Tutorial

Ive just had my tutorial with my tutor and i think it was really helpful, i have a clear direction in what i need to do now. I had read the dissertation guidance before the tutorial and that is where we started, we discussed what needed to be in each chapter.

In Chapter 2 i am going to mention the different theories and theorists that i am looking at i.e. Laura Mulvey and The Male Gaze, Semiotics - the start of feminist film theory, Freud and Psychoanalysis etc. I have already started to narrow my research down a bit and focus on informing myself with the different feminist film theories and theorist so i can apply them to the case studies as these are my methodologies i am using for my research.

In Chapter 3 I will be mentioning my case studies, for example, the films from different genres. We started to discuss what films i have chosen for my dissertation, which are Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, as that film started initially from a game with the target audience being mainly male and i can apply Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze a lot to this film as it is notably sexualisedd and then i can compare this to the sequel, which is more plot-based instead of full of sexual innuendos, maybe due to the change of audience? My second film is Scream, as this is very stereotypical of Carol J. Clovers 'final girl' theory, where i can explore the feminine and masculinity of the lead roles, this film has also had a spoof made from it, exaggerating the gender stereotypes within it, and as my tutor has said, it hasn't had a lot written about it. My third film i will be focusing on is Alien, I am choosing this film as it is older than the other films i am choosing and one of the first films to have a strong female lead role within the horror genre after the 60's, but also fits with the 'final girl' theory.
In this discussion we decided that these will be the only films i will use for my dissertation, although i can reference other characters, as my tutor pointed out that there is a lot i can say about these three films and could do a whole dissertation on just one if i wanted too so adding more would just mean i could struggle with word count, especially when critically analysing each of them.
Also Rom Coms have totally different feminist issues, which could lead me to go on a tangent in a totally different direction, loosing focus. So i am going to mention this genre in Chapter 2 possibly, as it is more about gender stereotypes.

I also got chance to discuss my practical response with my tutor, which i have been considering quite a lot over the past week as it was what i was least focused on at the last group tutorial. After discussion, he liked my idea but suggested looking at looking at previous board games instead of designing my own. From this we got on to Monopoly, which sparked me to think of something i had come across yesterday when i was researching game boards, i found an article stating that the concept of the monopoly game was actually invented by a women in 1904, who was a Suffragist and Georgist and made the game to educate children and 'expose the evils of land-grabbing' by showing how it works. This was a very popular game that spread and changed within communities, and was only later when another guy was struggling during the great depression and made a version of the game, which he remembered playing as a child, and tried to sell it to the Parker Brothers, which only bought it went the popularity of the game spread.

So now i am going to the monopoly game and change it into a feminist game for example, buying women's rights, breaking gender stereotypes etc. And the history of the board adds contexts. I really like this idea and got really excited about it when discussing this in the tutorial. Ive decided not to use a pop up element to the game at all, as i think it just doesn't need to be there as the main focus of the work should be the game and the context and i can do paper cut illustrations within my extended practice.

So for next week, i am going to start writing down what statements and quotes etc. i am going to put in chapter 2 & 3. For this is i am going to read more about the different feminist film theories and theorists, so i can apply them to my case studies and then note down what i need to write about.

I am also going to focus my research down for my practical research, i am going to see if i can get my hands on a monopoly board and work out the ways it works and start finding ways i can adapt it to my concept, with it still working as a functional game. Once i have done this i will be able to start designing the boards, game pieces, money, packaging etc.

Depending on how much time i have, i could consider doing the promotional advertising for the game, but this depends on time management and balancing all my work, although that would be nice to have a whole product and packaging and promotional packaging.