Women In Cinema

[‘The Hurt Locker’, Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, 2010]

Kathryn Bigelow was awarded an Oscar for best director for the feature film ‘The Hurt Locker’ in 2010. She is the first woman to win the award and only the 4^th woman to be nominated; these were Sofia Coppola 2003, Jane Campion 1993, Lina Wertmuller 1976. To me this highlights how the film industry is male dominated; this may be because the cost and budgets are so high and the money is given to men rather than women.

This would suggest a gender bias among film production, were there is assumptions made and stereotypes pushed on women. Action films are widely thought of as a film for men, the assumption made that a woman would much prefer a romance. There is an underlying discrimination in cinema, which I had never noticed or considered before.

Even with laws to prevent this bias it is still present, for example Kathryn Bigelow directed ‘Point Break’ in 1991 that made $100million in its 1st year yet received no nominations for awards. In the Director Guild of America only one woman has won an award for an action film, Kathryn Bigelow for ‘The Hurt Locker’, on the other hand several awards have been given to women for documentary films. This enforces the ideas of the female stereotype, that women are more successful producing a documentary than a high cost action film.

Contextualisation

Traditionally, key positions in society were held by men and socially it was accepted that a woman’s place was in the home. The stereotypes of women still remain in society regardless of progress, a motherly, caring, weak, helpless person, an object of desire, and the ultimate male possession.

Women had no voice of their own, they had not power, they could not inherit wealth of any kind, and women did not have the right to vote. At this time men were in total control, the idea that these ethics can still be affecting present day society makes me angry that people can be shunted based on their gender.

Before 1867 most men in the UK could not vote, this was changed in 1867 when men aged over 21 who also own property could vote, then 2.5million people out of 30million had the right vote. It was not until 1918 when all men over 21 years old could vote, this was also the year when women on a property register and aged over 30 gained the right to vote. This was the time of the Suffragettes; women who took direct action to gain equality with men, from fear of revolution women received the vote from the ‘Representation of the Peoples Act’. In 1920 women were given the vote in USA and by 1928 equal voting rights were established in the UK.

Cinema was first invented in 1895, when women did not have voting rights, this potential for profit transformed film into the big business that attracted wealthy men. Post WWI both the money and power in Hollywood, was controlled by a few rich and powerful men these were, Adolph Zuker, Louis B Mayer, Jack Warner, David O Selznick, and Howard Hughes.

At this time an actress was not regarded as a legitimate profession, it was considered on par with prostitution, it was vulgar and common. Very different to today when actors and actresses are idolised by the masses. The view was that women should be part of the scenery rather than main characters. The male characters were portrayed as a ‘hero’, a strong leading role, as these films were produced by men, for men. The women in these films are the romantic interest fawning over the men or the ‘problematic’ of the narrative. As the films developed they introduced new stereotypes for example the ‘dumb blonde’.

Dorothy Arzner’s produced films that included strong female lead characters, using subtle undertones to emphasise female friendships and relationships. She was also responsible for inventing the boom microphone, however after she stopped working she became virtually invisible.

French Film

Since the start of the film industry in France women have made their presence known. Alice Guy-Blanche (1873-1968) was the first women director in cinema history and one of the first feature film directors who introduced a narrative to her work. Alice was a pioneer in the use of sound; she used endless techniques of special effects, double exposures, colour, and masking. After a 25 year career she oversaw more than 700 films which in other places (USA/UK) was deemed impossible. No matter how successful she was now she is overshadowed my men and their accomplishments in the history of the film industry.

Nila Aye

In these images Nila Aye creates compositions with interacting characters that relate to each other and the environment. Even when using flat colour she is able to show depth in the image, which is important to achieve successful interaction between the figures.

Nila Aye uses bight colour that draws your attention, the colours are often realistic and true to the subject. However the image below ‘Your Inner Child’ had a reduced colour pallet that is not representative but shows a cute and fun image. In this illustration although the characters are not touching they are involved with each other in their activities, each figure is active and has a purpose in this drawing.

This is also apparent in the other illustration ‘Grilling’; it shows a family enjoying a BBQ on a nice day. The composition and colour give this image a sense of perfection and complete contentment.

[Your Inner Child, Nila Aye]

[Grilling, Nila Aye]

E.H. Shepard

[Winnie The Pooh, E. H. Shepard, 1926, Pen and Ink]

E.H. Shepard shows an extremely successful image that uses pure black and white. With careful directional mark making the audience is drawn into the fantasy world created. The accuracy of the image gives a believable reality to the story. There is a variety of tone throughout this image in created by the closeness of each line, in some areas the lines are thicker to emphasise the character and signs. The stance of the character ‘Winnie’ gives the impression of loneliness as he is staring up to the sky, which could also suggest a curious personality. This setting had few details but is recognisable as a tree and branches. The image has an overall soft appearance that gives it a calm and quiet atmosphere, also shown in the figure is the peaceful and tranquil mood.

[Wind In The Willows, E.H. Shepard, Publisher Methuen, Author Kenneth Grahame, 1931]

In this cover E.H. Shepard shows his intricate detail and style along with bright colour. To enforce the strong nature theme in this story the illustrator has used greens colour for the environment. These colours are primarily used as block colour with few patterns. The composition of this image gives enough room for a large title without covering vital aspects of the image. The characteristics of the figures show their human personalities, the obvious act of a picnic shows they’re civilised and sophisticated. The figures still have their entire animal bodies with human clothing, these add to the high class of the characters. Similar to the previous ‘Winnie the Pooh’ image the overall atmosphere shows tranquil and peaceful atmosphere. This is portrayed through the soft colours in the environment and soft detail lines.