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Gender Stereotypes - TV Drama

In their broadest form, gender stereotypes in TV drama are usually about the strength and dominance of men, and the weakness and submission of women. Some slightly more specific stereotypes (more dependent on the context of the TV drama) are that men may be arrogant, cocky, and unemotional, whereas women are the opposite; being portrayed as calm, considerate and emotional. However with increasing frequency, females are being presented as the more intellectually strong gender, and many popular TV dramas feature a sly female character.

In this clip from BBC mystery drama Sherlock, there is a confrontation between the protagonist Sherlock, his partner Watson and the newly introduced antagonist Irene Adler. Contrary to the usual gender stereotypes, and Sherlock and Watson having the bigger physical presence, Irene seems to dominate the pair of them with her intelligence and confidence. She is almost the complete counter-stereotype for a woman, however the use of her nakedness to give her power over the men is bit of a classic female stereotype in TV.

A good example of the classic gender stereotype in TV is Skins, the male characters are often portrayed as being arrogant, and obsessed with girls, whereas the female characters often just become objects of lust for the males. Whilst this isn't always the case there are plenty of examples of it, e.g. Tony after Michelle in season 1 & 2 and Cook and Freddie after Effy in season 3 & 4. The majority male characters strive to meet the male stereotype of appearing virile and masculine, whilst a lot of the female characters are trying to meet their stereotype.

The Male Gaze - Booty

Right from just seeing the title of the song, sexual content is implied, "Booty" of course being a popular slang word for the (usually female) rear end. The video opens with a countdown, which isn't really that relevant, but when we first see the shot of the two featured women, it doesn't open on their faces but instead a view from the waist down.

This is a brilliant example of the male gaze, because after all, this is how men would stereotypically view women in the media. No face is included in the shot, which backs up the idea that the male gaze denies women an identity, and objectifies them. She is clearly playing up to the concept of the male gaze, as she is showing her assets to the camera unashamedly. The way she is

Here we see one of the women looking back into the camera, using the 'sexual' look, the description of which is 'the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-head, or the overtly sensual or sexual' which pretty accurately sums up this picture. Once again this shows how the women in the video (Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea) are playing up to the concept of the gaze.

Here Lopez has an almost aggressive demeanour, this time her face is in shot, however it is obscured by her glasses, so she is still objectified to an extent.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Pre-Production:
- Is the film an original idea, a remake, a sequel or an adaptation (or a combination)? 
The film is an adaptation of "The Hobbit" the immensely successful, high-fantasy novel by J.R.R Tolkien.

- Who is the director?
Peter Jackson, the director of the successful Lord of the Rings adaptation trilogy.

- Which studio(s) are making the film?
New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, WingNut Films.

- What size budget did it have?
$200-315 million

- Which 'stars' signed up to be in the film?
Ian McKelle, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom.

- How long did it take from 'green light' to filming commencing?
The hobbit was green lit around mid-October 2010, and filming began on March 21, 2011. So it took around 5 and a half months.


Production:
- Where was it 'filmed'?
It was primarily filmed on location in New Zealand, but for certain scenes sets and green screens were used.

- How was it filmed (3D, 2D, CGI)?
It was filmed at 48fps, the first wide release to do so, however when the film was released     the majority of the showings were in the converted, industry standard 24 fps. There was       also a lot of 

- Any problems it faced?
The New Zealand film workers held a strike mid-way through the production of the film to try and keep the film's production in New Zealand after the film's locations where set to change.
  
Post-Production:
- Does it rely on special effects?
Throughout the movie there is repeated use of special effects, and a lot of the main plot points are reliant on CGI, for example the main antagonist is a dragon which obviously aren't real.


- What sort of special effects are used?
Mainly computer generated images (CGI), however some of the set features are probably special effects (physically there when filming) e.g. pyrotechnics or animatronic props.


- Was 3D added AFTER filming?
No, the whole film was recorded in 3D, the action sequences were recorded in HFR 3D, meaning high frame rate 3D.


- Did it require any RE SHOOTS
No.
Marketing:
- How was the film marketed (find AT LEAST 5 different promotional tools)
Posters, trailers, premiers, web ads and promotional giveaway's (McDonalds toys, etc).

- Where was the films premier?
New Zealand (Nov 28, 2012).