's article engaged in no empirical research of film audiences. She instead stated that she intended to make a "political use" of Freud and Lacan, and then used some of their concepts to argue that the cinematic apparatus of classical Hollywood cinema inevitably put the spectator in a masculine subject position, with the figure of the woman on screen as the object of desire. In the era of classical Hollywood cinema, viewers were encouraged to identify with the protagonist of the film, who tended to be a man. Meanwhile, Hollywood female characters of the 1950s and 60s were, according to Mulvey, coded with "to-be-looked-at-ness." Mulvey suggests that there were two distinct modes of the male gaze of this era: "voyeuristic" (i.e. seeing women as 'Madonna’s') and "fetishistic" (i.e. seeing women as 'whores').

Mulvey argued that the only way to annihilate that "patriarchal" Hollywood system was to radically challenge and re-shape the filmic strategies of classical Hollywood with alternative feminist methods. She called for a new feminist avant-garde filmmaking that would rupture the magic and pleasure of classical Hollywood filmmaking. She wrote, "It is said that analysing pleasure or beauty annihilates it. That is the intention of this article".

Radical feminists made a major criticism of "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema". They claimed that, while Mulvey believed that classical Hollywood cinema reflected and shaped the "patriarchal order", the perspective of her writing actually remained within that very heterosexual order. The article was thus said to have contradicted its "radical" claims, by actually being a covert perpetuation of heterosexual patriarchal order. This was because, in her article, Mulvey presupposes the spectator to be a heterosexual man. She was thus felt to be denying the existence of lesbian women and even heterosexual women.

"Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" was the subject of much interdisciplinary discussion among film theorists that continued into the mid 1980s. Critics of the article objected to the fact that her argument implied the impossibility of genuine 'feminine' enjoyment of the classical Hollywood cinema, and to the fact that her argument did not seem to take into account spectatorships that were not organised along the normative lines of gender. For example, a metaphoric 'transvestism' might be possible when viewing a film -- a male viewer might enjoy a 'feminine' point-of-view provided by a film, or vice versa; gay, lesbian and bisexual spectatorships might also be different. Her article also did not take into account the findings of the later wave of media audience studies on the complex nature of fan cultures and their interaction with stars. Gay male film theorists such as Richard Dyer have used Mulvey's work as a starting point to explore the complex projections that many gay men onto certain female stars (e.g. Liza Minnelli, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland).

Mulvey later wrote that her article was meant to be a provocation or a manifesto, rather than a reasoned academic article that considered all objections. She addressed many of her critics, and changed some of her opinions, in a follow-up article, "Afterthoughts on 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'”

Key Words

Freud – This particular theorist was the founder of psychoanalysis. He is best known for the unconscious mind especially sexual desire.

Voyeurism – A person who watches the behaviour of others without their knowledge from a detached, non-involved position and for reasons of self-gratification.

Sadism – This is the sexual pleasure that one gets from the infliction of pain and abuse, e.g. rape

Fetishization - The basic idea of sexual fetishism is sexual arousal and satisfaction through an inanimate object, the fetish.

Patriarchy - In gender studies, the word patriarchy often refers to a social organization marked by the supremacy of a male figure, group of male figures, or men in general.

Male Gaze - Male gaze in relation to feminist theory presents asymmetrical gaze as a means of exhibiting an unequal power relationship; that is, the male imposes an unwanted gaze upon the female.

Essay

Batman Begins 2005 is a mostly dominated by a male character, due to Batman being male. Within the film although there is a female character that is fetishized by the male audience. In some parts where she overcomes such theories as misogyny being a well-paid and well-known lawyer, she is looked upon by both genders, where they may envy her achievements. Laura Mulvey’s essay on “Visual Pleasure and Narratice Cinema”, suggests that it draws psychoanalysis in order to argue that looking is typically divided “between active male and passive female components”. In this particular instance this does not occur simply because she is looked upon as being an active female character.

In various scenes Batman him self is shown to be looking at the lawyer voyeuristically as she is dressed to-be-looked-at-ness. The relationship between these two characters are that they were brought up together, but later on noticing each other’s looks, where the male audience follows Laura Mulvey’s theory of the Male gaze. A scene where she is most fetishised is where Batman saves her and picks her body up, where she lays in his arms.

Task 10

Author Surname, Author First Name (Year of Publication): Title. Place of Publication. Publisher.

When on a date with my study buddy Gurveer, I choose these particular books to help guide me with my independant study...

