Camera Shot Of True Blood & An Article By Caitlin Brown

Like Buffy, the main character named Sookie in True Blood is rather powerful, although not as powerful as Buffy, as her only ability is to read people's minds. Sookie manages to save her boyfriend Bill at one point, which portrays her as being a heroine. However, the image below shows Sookie's vulnerability like Elena, as here, Sookie has been hurt:

This shows that unlike Buffy, Sookie is not completely self reliant - she needs to rely on other people to some extent. Sookie can at times be too brave, landing herself in danger.

Feminism and the vampire novel

In this article, Brown states that in True Blood, Sookies becomes "increasingly assertive in achieving the fulfilment" of her "sexual desires", which represents Sookie as being rather sexually confident, although Brown also states that "the fantasy of submission to the vamp lover is fulfilled", meaning that Sookie gives in to her vampire boyfriend in terms of sex. This portrays Sookie as being a sexual object, which has given me another idea for my production, as I could take a shot which includes vulnerablity, and sexuality.

http://www.thefword.org.uk/features/2009/09/feminism_and_th

A Book Written By Brian NcNair Regarding Buffy The Vampire Slayer

In this book, McNair states that the main character Buffy is seen as "strong" and "independant", which evidently is true, as Buffy does not need to rely on other people for her own success - she is a vampire slayer. Also, in Series One, Buffy punches a monster, which proves that Buffy is not seen as a victim, but instead a heroine. Unlike The Vampire Diaries, Buffy is extremely powerful and self reliant.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JaLEKllB2bEC&pg=PA128&dq=buffy+the+vampire+slayer+portrayal+of+women&hl=en&ei=n_arTprXO8yE8gOfn7mnCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=buffy%20the%20vampire%20slayer%20portrayal%20of%20women&f=false

A Book Written By Leah Wilson Regarding The Vampire Diaries

A Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls: Your Favorite Authors on the Vampire Diaries

In the introduction to the book, Wilson offers a little information, particularly focusing on Elena, the main character. Wilson mentions that another main character, (a vampire named Stefan) introduces the series with "This is my story". This evidently shows that although Elena is supposed to be the main character in this series, the men are represented as being more important and dominant, reinforcing the idea of the women being objects. Later on in the book, an author named Sarah Rees Brennan describes Elena as being "fragile", which can be agreed with, as in the series, Elena is often victimised by vampires, and either her boyfriend Stefan or her other love interest Damon ends up having to save her, because she can't defend herself. Elena "is the one most often in danger", according to Brennan, which is evidently true. This shows that women are seen as being some kind of prey to men in The Vampire Diaries. However, although Elena is also described as being "vulnerable", she is also described as "never entirely helpless", which is also true, as to some extent, she can partially defend herself when facing a vampire.

This has given me some ideas for my production, as I could perhaps take some shots showing vulnerability, yet confidence at the same time.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=U6W8gQa1pCQC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=the+vampire+diaries+portrayal+of+women&ots=tgre52ZEXg&sig=C9tLQGHaCvWm6qoWfYT_EjeCh4I#v=onepage&q&f=false

Print Adverts of the Vampire Programmes

Before I watch the programmes, a few main points can be comprehended from analysing the below images.

True Blood

 Already, we see an incredibly sexual portrayal of women in True Blood, as in the first poster, we can see a female vampire licking her lips, which connotates desire and lust. The blood dripping down her mouth emphasises the idea of lust and desire. The light background emphasises the woman's lips more, which evidently shows that sex is a rather major theme in True Blood. Also, in the second poster, the female is wearing a low cut top, with a slightly flirtatious look on her face, which again shows a sexual portrayal of women in the series of True Blood. The blood dripping down the female's neck however could insinuate that as well as being a sexual character, she is also a victim, which represents women in a rather negative light here. The colour of red itself is clearly a connotation of sex, as well as danger.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

The below posters featuring the main charater Buffy, offer a different perspective than the portrayal of women on the True Blood posters, as in these posters, the female is not wearing anything which could be seen as sexual, and rather than being seen as a victim, Buffy appears to be confident, which can be seen from her facial expression. On the first poster, the fact that the name 'Buffy' is presented in large font, and is situated by the centre of the frame implies that Buffy is powerful, rather than powerless. The eery background poses no sexual ideas about the character. Also, the weapon Buffy is holding implies she is some kind of heroine, eliminating the possibility of her being a victim. On the second poster, again Buffy is dressed in non provocative clothing, although she appears to have been majorly air brushed.

The Vampire Diaries

 In these posters it is clear that the female character has been portrayed in a rather sexual light, as in the first poster, she is wearing a low cut dress, and is positioned with her hand on her hip, and the other hand towards her neck. Also, the female has a suggestive look on her face. Both of the above points portray the female as being rather sexual, and the fact that she ius lying on the ground could suggest that she is a victim, which relates to the True Blood posters. In the second poster, the female is also situated to the centre of the frame, showing two male hands which are stroking her hair, and gripping her neck. This portrays the character as being incredibly appealing towards men, and also portrays her as a victim, although the female does not particularly look frightened.

Genre-Film Noir

Background Information

Film Noir is a genre containing a dark subjecting matter, producing a negative portrayal of America. The main period of this kind of genre was from 1944 - 1958. The main differences between noir and pre-war films are that a large amount of films before the 40's showed America in an extremely positive light. These kind of positive films had high budgets, with rich musicals and elaborate sets.

'Detour' (1945)

Synopsis:

An innocent, ordinary piano player named Al, (Tom Neal) is informed by his girlfriend Sue, (Anne Savage) that she will be travelling to Hollywood in an attempt to be a star. Distraught, Al decides to visit her, and later on in the journey hitches a ride from a man travelling to Los Angeles himself. Although he seems a suspicous man, he dies in his sleep while Al has taken over the wheel, after stopping off at a cafe. Al then hides the body, and takes his wallet containing his money and identity info, on the way to visiting his lover.

'The Big Combo' (1955)

'The Big Combo' is a film noir film, directed by Joseph H. Lewis, with cinematography from John Alton.
I am going to be discussing several sequences from the film, and commenting on their visual effects.

Sequence 1:

In this scene, Mr. Brown is questioning Susan on who Alicia is. He grabs her face agressively, and kisses her roughly. The light is centered on her face, clearly showing her sexual satisfaction from Brown. It may also indicate that Susan feels confined, trapped in her relationship with him, as there is not a great amount of light on his face, which could insinuate that Susan feels alone. The fact that Brown's face is in dark lighting portrays him as the dark villain, representing Susan as incredibly vulnerable.

Sequence 2:

In this scene, Susan is in hospital after attempted suicide. As you can see, she is in a single spotlight right in the centre, which again could insinuate that she feels alone. The light gradually fades out, creating a sense of claustrophobia. Her neck and the sides of her cheeks are in dark lighting, drawing more attention to her facial expression. It alerts us to the fact that she is clearly worried.

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