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[gmaguirefiction2020]

Final Summary

With the prompt, ‘Fiction’ I began looking into film adaptations such as Shrek, the Nightmare Before Christmas and My Fair Lady, these films inspired me to create a film adaptation of a poem that has always played on my mind, Eat Me by Patience Agbabi. This poem deals with a woman who is encouraged to eat and be fat by her partner, discussing themes of body image and the male gaze. After looking into this poem further I decided that it would be interesting to filter motifs of this film into the Cinderella story. The Cinderella story is a popular one but many still see that downsides of the narrative, Cinderella is the ‘ideal’ figure of femininity, she makes it seem like the only way out of her situation is to be married yet the narrative also suggests how she needs this to be truly happy too. I used the ideas mentioned above from both Eat Me and Cinderella to construct my film.

After nailing down the ideas I want to present to the audience I began considering what sort of videos to include and how I want to make the audience feel. After some consideration I decided I wanted to highlight the dark side of Cinderella especially so I wanted to make a film that would leave the viewer uncomfortable, I believe I achieved this. Due to the Corona Virus, I was unable to use actors that I didn’t live with so I was fairly limited for people to play certain roles, instead I used dolls. There is a long tradition of using dolls in horror films so it is clear that they work well at giving off an emotion to the viewer, discomfort. Additionally, I researched the use of dolls for feminist art and discovered works by Stacey Leigh, Elizabeth Jaeger and Sheila Pree Bright, among others. These artists use dolls to echo how dolls were created as an unrealistic depiction of the feminine figure they also suggest how dolls were initially created for children yet are now being made into sex symbols with the invention of sex dolls. While considering the use of dolls I looked into horror films, I realised that many use eyes as mediums for discomfort too. With inspiration from 1963 film, “Man with the X-ray Eyes” I decided to use them in my film as they are considered ‘windows to the soul’ and Man with the X-ray Eyes made this very clear.

With the relevance of body image, I decided to include clips of my recorded fat and stretch marks etc to infer ideas presented in Eat Me, I believe these clips really influence film through my use of colour. I edited some of the clips to alter their colour, making them almost unrecognisable, and I believe this use of colour makes the fat seem more mischievous and presents my ideas better.

In conclusion, I believe that I achieved what I intended. With the presence of the Corona Virus, I was fairly limited in many aspects of the project. Despite this, I conclude that my film does leave the viewer with discomfort and does highlight the darker side of Cinderella while cohesively inferring themes and motifs present in Eat Me via the use of narrative based audio.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Edit and Record Process

I used Premiere Pro to edit my film, I am still getting the hang of it so it isn't perfect but overall I am happy with the outcome. I particularly enjoy my use of colour and I believe it achieved what I intended aesthetically.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Notes

Notes from Group feedback and personal tutor sessions that I forgot to upload in the right order.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Documenting the Dolls

After finally getting hold of some dolls to use in my film I documented them, their hair, characteristics, face shape, and more to familiarise myself with their capabilities.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Five Contemporary Artists Using Dolls as a Feminist Protest:

To a certain extent this film seems to have a feminist message behind it and I discovered that there are many artists/photographer who use dolls to infer messages of empowerment or protest for feminist meanings. I also began to research dolls and discovered that dolls are becoming overly sexualised with the invention of sex dolls/mannequins. These dolls are unrealistic depictions of 'the perfect woman'. This discovery is what led me to an article by Grace Banks entitled, "Five Contemporary Artists Using Dolls as a Feminist Protest".

In the introduction to the article Banks comments on how artists use dolls to, "unravel the misogynistic representation of women bodies in contemporary culture", a truly stimulating argument against the male gaze. Banks further reveals that she wanted to outline this group of women as they view overly sexualised dolls as the ultimate objectification of a women's body. Banks concludes by astutely saying, "Between them, they pave a new way for women in contemporary art who, in largely working offline, show a triumph of real life feminism over clickbait activism".

The first artist Banks names is Elizabeth Jaeger who cleverly uses latex paint and plastic hair to curate a 'superficial aesthetic' not unlike a doll or mannequin. Furthermore, Jaeger questions the role women play in public and where these roles stem from. She looks into the conventions of women and the 'ideal'/desirable embodiment of a woman. Banks outlines that Jaegers interest in body image came from her time living in New York as a photographer, her 'nudes' were inspired by this time of reflection and reinvention in her 20's. All in all Jaeger brave photographer who emulates dolls through her medium and female nudes.