1) Brook, Will (2001): Batman Unmasked - Analysing a Cultural Icon. United States of America: The Continum publishing Group Inc.
Page 33 - Origins and Wartime:
"Batman survival as a cultural icon oer sixty years can be attributed to his ability to adapt and change with the period"
"The Batman of this period is not able more for his consistency and adherance to an established template than his fludity; a fast made all the more remarkable when we consider that the surronding culture was undergoing the profound changees of the second world war"

2) Tannen, Deborah (1991): You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in conversation. Great Britain: William Morrow and company.
Page 236
Damned if you do:
"When women and men got together, they tended to avoid the topics that each group liked best and settle on topics to interest to both"

3) Glover, David/ Kaplan, Cora (2000): Genders the new critical idiom. London + New York: Routledge.
Page 59-61
The Manly Ideal
"Mosse presents a broad brush survey that charts the rise and gradual erosion of what he variously calls "the dominant masculine sterotype", "Normative masculinity", or more simply, "the manly ideal", a highly charged bundle of ideal that he traces back to the late eighteenth century".

4) Clare, Anthony (2001): Masculinity in crisis. United Kingdom: Arrow Books.
Page 33
Origiins and Wartime
"Boys and grown men have always taken for granted that what they were doing was more important than what the other sex was doing, that where they were was where the action was, that their women accpeted the defintion"
"Men were doing was some altruistic and life enhancing and intellectually demanding activities"

5) Craig, Steve (1992): Men, Masculinity and the Media. Newbury Park, CA:Sage.

Essential Word Dictionary Homework

1. Adventure Film – A film genre in which the characters are placed in an exciting and often dangerous location far away from home.

· Characters frequently face physical and environment challenges, e.g human enemies, dangerous or exotic animals, difficult terrain, natural disasters and dangerous missions.

· Adventure films are usually produced as family entertainment with a range of characters to appeal to all ages, genders and ethnicities.

· The genre is broad one and includes action movies, historical fantasy films and even war movies

E.g. (Spy Kids – Robert Rodriguez 2001 and Mission Impossible Brian De Palma, 1996)

This particular keyword helps me because my character Batman is involved in many situations where he faces danger. It also relates to my study because it appeals to a wide range of audiences from children to adults.

2. Binary Oppositions – A term used by Claude Levi-Strauss as part of his argument that narratives are structured around oppositions elements in human culture, for example, good and evil, life and death, night and day, raw and cooked.

· In contemporary media narratives, cowboys/Indians, black hats/white hats and gangsters/police represent binary oppositional forces. The audiences are attracted by the dynamics of this conflict with the possible variations leading usually to the ultimate triumph of good.

· Audiences are positioned in narratives to take sides and rewarded by the success of the side they are identified with.

· Binary oppositions are also present in non-fiction texts, such as news reports and newspaper articles, where audiences are positioned on one side of an argument, e.g. security forces/terrorists, the police/criminals, management/unions.

This helps because of the two opposites there are in the film, referring to Batman himself as the good character and the villain who creates nuisance for him, but which also makes the film more exciting to watch.

3. Blockbuster – A big-budget Hollywood film

· Blockbusters combine known stars and celebrities with fast-moving action narratives, spectacular sets and many special effects. Heavily marketed and promoted, they are designed to generate maximum box-office takings to justify the large sums invested. The emphasis is on hype and spectacle rather than on plot and character development.

· Blockbusters are part of an extensive merchandising operation designed to sell associated products. Ideologically, they are dominated by US cultural perspectives and values.

This keyword helps me because Batman is defiantly a blockbuster film, which is heavily marketed, and has an array of special affects within the film.

4. Body Double – An actor whose body is replaced that of another actor for particular scenes.

· Body doubles ma be used for dangerous shots, where stunt actors are employed, for those involving sexual contact or nudity of for shots where the actor’s body may not be considered suitable

· E.g. – (Pretty Women, Julia Roberts used a body double for nude shots and also in posters advertising the film.

This is useful to me because there are many parts where batman is shown flying around and doing stunts, which is where a “body double” enters and accomplishes this particular task.

5. Cameo – A brief appearance by a famous actor in a film production.

· A cameo is often used to increase the marketing appeal of a film as the cameo actor’s name can appear on posters and publicity materials. Cameo actors can often demand large fees for a brief appearance.

This particular word helps because there are sometimes brief appearances in other Superhero films, which increases the marketing of the film, E.g. Superman (Richard Donner, 1978).

6. Crane shot – A type of shot in which a camera is positioned on a specially designed crane, which can be raised and lowered at will.

