Set work for A2 Film today 22nd April

Welcome back after Easter break. 

I id not receive any of the essays I set the week over the break, so I have asked Mr Dixon to collect your studies in addition to the homework at 3:40 today.

The work is the post below this one.

Also due today is your analysis of spectatorship using your own example that demonstrates one of the Oppositional Gazes, to be included in your final paragraph for the essay and feeding into your thesis and conclusion - how signifiant is gender in a spectator's reception of a film?

Next week we are moving onto Spectacle driven Movies and Fandom so this is your last chance to get the exam essay submitted.

Post them to your blogs 

Homework for next week is to research audience fanculture surrounding either: 

Preliminary Reading
http://www.totalfilm.com/features/50-biggest-movie-fandoms
Theory: John Fiske on Fandom
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Fandom
Case Study on 'Jack & The Beanstalk'


the Marvel comics franchise (Avengers, Spiderman or Xmen)
or The Hunger Games 
or the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII
or (sigh!) Lord of The Rings

Q1. Who are these people (demographics: age, gender, subculture [geeks], sexuality?)
Q2. What evidence can you find (forums etc) to show they affect the Production & Marketing of these films
Q3. Comicon - how is this linked to Marketing & Distribution
Q4. What type of pleasures are offered (subcultural identity, spectacle, ideologies/values, mirror stage fantasy?







1.  Why is Fandom significant to our studies on Spectatorship? What links can you make between how audience interpretation and readings of film are  explored here?

'Queer' Reading of Lord of the Rings
Female Fandom & the Hunger Games

2. Fandom & Spectatorship:
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Fans-and-Fandom-FANDOM-AS-A-SOCIAL-ACTIVITY.html
These highly communal experiences, responses, and interpretations of fandom also translate into activities beyond simply viewing a highly anticipated and appreciated film. Film fans approach watching a film as just one stage within a wider process of consumption and production, with secondary texts such as promotional materials and reviews leading up to the moment of viewing, fanzine reviews and commentaries following the initial filmic encounter, and repeated viewings and the collecting of DVDs with their special features. Film fandom is never about just "going to see a movie."



3. DEFINITIONS OF FANDOM TERMINOLOGY

• fandom can be defined or explained as the state of being a fan or all that encompasses fan culture and fan behavior in general, or the study of fans and fan behavior.
• the definition of an audience is: an assembly of listeners or spectators.
• the definition of fanatic is: marked or moved by excessive enthusiasm and intense uncritical devotion.
• the definition of a fan is:
  1) an enthusiastic follower of a sport or entertainment or
  2) an enthusiastic admirer (as of a celebrity).
• fandom is expressed individually (ex. a fan surfing the Web for sites about their favorite celebrity) and/or collectively (ex. a sporting event or concert).
• Texts or commercial commodities are the objects of fandom (ex. celebrities, movies, music videos, teams, etc.)
• Fiske defines three fan "reactions" to their text of choice:
  1) semiotic productivity is when fans use their object of fandom to create social meaning in their own lives (ex. a fan who gains confidence watching his or her favorite character on TV).
  2) enunciative productivity is when fans express their fandom to the outside world through speech or appearance (ex. fans wearing their favorite team's jerseys).
  3) textual productivity is when fans create texts based on their object of fandom (ex. fan fiction).

These are the most general of definitions. 



Conclusion - is gender still significant when applied to film fandom?
Post your thoughts as comments below