The second artist outlined by Banks is Stacey Leigh who was recognised in a Playboy magazine in 2014, the magazine praised her work for, "Bringing the sex appeal of an inanimate female doll, made for sex, to life". Leigh stages her dolls in 'fashionable' clothes in public protest or documents them in her own home. Banks expresses how, "Leigh encourages the viewer", asking them to see how different a doll, produced to represent a woman, can be when used by a man compared to when a woman uses it. Leigh ingeniously discovered that these dolls were an incredibly powerful tool of female representation, one (amount many) reason why Banks recognised her and her work in this article.

London based Annie Collinge is further named by Banks in the article for her series, 'Five Inches of Limb'. The title for this series is quite relevant to my film since it is also based on a poem, actually its based on 5 poems, written by Margaret Atwood. The poems are also based on dolls with relation to the "varied but ambivalent and ambiguous relationship we have with dolls as children and later as adults". Collinge took the fresh perspective on dolls in Atwoods poem and used it as inspiration for her work that, 'draws on similarities between women and dolls'. I believe Collinge new outlook on dolls, stemming from the poem, is an interesting new way of approaching the topic, how we have adapted dolls from being for children into an overly sexualised female figure designed for adults and the male gaze.

Next on the list is Mira Dancy who, unlike the other, doesn't use dolls in her work but rather draws on ideas from them. Dancy dealt with the tired 'trope' of "Girls Girls Girls" by mutating it into something of her own making through the medium of neon signs. The sign is designed as a nude, reclining and looking utterly relaxed, "exposing herself purely on her terms". This is a power move, no man has asked her to do this, she is expressing herself in whatever means she wants to, however she wants to. Dancy states, "These images are made from the perspective of being looked at as a woman, seeing and studying images of women made by men, I was trying to find a way to liberate this body from object status. And once I'd done that, what this could possibly mean", I think the verb, "liberate" is possibly the most important and striking word in this elaboration, it offers a feeling of freedom and along with that comes peace, an emotion that can be seen in the sign.

Finally Dancy includes Sheila Pree Bright, a 'prolific' activist and photographer. She is in this list as she very cleverly exposed the racist and sexist standards of Barbie Dolls in her series, "Plastic Bodies". After discovering a picture of the Hottentot Venus (a woman brought from Africa to England as a 'spectacle' of African womanhood in the 19th century), Bright was inspired to curate something in protest. For her series Bright used strangers she chose from the street to combine their body parts and features with that of a Barbie Doll. This simple and clever peaceful protest outlined to Mattel (the manufacturer of many toys) that they need to be more inclusive, a small victory in a bigger war, men still exhibit and over sexualise women's bodies.

This article was very enlightening for me and has given me inspiration for my film and the direction I would like to take.

Notes from the article:

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Narrative Poem

After my personal tutor session I began writing a poem based on Cinderella but decided to include phrases or words from the poem Eat Me to comment on how, to a certain extent, ideas of body image and conformity are present in both (I highlighted the Eat Me inspired phrases and words in green). While writing this poem I realised that Cinderella only becomes 'happy' when she is in a relationship with a man. I understand that her home life isn't good as she has to deal with her nasty step-relatives but it is still clear that the only way she can think of to escape is to get married? For this reason, I decided not to end the poem with the typical, "And they lived happily ever after" because we can't know that her getting married will help her escape the control of others. She is not married to a Price so she has to conform to royal rules and regulations. In a similar way, the women in Eat Me is conforming to the rules and regulations of the male, he is adapting her to make her into what he wants rather than accepting who she is and what she looks like. This is why I decided to end my poem on a semi-cliffhanger, the same manner as the final line of Eat Me.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Personal Tutor Session & Audio

A very helpful personal tutor session allowed me to discuss how I could use motifs from both Cinderella and Eat Me to suggest themes that I have mentioned before that I would like to infer eg body image and femininity. I also mentioned that I was struggling on what to do for the audio for this film so we brainstormed a couple of ideas such as a bedtime story-like narrative reading or a poem etc. Eventually I decided that a poem would be a good way of keeping the narrative alive but would also allow me to comment on themes and infer the meanings behind each scene as they may not make sense at first glance. This would also help with another of my struggles, keeping the film flowing. Using a narrative based poem I could follow a plot in the film to keep the audience engaged and following along.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Update

I tried a more direct and faster approach to getting my hands on some dolls by taking to my local Facebook group and asking if anyone had any creepy dolls they were happy to pass on to me. I was met with a couple of people posting photos of creepy dolls in the comment section, perhaps this is something in itself. I was quite intrigued by the hilarity of my post and the initial replies. Perhaps I could use the images taken by the owners in the film somewhere to pay homage to their, "heritage". I was also intrigued by the owners, one owner offered me a doll head that she'd had since she was a child. The elderly lady recalled how she would spend hours brushing this dolls hair, a level of care that I wish to emulate in my film to a certain extent, possibly brushing the hair myself.

