Health and Safety unit 30

When shooting footage for my unit 30 camera and lighting, i need to make sure that all health and safety regulations are met and maintained. there are numerous ways to ensure that this is followed at all times.
Firstly i can ensure that any loose cables, whether it be directly from the camera or from a wall outlet, looses cables that trail across the floor could potentially mean that a member of the team, or any individual passing the area we are filming in could trip and hurt themselves.

most of our recording was done outside due to the quality control of our recordings. so me and my group meticulously searched areas in search of a location that would not only result in the best recording locations, but also in practical locations. would it be safe for me and my group to film? would there be a present risk in filming in this location? and does recording in this location provide a risk to any individuals walking past our filming?.

most of our recordings took place at the King Edwards College, thankfully, most of the ground was gritted already due to it being a public location. so the area's we filmed in were always properly maintained.

Mulvey theroy in film

Transformers (2007)

This scene within 2007's transformers conforms to all the points put forward in Mulveys male gaze.
The scene opens with a tracking mid shot of the Cars engine, the camera lingers over the engine (reminiscent of kennith angers scorpio rising), this shot also fits into mulveys male gaze theory, creating the possibility that the male gaze is not only about sexualising and objectifying women, but also objectifying other things a male finds pleasure in. The camera then cuts to a panning mid shot, with the focal point of the shot being Megan fox, she is postured suggestively over the car, with her hands raised on the hood of the car. As Shia La Beouf points towards Megan Fox, so does the camera. This conforms to the idea that not only does the camera linger on the curves of the woman, but also that the woman is only present to satisfy the males need.

The camera again cuts to another mid shot of Megan fox, This time leaning directly over the cars engine, her stomach and cleavage exposed.the cameras movments for this scene are very subtle, yet non the less conform the the male gaze, if you look closely that the camera traces the curves of her body, first from top frame, megan fox's cleavage, down to her waist and back, then down her legs. the fact that the camera movement is so subtle only adds to mulveys theory that the male gaze is so deeply routed in modern film that it can almost be considered subliminal.

Mulvey Theroy

Mulvey Film Theroy

Laura Mulvey is a British film theorist and avant garde film maker, her work explored a feminist approach towards film, often analysing and scrutinising film with psychoanalysis.

Laura Mulvey identified that Film fascinates its audience, it engages our emotions emotionally, intellectually and sometimes spiritually, Mulvey used psychoanalysis to discover where and ho the fascination of film is reinforced by pre existing patterns of fascination already at work within the individual subject (essentially the spectator). As a prominont feminist she believed that Film can and should be used as a political weapon.

Mulberry hypothesised that the Hollywood/mainstream/narrative cinema manipulates visual pleasure to directly influence the audience, according to her theory it "codes the erotic into the language of the  dominant patriarchal order" A key aspect of her theory is the presence of scopophilia, which means pleasure in looking (this was first created by Sigmund Freud in "three essays" in 1905). In freud original piece he explains how scopophilia is when we or the individual gets sexual pleasure from looking at other people, however mulvey also noted that in Freuds three essays, he said that people feel guilty when getting pleasure in this way. From here Mulvey suggested that cinema was the ideal place to get scopophilic pleasure because;

. The people in the film aren't aware that the spectator or individual is watching (therefore removing the guilt associated when receiving sexual pleasure from looking at other people)

.No-one else can see the spectator getting pleasure from viewing others as traditionally, a Cinema or theatre is dark, and that all others will be watching the screen

Mulvey argued that cinema essentially provides voyeuristic pleasure (pleasure from watching others who dont know there being watched).

Mulvey and Lacan

Mulvey expanded on Lacans concept of The Mirror stage and the childs development of self and other by explaing the importance of seeing yourself visually reflected in film. This means that when we see a character on the screen that either looks, reminds, or acts like us, we identify with it, and seeing such a representation reinforces our sense of self and worth.

Mulveys conclusions

According to Mulvey, most mainstream hollywood films are made by male filmmakers for a male audience, and that female filmmakers were often shunned, left only to create in the avaunt Guarde scenes. This results in active male characters (protagonists of the film which use the narrative forward, so that the audience are encouraged to identify with them), whereas female characters are usually passive (prizes for the male characters, objects of desire that men fight for, characters that dont act or think for themselves)

Male Gaze

In Mulveys 1975 'Visual pleasure and Narrative cinema", she coined the term the male gaze, which is when the audience regardless of gender or sexuality is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male, for example, in a shot the camera might trace alongside the curves of a woman body, putting the viewer in the eyes of a heterosexual male.
However, it may only be classified as a male gaze if it uses certain camera techniques, editing techniques or audio cues. Such as:

.slow motion when viewing the curves of a woman
.deliberate camera moments
.cut aways

This theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity,relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical pleasure and nothing more. the theory also suggests that women can only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a mans perspective. Regardless of this, the presence of a woman in mainstream film texts is vital, often a female character in a film has no real importance herself, it is how she makes the male characters within the text fact or feel that is of importance, essentially, the female only exists in relation to the male.

Visual pleasures

Lacan theory within a film

Enemy (2013)

At its core Enemy is a film about fear, the story follows a man named Adam, who discovers he has an exact doppelgänger, who lives a complete opposite life to him. Whilst Adam is mild mannered and essentially timid, his doppelgänger is the opposite, aggressive and confident. The film explores the relationship between the two, there opposing lives and the relationships they are involved in.




Within a few minutes of watching it becomes clear that the film is an exploration of Adam subconscious, whilst were never explicitly told that this is the case we can se it clearly through the mise en scene, camera techniques and even the narrative itself.

One scene that perfectly represents the lacan theory is the initial meeting between adam and his doppelgänger. Up to this point in the film Adam knows what he wants, he wants to meet his doppelgänger, this is the desire that he believes will fill his lack, as he walks to the motel door he is in centre frame, he is in control of the situation. A prostitute passes him clutching onto a room key, the camera suddenly cuts to a wide shot focussed on the top of her suspenders, we see in the background that Adam is still there, walking past her, however this time rather than being in focus and centre framed, he is to the left, the camera blurs him so we can only vaguely make out that this indeed adam. We can view this as an extension of our protagonists conscious, Upon seeing the prostitute and her Stockings, Adam is suddenly conflicted, is meeting his doppolganger truly what he wants?, or is he simply chasing his primal urge for sex?, If one was to watch the film in its entirety than this would easily be compatible with the Lacanian lack throughout the film, but as we are only analysing one scene, we shall ignore this.

The next key scene following this is the initial meeting between Adam and his doppelgänger. the two stand opposite each other, the camera remains completely still, simply observing the two, in an almost clinical manner. the camera for this scene can perhaps mimic the audiences perception and spectatorship of the film, simply an observer into this individuals mind, powerless to have any interaction within it.

The two show each other there hands, they comment on how similar they are. the doppelgänger than asks Adam if he has a scar on his chest from when he was a child, this freaks Adam out and he hurriedly leaves the room. We can perceive this as Adam realising that perhaps the doppelgänger is exactly what he has been lacking, the doppelgänger is a confident, assertive and bold figure, everything that Adam is not (Adam being obedient, withdrawn and almost afraid). The same goes in reverse, Even though the doppelgänger has a seemingly comfy home life, with a pregnant wife and a relatively wealthy standard of living, his fear of commitment means that he is always seeking a way out of this comfy home life, ( numerous references to his affair throughout the film).