Gender Representation in Mad Men

Gender representation is how men or women are portrayed in the media. In Mad Men we are able to witness a series of events, which allows us to see how both genders are portrayed in that period of time.

In Mad Men season 1 episode 1, we are thrown into how women are seen in the workplace. Not surprisingly the men had the authoritative positions in the work place, for example the ad men and CEO of companies were men. This shows that during the 1900's there existed a very patriarchal society. Don Draper was enraged by the idea of women who wanted to do business with him in the office. It was uncommon for women to take lead roles. Instead they would take a more secretariat role in the office. This job allowed us the audience see the extent of extreme gender representation in the workplace. In  Mad Men, secretary's would encourage others to adopt more of a sex appeal in the work place. One worker points out that if Peggy was lucky she could go from working in the city to living in the countryside. From this we can infer that women needed to sell themselves in the workplace to the higher earning men in order to get married. In order to do this women would have to lower their standards, which included shorter skirts.

In this episode, objectifying women was one of the key issue. Men would see women as objects to have sex with. In one of the scenes Pete Campbell was in the strip club trying to talk to women. Quickly the scene escalated when Pete gave her the hint by touching her leg without consent. This shows the disrespect he had for women. The women stood up for herself and left Pete. Not all men were stereotypical towards women. In one of the scenes Pete Campbell complained to Don Draper that he always gets the new secretaries whilst eyeing Peggy Olson up and down. Here we see Pete objectifying Peggy as a new toy that Draper has acquired. Draper then defended Peggy and fought against the objectification. 

We clearly see the diverse levels of stereotypical views that each character has. Draper has respect but isn't willing to do business with a women of high authority. On the other hand, Pete has no respect for women. Another example of this is at the end of the episode. Pete, who is due to be married went and slept with Peggy. In this scene we see the men had no respect for their partners and felt because they are in control they could do anything.In conclusion, it is evident that people lived in a very patriarchal society. Men were the breadwinners and women were objectified. Most men though they could control women and look down upon them. Some would speak up and some would add insult to injury. Mad Men season 1 episode 1 had very bad gender representation.

Camera Angles + Shots in North By Northwest and Fast and Furious 7

Camera Angles + Shots

Hitchcock uses a range of camera angles and shots to create mixed emotions and atmosphere. The main elements that thrillers should have is excitement, tension and adrenaline filled scenes. Hitchcock successfully include all the main elements of a thriller in North by Northwest.

One of the way Hitchcock does with the camera is using different camera angles and shots. One key should would be the close up and extreme close up. In North by Northwest, Hitchcock uses the close up of the hand to create anxiety and tension. The effect this has on the audience is that it leaves them in suspense. Audience would try predicate what will happen in the next shot. Hitchcock does this to engage the audience in the movie. In comparison to modern day thriller the close up of the hand still exists. In Fast and Furious 7 in a already tension filled scene with Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson, the camera angle focuses on Jason's hand. It is important that they use this close up to foreshadow what will happen next. We do everything with our hands and it's only right for the camera to show exactly when the hand is in motion.

Another way Hitchcock uses the camera to create an adrenaline is using the tracking shot. In North by Northwest uses the plane and the main character to create sudden tension. The backward tracking shot makes the audience feel that the action is right in front of them. Hitchcock uses this shot to really leave the audience on the edge of their seat and engaged in the movie. In Fast and Furious they use the same backwards shot but to create excitement. This shows that the same camera shot can engage the audience in different ways. In Fast and Furious 7 when arriving in Abu Dhabi, the camera uses the backwards tracking shot to show the audience the grand entrance with the exotic supercars. The effect this has on the audience is that it builds up excitement for the next scene

A unique way Hitchcock uses camera angles to create emotion is using the POV shot. In the car chase you see a first hand account on what is happening in the scene. This puts the audience in the characters shoes so we are able to empathise with them. The shot increases tension in the scene. In Fast and Furious they also use the Point of View shot. It directly involves the audience in the adrenaline packed action scenes. It's important to use these in films like fast and furious because it's needed to keep adrenaline going. The thrill of able to be in the characters car seat is a key element to the films success.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEO26yNqwns - Fast 7 Backwards tracking shot

Brief

Foundation Portfolio: The Brief 

You have been asked to produce the titles and opening sequence of a new fiction film in thethriller genre.

The sequence should last a maximum of two minutes.

You may work in a group of 2 - 4 students.

As acting is not assessed you are free to use actors that are not members of your group.

The film is worth 60% of your coursework grade.

The accompanying blog is worth 40% of your coursework grade

Together the Foundation Portfolio is worth 50% of the overall AS Level.  

Welcome post

Hi my names Arbaaz and I am a massive action thriller fan! I love how the heroes and villain fight against each other creating nothing but an action , adrenaline packed movie.

My three favorite action thrillers has to be :

Fast and furious 7

This movie combines all the things I admire into one movie. My passion for cars allows me to enjoy the movie much more. Fast 7 had the best super cars in the production line. This included the first Arab super car the Lykan Hyper sport.The car chases fill the audience with adrenaline. The suspense and action in the movie gives it a great thriller feel.

A similar movie - Transporter 3. Just like Fast 7,Transporter uses cars and action to create an effective thriller. It mixes sub genres like crime and romance well as well. The character embarks on a journey to delivery a girl and finds himself dealing with trouble every where he goes. The action packed fighting scenes left me on the edge of my seat