A2 Coursework. A response to my trailer and ancillary tasks.

1. REPRESENTATIONAL RESPONSE: REPRESENTATION
OF GENDER
By Rosie Childs

2. INDEX:
Slide 3: An introduction to representation
Slides 4-6: Gender representation in our trailer
‘Azrael’
Slide 7: Gender representation in our poster
Slide 8: Gender representation in our Sight&Sound
magazine cover

3. REPRESENTATION OF GENDERS IN NOIR
Throughout the process of my media package that included a
neo-noir trailer, a Sight and Sound inspired magazine cover
and a poster for our trailer; understanding the representation
of gender within noir was vital in order for us to successfully
create these media products.
Representation in media refers to the process by which media
texts re-represent reality (gender, people, places, ideas etc.)
through the processes of selection and ordering within generic,
technological and institutional conventions. All representations
have ideologies behind them, certain ones are encoded into
texts and others are left out in order to give a preferred
representation such as Levis Strauss’ theory of binary
opposition. Different theorists and theories explain these
ideologies, one example includes a Marxist approach. Marxists
have a hegemonic view towards society where there are
fundamental inequalities between social groups and those in
power exercise their influence within lower society.
Representations are encoded into the mass media in order to
reinforce dominant ideologies. In film noir however, these
often ‘stereotypical’ gender views are reversed. Men are no
longer seen as being the most dominant, powerful and strong
gender; instead the females are. The females in classic noir and
neo noir genre are seen as powerful, controlling and
manipulative, whereas the males are seen as weak, dominated
and a victim of lust. They are often categorised as ‘the fall guy’
or ‘the dumb lug’ (Ruby Rich). Whereas females are the femme
fatales and use their sexuality to seduce men.
Examples of these noir
gender representations
are:
The strong,
manipulative,
sexualised Laura in
Rian Johnson’s ‘Brick’
(2005)
The dumb lug/ fall guy
that is manipulated
and tricked by the
femme fatale – Nick
Dunne in David
Fincher’s ‘Gone Girl
(2014)

4. GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN OUR TRAILER ‘AZRAEL’
Within the noir genre it is stereotypical for the femme fatale to wear red lipstick so therefore
we made sure our femme fatale Kristen wore red lipstick to conform to the representational
conventions of noir. The lipstick is used in noir to sexualize the femme fatale, to make her
look seductive to the male. In doing so we have conformed to Laura Mulvey’s theory of the
‘male gaze’ as she explains men objectify women, sexualize and lust after them.
The low angle shot of the femme fatale also conforms to the conventional gender
representations that we see in noir films. It conveys her power, dominance and cunning
nature as well as the direct eye contact being off-putting, mysterious and intense.
“What kills us most in life is the picture in our heads of how it’s supposed to be” – This is the
first piece of narrative we hear at the beginning of the trailer and is said by Kristen the femme
fatale. This instantly portrays her dominance and conforms to the representation of the
femme fatale in noir. She is strong, manipulative and cunning.
Throughout the trailer, Kristen is seen to be smoking which stereotypically subverts current
social expectations as men are seen to smoke more than women. However in the noir genre
this is stereotypical and we do conform to these conventions. It is used to convey her
sexualized nature and emphasize her ‘bad’ and ‘mysterious’ character.

5. HOW MEN SEXUALISE WOMEN
AND HOW WOMEN CAN
MANIPULATE AND SEDUCE MEN
Here we have an example of both male
and female representational stereotypes.
First of all the side, medium close up
shot of femme fatale Kristen staring into
the camera, illustrates her dominance
and power over the fall guy – Mark. This
conforms to the gender representations
of females in noir as we can see Mark is
lusting over Kristen.
On the other hand, the male gender
representation also conforms to the
conventions of noir. As within the frame,
we can only see a part of Mark’s face
which symbolizes his lack of importance
and power compared to the facial shot
we have of Kristen. Mark is seen to be
kissing Kristen’s neck which also
conforms to the noir conventions as he
sexualizes her and in doing so, he falls
for her and her manipulative ways.

6. CHALLENGING GENDER
REPRESENTATIONS
In ‘Azrael’, we have challenged gender
representations that are common in the
noir genre.
For example, in Polanski’s ‘Chinatown’
(1974), Jake Gitties is the detective which
both conforms and subverts gender
representations in noir. As men are usually
seen as weak, yet Gitties is determined to
crack the case but inevitably gets played
by the femme fatale.
Jess in ‘Azrael’ subverts the stereotypes
seen in ‘Chinatown’ as she symbolizes the
female detective. Although this conforms
to the gender representation of women
being strong, independent and powerful in
noir; as she is female though, this subverts
the gender roles usually expected in noir.
As males usually play the role of detectives
and other female protagonists do not.
Furthermore, she is also manipulated and
deceived by the femme fatale which
subverts the gender stereotypes even more
as conventionally we would only expect
males to be manipulated by the femme
fatale.

7. REPRESENTATIONS OF
GENDER (POSTER)
Our film poster conforms to the representation of
gender in noir films. As you can see, the femme
fatale is positioned at the front of the poser, with
the other protagonists partially shown through her
cigarette smoke. This emphasizes her superiority
and power over not only the other characters but
over the male gender.
Mark (the fall guy), conforms to the representation
of men in noir on this poster. He is positioned in the
top right hand corner and is much smaller than the
femme fatale and protagonist Jess. This portrays the
lack of power, dominance and control he has over
the femme fatale.
Furthermore, the tagline – ‘Never trust someone who
can lie as easily as they can love’ refers to the
femme fatale. It could be said that the tagline both
conforms and subverts gender representations in
noir. As in some instances, the femme fatale can be
seen as quite emotionless and mysterious. We rarely
hear her speak of love but we are aware of it.
Whereas it could conform to a deeper idea that
femme fatales do have a reason for what they are
doing and this tagline gives us an insight into how
Kristen is feeling and what is fueling her.
In addition, the title ‘Azrael’ in bold (translating to
‘the angel of death’ signifies the female dominance
as angles are usually associated or compared to
women to a contemporary audience.

8. REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER (MAGAZINE COVER)
Our magazine front
cover conforms to the
gender representations
of women in noir. As
the front cover as the
female director on, this
symbolises the power,
authority and
dominance that women
have over men in noir
films. However as a
contemporary audience
may think, it is quite
rare to have female
directors as the industry
is dominated by males
so therefore it does
subvert modern-day
expectations.
The fragmented mirror is
used to symbolise the
destroyed, broken and
fragile nature of the plot
that is dominated by the
femme fatale. This
conforms to the
multifaceted readings and
also emphasises the deeper
reading of the femme
fatale.
Reflections are a
conventional element of
noir films and it could
be said that reflections
and mirrors are
associated with the
multidimensional
femme fatale
characters. Using the
mirror conforms to the
sexualised and
seductive nature of
women in noir films.
The light and dark chiaroscuro
lighting contrasts the coloured
image that is reflected in the
shards of mirror. This feature of
the magazine can both conform
and subvert representational
readings of gender as the two
contrasts (dark and colour)
could portray the good/ evil of
women (Kristen and Jess) but
could also subvert noir
representations or gender as it
is establishing to the audience
that women can be both good
and bad which is usually not
the case in noir films. E.g. –
Lynch’s ‘Blue Velvet’ (1986)