This shot is used a numerous amount of times in Batman begins, because of his special powers to fly in which case this shot is needed quite often.

7. Fabulation – The construction of moralising stories about the origins of conflict in a society and the positive resolution of that conflict.

· Fabulation involves the construction of allegorical narrative where characters are used to act out a particular example of a dilemma which then becomes a metonym for larger social issues. The resolution reinforces the mainstream values of the society involved and overlooks underlying contradictions.

This is helpful because within the film there are a lot of social issues that the “corrupt government” and Batman are trying to overcome.

8. Fantasy – Genre built around an artificially constructed reality which could never exist in real life, often involving classical mythology or fairy tale.

· Fantasy films generally set real human characters against mythical or supernatural creatures in an imaginary world.

· Computer-generated images have made possible a dramatic extension of the fantasy universe.

This helps because Batman Begins is based on a fantasy, as he has powers that are made up, which makes it more appealing to the target audience of mainly children.

9. Gender – Psychological and cultural aspects of behaviour associated with masculinity and femininity, acquired through socialisation, in accordance with the expectations of a particular society.

· Representations of gender increasingly challenge traditional concepts of masculinity and femininity.

· Girl power, launched as a marketing device for the Spice Girls in the early 1990’s, created new role models of assertive young women, rejecting the traditional passive female role.

· Traditional masculine traits of violent aggression, sexual promiscuity and high levels of alcohol consumption are increasingly represented without gender distinction. And female representations in film may challenge or subvert traditional femininity and female roles, E.g. Kill Bill.

This helps my study because of different concepts of male and female roles in films.

10. Hero – The principal male or female protagonist in any narrative, with whom the audience identifies and who exhibits moral virtues in line with dominant ideology.

This is linked to my study of how superheroes have changed and I can compare them to the past superheroes such as Superman.

11. Patriarchy – Male domination of the political, cultural and socio economic system.

· Under patriarchy, male perspectives and male achievements are valued and rewarded at the expense of the female. Female contributions to society are ignored and women are culturally and economically invisible, being defined solely by their relation to men.

· Patriarchy is an important assumption behind some feminist film criticism, which sees the male domination of film discourse as evidenced in the male gaze.

This helps because in Batman, it is shown as a patriarchal society through Batman being the hero throughout the film; dominating the film.

bLoG bUdDieS

I am Blog Buddies with Kiran from the class 13D. The reason for this is because of the similar question and idea of Superhereos.

uSeFuL LiNkS

http://www.representationofwomensuperheroes.blogspot.com/
This particular link helps me because of the superhereo genre.

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/batman_begins/
This link helps me as it gives opinions by other people who have watched the film. This also contains images, reviews and other aspects that relate to the film.

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/batman_begins/
This will help me as it follows the genre of superhereos, which links very well to my independant study, focusing on particularly male superhereos.

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?DVDID=11299
This link above helps me also because of the reviews and other people's comments on the film.

http://www.warnerbros.co.uk/batmanbegins/
This link helps me considerably a lot as it has everything on Batman Begins, such as the synopsis, interviews and photos from the actual film.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/2401/
This is another site "Sight and Sound", which gives me different views and opinions on the film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/
This is yet another review website that refers to character profiles, trailers and famous quotes from the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU1DcAw-XY0
This is a link to the trailer Batman Begins

Blogs I have commented on...

Anika
http://www.blogger.com/publish-comment.do?blogID=32340875&postID=115806519647894144&r=ok

Kiran
http://www.blogger.com/publish-comment.do?blogID=32906186&postID=115857806880101376&r=ok

Jaskeerat
http://www.blogger.com/publish-comment.do?blogID=33423922&postID=115816909013497031&r=ok

Kalpan
http://www.blogger.com/publish-comment.do?blogID=31412049&postID=115796341558589826&r=ok

Avinash
http://www.blogger.com/publish-comment.do?blogID=34131960&postID=115792775318661338&r=ok

The Batmobile

In order to satisfy their desire to make the Batmobile a realistically plausible vehicle while still allowing it to have the kind of mobility, functionality and battle-readiness necessary for it to be Batman's transport of choice, Nolan and Goyer decided that the unit would have needed to start life as a military design. Working with that as their primary parameter, the design team came up with the new vehicle, calling it "The Tumbler", rather than the Batmobile, to signify that the design (and thus its name) had originated prior to Wayne. Within the world of the film, we find that the Tumbler is a Wayne Enterprises product for the United States government, who wanted a bullet resistant, all-terrain vehicle capable of forcing open heavily guarded enemy lines and moving at high speed to make rampless jumps over rivers, carrying tow-cables for bridging. Although the bridge never worked out and the entire project was canceled, the Tumbler worked perfectly, and Bruce finds use for it as his Batmobile. It has been speculated that the Tumbler is meant to look like the Batmobile in Frank Miller the dark night returns, itself more akin to an armoured tank than a car.

