Critical Investigation Task #5 - Web research

NICHOLS, Bill.  Mode Of Documentary 2001
http://www.godnose.co.uk/downloads/alevel/documentary/Doc%20Modes%20nichols.pdf

-''six types of modes of documentary Expository , Poetic, Observational , Participatory, Performative , Reflexive''

-Stella Bruzzi 2000 Criticsed Nichols for suggesting that Doc. makers have aimed for the 'perfect representation of the real’ and would fail in this impossible aim, thus undermining the documentary form


TOM BADWEN, 40 years since the Equal Pay Act, equality remains a dream March 2011
 http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/mar/08/four-decades-on-equal-pay-yet-to-come

- "Men still earn more than women in nearly 90% of job categories, according to analysis by The Guardian"
-  "Men earn 42.4% more in their annual salaries"
- "The average man working full-time has a median salary, including overtime, of £28,091 in 2010, 19.9% more than his female counterpart"



Nichols, Bill. 'Foreword', in Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski Documenting The Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video.
Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1997

-''Documentary's were originally shot on film stock—the only medium available—but now includes video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video, made into a TV show or released for screening in cinemas.''

-"film-making practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception"
-''Documentary's are continually evolving and are without clear boundaries''


John Grierson
http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/hfilm/MORRIS.html
- 'a documentary is "creative treatment of actuality'

- single-shot moments captured on film: a train entering a station, a boat docking, or factory workers leaving work. These short films were called "actuality" films; the term "documentary" was not coined until 1926

Rubin, Alissa J.; Nordland, Rod (December 10, 2011).Four Afghan Men Held In Acid Attack On Family . ALISSA J. RUBIN and ROD NORDLAND (The New York Times).2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/world/asia/afghan-men-held-in-acid-attack-on-family-in-kunduz.html

- the situation is improving slowly as the country progresses with the help of the international community

-the government would prosecute the attackers under the Elimination of Violence Against Women law, which was passed last year.

-The law, however, specifically prohibits chemical attacks on women.

-from March 2010 to March 2011, there had been 2,299 complaints of gender-motivated abuse registered with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, but that only 7 percent of those cases ended up in a prosecution.

Kavita Choudary. India is fourth most dangerous place in the world for women, (India Today - 2011)
-According to a global poll conducted by Thomson Reuters, India and Afghanistan are in the "top 5 most dangerous countries" in the world for women


Owen Bowcott. Afghanistan worst place in the world for women, but India in top five, (The Guardian 2011)
-basic human rights are systematically denied to women.
- "Pakistan has some of the highest rates of dowry murder, so-called honour killings and early marriage." According to Pakistan's human rights commission, as many as 1,000 women and girls die in honour killings annually.
-"Women who do attempt to speak out or take on public roles that challenge ingrained gender stereotypes of what is acceptable for women to do or not, such as working as policewomen or news broadcasters, are often intimidated or killed."

Omar Farooq Khan. Pakistan second-worst country in gender equality (Indian Times) 2014
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-second-worst-country-in-gender-equality/articleshow/44961322.cms

''Pakistan has emerged as the world's second-worst country in terms of gender equality, according to the annual Global Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum.''

"Pakistani Women's Human Rights Organization (PWHRO)" April 2014.
'13% increase in violence against women in Pakistan in the year 2009''
''today females make up only 15% of the formal labor force in Pakistan, and although this is almost triple what is was 20 years ago, this is still a very dismal amount''

Critical Investigation Task #4 Essay plan

Theories: 
Representation Theories


Definition

Feminism '' the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.'' http://dictionary.reference.com/ - France

 - Introduction
“The hegemonic model acknowledges that much of the media is controlled by a relatively small group of people (who are generally male, middle class and white) and that the viewpoints associated with these groups inevitably become embedded in the products themselves.”

Baker, J. Clark, V. Lewis, E. (2003). p. 113.
"News journalism has a broadly agreed set of values, often referred to as 'newsworthiness'

I will be starting my essay with the quote above, I will link this to what the media shows is controlled by an elite and what is shown has to be ''elite people'' or ''elite nations'' Galtung, J. & Ruge, M. Holmboe (1965) - so mention any awareness raised is
(200 words)

 - Section 1 :- Saving Face/Genre
Documentary & Saving face background - When the violence was first reported?
(200 words)

 - Section 2:-Issues Debates/Representations

Representation and stereotypingRepresentation of women will be discussed at present - in the Pakistani society, and how historical/cultural views such as being seen as their Father's before marriage, and their Husband's after marriage haven't changed greatly.
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, as a director of this represents a very authentic view of Domestic Violence, and is able to get an insight of situations having to be faced in Pakistan by acid attack & other female victims.

News ValuesPakistan is not in the league country's, therefore it is less likely for even minor news from country's such as USA to be on rather than an acid attack in Pakistan or other poorer country's.
Cultural proximity is definitely something that can be linked because acid attacks are less likely to happen in Britain, therefore not as much awareness is being raised.


Media Technology - - Digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century
(Find Quotes)

Reality TV
Regulation and censorship
Hyper-Reality

Moral Panic
Post-feminism

Liberal Pluralism

(500 words)


 - Section 3:Documentary Evolved/Historical Text - 
Analyse how the values of 1960's are similar in the Pakisitani society differ to now?Analyse the evolution of key conventions within documentary 
focus on:
Audience theories & Psycho-graphicsGender and Ethnicity
(300 words) 

 - Section 4:Representation of Feminists & Attackers
Theories on representations
Media ownership
Why aren't attacks reported as much
What is being done currently - Katie Piper Foundation
(400 words)

 - Section 5: 2 other texts & link that - to awareness e.g News Articles - Quotes from there (see notes & quotes) & Books/ Link back to question & text.

