Research on Two Media TheoristsBY ZACK CHRISTODOULOU

Laura Mulvey – Male Gaze Theory

Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ is essentially focussing on a woman as if she was an object rather than a person. An example of this is highlighting a woman's body in a film, this is usually done with the camera work. So the camera may be establishing the woman and starting from her toes and bringing the camera all the way up to her face. This kind of shot gives us a view of what a heterosexual male is viewing this woman as and this is exactly what Laura Mulvey is against. The theory explains that this would lead to women not having identity in a film and only being admired for their physical appearance.

How the ‘Male Gaze’ will Influence Our Production

We will have a female receptionist in our production. This female will conform with the ‘male gaze’ theory because she will be in the psychiatrists shadow (male). We will be featuring an attractive woman to bring in the male fan base. The way this will be done is to use mise-en-scene and camera work to emphasise her looks. Although Laura Mulvey wants women not be objectified in films, it works because 9 out of 10 films do objectify women and still make their productions successful.

Katz & Blumler – Uses & Gratifications

This theory deals with the effect of people on the media. It deals with why people will involve themselves in a certain media product. The theory states there are four reasons to why a person will watch something: Information, Personal Identity, Social interaction and Entertainment. Information is usually involved with documentaries and people would watch this for their own benefit for self- education.Personal identity can be used in any kind of media product and a people would watch this to find a role model or gaining insight o themselves.Social interaction is once again used in any kind of production and for people that want to use what they watching to interact with friends or family.Finally, entertainment. This is purely for someone to just relax and watch something or simply escaping their problems for the time they are watching that certain programme.

How ‘Uses & Gratifications’ will Influence Our Production

We are aiming our film to use entertainment and social interaction in terms of Katz and Bulmer's theory. Entertainment I think can be considered for any production and that’s why I think it will apply to ours. With social interaction its slightly more niche. I think the only people that this film could appeal to is people that enjoy psychological thrillers. They are the people that will want to talk about this film to other people.