Although more than one unit was built and not all the units were fully functional, four mostly-working Tumblers were built for the film. Driveable versions were powered by 5.7 litre(350 in³) chevorlet "LS-1" V8 engines producing 330 horsepower in their factory configurations, giving the vehicle the capability to accelerate from a standstill to sixty miles per hour in about six seconds; one stand-in Tumbler featured a working jet engine, while another had working flaps.

Actor	Role
Christian Bale	Bruce Wayne / Batman
Michael Caine	Alfred Pennyworth
Liam Neeson	Henri Ducard / Ra's al Ghul
Katie Holmes	Rachel Dawes
Gary Oldman	Jim Gordon
Cillian Murphy	Dr. Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow
Morgan Freeman	Lucius Fox
Tom Wilkinson	Carmine Falcone
Rutger Hauer	Mr. Earle
Mark Boone Junior	Flass
Ken Watanabe	Ra's al Ghul (Decoy)
Linus Roache	Thomas Wayne
Richard Brake	Joe Chill
Sara Stewart	Martha Wayne
Tim Booth	Victor Zsasz

Domestic Total Gross: $205,343,774
Distributor: Warner Bros.	Release Date: June 15, 2005
Genre: Action / Adventure	Running Time: 2 hrs. 20 min.
MPAA Rating: PG-13	Production Budget: $150 million

BBC Review...

A bold and brilliant superhero movie, Batman Begins is the best outing ever for the Caped Crusader. Officially Batman 5, it reboots the franchise, going back to the birth of the Bat. Christian Bale stars as millionaire orphan Bruce Wayne, recruited by the mysterious Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) to join vigilante ring The League Of Shadows. But while their ninja training comes in handy, Wayne has his own ideas about combating crime. And they involve a bit of fancy dress...

Styling himself as "something elemental, something terrifying" Wayne uses his company's cutting edge technology to fashion a fearsome masked vigilante. Fear is the film's theme: confronting it, conquering it and using it. It is Batman's greatest weapon, but also that of Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), one of Gotham's many enemies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/06/06/batman_begins_2005_review.shtml

Proposal...

"How has the representation and genre of superheroes changed over time with close reference to Batman Begins"

Memorable quote from the film...
"They told me there was nothing out there, nothing to fear. But the night my parents were murdered I caught a glimpse of something. I've looked for it ever since. I went around the world, searched in all the shadows. And there is something out there in the darkness, something terrifying, something that will not stop until it gets revenge... Me."

M.I.G.R.A.I.N.

Media Language
The speedy camera movements connotes a fast action packed film. The flashbacks also connote that the whole story evolves around the past scences, of Bruce Wayne's mother and father dying. The close ups show the characters fear, excitement and sadness , which helps the audience understands their particular emotions throughout the film.

Institution
This film was made and produced by Legendary Pictures

Genre
Batman Begins is an action/adventure film which focuses on three sides. These include, Batman himself, the police and the gangster who create trouble from the residents of Gotham City.

Representation
Within the film Batman who is the main protagonist dominates the film with his strength and good will. Also a lawyer named Rachel also is respected by the authority and public.

Audience
The audience that Batman Begins tries to attract is a family orientated audience. The secondary audience is males because of the overall story of revenge and justice, which is mentioned in the film several times. Another audience that this Batman attracts is females because of the superior positions that Rachel is holding and her high authority throughout the film.

Ideologies/Values
The ideologies that Batman Begins tries to give are that there is a corrupt government and the overall problems with the justice system.

Narrative
The story has many flashbacks, which is where the overal story is based on with revenge, corruption of people's minds and the justice that Batman tries retirieve back.

S.H.E.P.

Social Context
Men in this day in age are more sensetive to emotions and are not afraid to show it, which is where Batman (Bruce Wayne), shows his fear towards the bats, with nightmares and vivid imagery about them.

Historical Context
Before men were not afraid to show their emotions which has now changed over time.

Economic Context
In past films the budget was lower but now the they have used more expensive materials and props to make the film more dynamic and realistic.

Political Context
The corrupt government and the problems with the justice system

Other Texts
Superman
SpiderMan