Representation of women in A Horror Trailer

The trailer I will be analyzing is ‘Filth To Ashes Flesh To Dust’ where I will focus on the representation of

women in terms of; Mise-En-Scene, Camera Angles/ shot types/ movement, Editing, Lighting, Sound and

Typography

As you can see just from the image of these three woman that women are being represented not only by their sexuality, but also but their vulnerability and passiveness, proving Mulvey’s theory to be correct

1st imageUse of a mirror as a prop which a woman looking into it rather than a man suggests that woman are more conscience and worried about their appearance, and thus represents women only by their appearance which links to Mulvey’s theory of women only being defined by their sexuality

Use of a close-up here to highlight facial features of this female and so is looking subjectively at the appearance this woman, and is defining her feminine qualities (beauty) to appeal to a presumed male audience

Does this adhere or challenge Mulvey’s theory?It definitely adheres to it, we are seeing the woman in the image subjectively and based on her appearance only, which links to Mulvey’s view on this ‘male gaze’ being used to make woman in movies objects of desire to appeal to a male audience

2nd ImageIt is the man and not the woman driving the car which represents the man as being the dominant and superior character in the movie, whilst the woman is passive to the man. Again we are then still seeing the movie through the eyes of a man

Does this adhere or challenge Mulvey’s theory?Most certainly, part of Mulvey’s theory also suggests that as we are seeing the movie through the eyes of a man, men are therefore represented as the dominant and superior character in the movie

3rd ImageShown a close-up from a slightly high angle of a woman sleeping, with pitch black darkness around her which heightens and represents her as being vulnerable. Also a lot of emphasis is put on the chain around her arm which heightens this sense of vulnerability and passiveness, presenting woman as being victims and subordinate to male authority.

Use of a chain as a prop presents a subjective view of this woman, representing her as being subordinate and therefore weak in comparison to men. This therefore shows Mulvey’s theory as being correct.

Does this adhere or challenge Mulvey’s theory?Yes, as we are again seeing a stereotypical representation of women as being vulnerable and passive to male authority as we are seeing the movie through the eyes of a man, hence why she has called her theory the “male gaze”.

4th imageHere we see a mid-long shot that lets us see the figures of all the characters. As you can see it is two men at the front of the image leading the group whilst the two women are behind. This then represents men as being leaders, strong and dominant. Whilst women are passive to men and rely on men to lead and protect them.

Whilst all of the light is shone on the men and we can see their figures in detail. The women in the image are in complete darkness and so highlights their sense of vulnerability that is being emphasized in the image

Does this adhere or challenge Mulvey’s theory?It adheres to it as we again see women stereotypically through the eyes of men, as being vulnerable and relying on the protection of men who are pictured as heroic

5th Image

Typography says run and so hints at a sign of danger, and then straight after we see a image of a girl trapped behind glass with a frightening look on her face. The fact the word run is being associated with a girl here instead of a man, again maintains the image of a man being heroic and so unlikely to run from danger, whilst women are weak and passive and so are more likely to run from danger which paints a stereotypical view of women even in a 21st century movie

Does this adhere or challenge Mulvey’s theory?It again adheres as we are seeing a subjective view of women as being weak and passive through the eyes of a man

6th image Pitch black darkness surrounding these two women and not men represents women in the stereotypical ‘damsel in distress role’ needing the help of a men to survive. Audience members also feel a sense of hopelessness for the characters, something not felt for the male characters in the movie.

Emphasis put on the sexuality of the women, even though they’re suppose to be running for their lives and so should have nothing to do with their sexuality. As we are seeing it through the eyes of a man women are automatically represented as sexual subjects to appeal to a male audience

Does this adhere or challenge Mulvey’s theory?Adheres as we are seeing women as objects of desire as we are watching the movie through the eyes of a man.

However….

Although it may seem as if this movie completely adheres to Mulvey’s theory and represents woman as being objects of desire and subordinate and weaker to men, there are still examples in this movie of Mulvey’s theory being challenged.

7th Image

Use of a gun as a prop highlights this woman’s power and dominance and goes against view of woman running from danger and instead paints her as being the hero

Camera angle is pretty much at eye level in a mid-shot and shows the character focusing on a target. From this we van see the seriousness in the characters face and no signs of fear and so not only challenges stereotypes of women as being emotional beings, but it also challenges Mulvey’s theory.

Does this adhere or challenge Mulvey’s theory?This challenges Mulvey’s theory as there is no particular focus on the characters sexuality and she is being presented as dominance and powerful, and so isn’t seen through the “male gaze”..

8th imageWomen here represented as being dominant from the use of a low angled shot looking up which presents this female character as being powerful and dominant.

Intensity and viciousness of her facial expression is not something expected to be seen in a women and so challenged the stereotypical image of women

Does this adhere or challenge Mulvey’s theory?Challenges Mulvey’s theory as we are again presented with a female who is filmed subjectively and represented as being dominant and powerful. However a sense of focus on her sexuality seems to still remain which adheres to Mulbey’s theory.

Overall…

The trailer for ‘filth to ashes, flesh to dust’ on the most part adheres to Mulvey’s theory, as in the trailer women are subjectively viewed through the “male gaze” as not only objects of desire, but also stereotypically viewed as being self-conscience, weak, vulnerable and passive to male authority. However, it has also been challenged in some ways, as we are also presented with a dominant view of women as being In control and powerful, which suggests that Mulvey’s theory doesn’t appeal as much to a 21st century audience as characters in films are now all filmed subjectively, rather than it just being solely women.