Owners Photos:

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Struggles and Limitations

Initially I wanted to use a doll for my film due to corona restriction not allowing me to use any actors/actresses however I have had some difficulty finding a doll that fits with the picture I have in my head. This makes me question whether I have an unrealistic picture in my head, perhaps I need to adapt further. Additionally, any dolls I have found that I could alter to make it look like what I want are either too expensive or will take too long to arrive. To combat this issue I am in the process of thinking of new ways to incorporate Cinderella without using actors/actresses but still looking like a human type figure. I am also currently stuck on this issue.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Fat Film Initial Edit

To go along with my theme of body image I filmed an insecurity of mine, my body fat and stretch marks. I began editing the short films in ways that were influenced by colour and somewhat abstracted the films into looking like something alien. During this initial experiment I also considered cropping as a way of distorting the image. I enjoy these films as, while they make me uncomfortable, I like the abstraction of them. I would like to use these films to layer on top of other footage to provide an interesting hue and saturation.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Cinderella Storyboard

The key moments of the Cinderella story that I would like to interpret in my own, individual, way for my film.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Man with the X-Ray Eyes

After the last group criticism I was inspired by the use of eyes in many horror films and enjoy the way they impact the audience. I began researching and thinking about phrases and films etc that concern eyes and came up with things such as, “eyes are windows to the soul” and the use of retina recognition for smartphones outlining that no 2 eyes are the same.

During the criticism peers began suggesting films that use eyes such as ‘1000 eyes of Dr. Maboose’, Pan’s ‘Labyrinth’, ‘Jeepers Creepers’ and I came up with German Expressionism film, ‘Metropolis’, the clever and influential use of eyes can be seen in this clip from Maria Dance. 

Additionally, the film ‘Man with the X-Ray Eyes’ was suggested and I decided to want that film and was so engulfed in the films clever use of aura (around Dr. Xaviers sight) to show us that the serum is making a difference and discolouring his peripheral vision which can bee seen below. These stills also show that Dr., Xavier can see through peoples clothing perhaps making the audience feel disturbed or leading them to question ethics etc. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the editing techniques and use of framing in this film and I found that the film showed me the kind of effect that I wanted to use in my film too. The use of aura in this film provides a psychedelic effect and the ending makes the audience feel uncomfortable due to the gaping holes in the doctors head after he removes his eyes. The end scene was perhaps one of the best scenes as the director was very clever in how he worked with colour and blur along with close ups. The final line in the film was said by the priest who quoted Matthew 5 by saying, “If thine eyes offend thee, pluck them out.” to which the congregation chants back, “Pluck them out, pluck them out, pluck them out!” The writer clever use of repetition gives the scene a dramatic touch and provides an eery atmosphere while the doctor stares down the camera, eye-less. 

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Man with the X-Ray Eyes Film Notes

[gmaguirefiction2020]

I have a lot of considerations and ideas that I want to incorporate in my film that I need to narrow down. I need to make more refined choices. Above are just some of my considerations.

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Thoughts

At the minute I have so many ideas and styles that I would like to include I am struggling to culminate them into something that makes sense. These ideas range from camera angles and filming styles to colour considerations and hues. Moving forward I think I need to experiment with as many of these styles and techniques and figure out what works. Additionally I am struggling to come up with a plot for my film and a way to make my ideas and considerations tells a narrative/flow from one clip to the next. 

[gmaguirefiction2020]

Considerations and Inspirations

I have created a mood board of styles I would like to experiment with or consider in my film that I believe would be vital in providing a horror/grotesque feel for the audience. 

While looking into horror themed art and film I realised there were lots of eye images, close ups that were made to make the viewer uncomfortable, exactly the emotion I want to draw out with my film. Additionally there were motifs of dolls, dark scenes and dark and murky colour schemes that all provided similar emotions of discomfort for me.

Furthermore, I realised through this research that images of meat or flesh also made the viewer uneasy.