News Values - Photo journalism - What's needed to increase empathy & increase reports 

(400 words)

Critical Investigation Task #3 Historical text analysis and research

Research a historical text that you can use to compare with your contemporary one (that is the main focus of your investigation). By 'historical' we mean anything pre-2000 but the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s or even 80s might be more fruitful because they pre-date many of the important changes that have occurred more recently (such as the gains for women as a result of feminism; or greater equality for ethnic minorities now that we are - arguably - a more inclusive and multi-cultural society; or the ground-breaking developments in new media/digital technology)

• how society and the issue you are investigating has changed over the years and how these changes are reflected in different media texts, or - to put it another way...
• how popular culture reflects the 'spirit of the age' or Zeitgeist

This shows that in the past - (video from 1960's). Joan Rivers, does this comedy show based on stereotypes and the norms of society in 1967. She states how a girl is different to guys and she is the one who has to wait to be called by a male, if she wants a proposal/date - these beliefs that males are superior and  there isn't any gender equality in 1967 is the Zeitgeist.

The stereotypes of females are based on the truth(Perkins) in this comedy showing - showing and mocking the role and difference between man & woman in the society.

This is similar to my main text saving face - although it is filmed in 2011-12 - several years later to this comedy show, the same beliefs follow in the society in many Places of Pakistan - that being that females should remain submissive, and have less choice on what is to be done or said. Also, to be married at a young age, without consent in some cases, to spare the humiliation from society. 




(insert other text)

• how society and the issue you are investigating has changed over the years and how these changes are reflected in different media texts, or - to put it another way...
• how popular culture reflects the 'spirit of the age' or Zeitgeist

 
Watch at least one film/TV programme/video game/music video from the past, make notes on it and research it in Media/Film Studies textbooks and on the internet. The best option is to watch/play the whole text on DVD/online or otherwise you might be able to see extracts on YouTube. Answer the following questions:

Text 1:

• How is it similar/different to your main text?
• How does this show how the genre/society/issue has changed?
  
  This video is not only based in Pakistan - where my main text Saving Face was filmed - but it also involves Pakistani women who are acid attack victims. This is seen negatively, and as a generic view of women in Pakistan. This is a news report from an American news company - and includes segments of a documentary on 'Pakistani Women' - and domestic Violence against women.
  
  There isn't much of a difference between what has happened recently - shown in Saving Face, nor the text above, as females are shown to be the key victims and it is due to domestic violence - by family members, such as Husbands - exactly how it is in Saving Face. There's not much change, other than the change in awareness and actions to stop it, such as more committees being raised for the crime of acid attacks - also, criminals being a little less able to flee the scene, and not being put behind bars than 8 years ago when the text above was recorded.
  
  However, even after strict laws being put in place - similar to the text above, in Saving Face it is shown that no one is to hear much from the victim - as she is a female thus seen inferior - showing there's a lack of gender equality. Also, there is still not enough international awareness as there should be, however due to the Documentary Saving Face winning an Oscar and being mentioned in a number of articles and other humanitarian awards,
  
  On the other hand, although great awareness has been raised about these issues through documentary's such as Saving Face and news channels - if they are shown in Pakistan many victims can get offended, and be endangered to face the life threatening assaults of an acid attack again.
  
  Text 2 :

• How is it similar/different to your main text?
• How does this show how the genre/society/issue -has changed? 

This is another recent text on feminism. It is Emma Watson's UN speech - where she discusses her new campaign to end #HeForShe. This shows something is being done to progress Feminism, in all country's. Watson states that femisim, i.e. gender equlity doesn't exsist in any country as a whole - and she believes that feminism has become an inpopular word, similarly - how women speaking up for their rights in pakistan has become unpopular, and the society don't always stand with them - as shown. This is evident in my main text Saving Face - where a victim's husband and his family had thrown acid on her and burnt her body, and later denied any allegations against - and claimed Rukhsana (acid attack victim), burnt her self & lit herself on fire.  

Other texts: 1980's-2000:

Indira gandhi speech feminism
Bibi

Critical Investigation Task #1 - Textual Analysis

TASK #1 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

DEADLINE: FRIDAY 28 NOVEMBER

Carry out close textual analyses of at least TWO chosen scenes/extracts/clips from your PRIMARY text and post them up on your blog.

The extracts should be able to exemplify some of the key points you wish to make in your Critical Investigation and link with some of the following key areas raised by your text...Make sure it is an extract you haven't analysed before and embed the YouTube link in your posting if you can.


Think of each analysis as like a MEST 3 exam analysis but with one text instead of two - so you need to cover MIGRAIN and SHEP and you are advised to watch the extract several times and to make detailed notes before embarking on the write-up, which should be in essay format (NOT in note form). 

Use our Key Concepts Glossary to help you think about terminology to use. You should be including as many of these keywords and ideas as possible in your analysis (where relevant...this won't always be the case). You should also include ideas from the essential Media Keywords A-Z - another fantastic resource you should be reading religiously.

Scenes 1-3 are from : Saving Face Documentary Link

Scene 1 chosen: 1.50 mins - 2.45 mins

Issues and debates

Representation and stereotyping; 
Males are shown to be the cause of the acid attack for all 4 of the victims shown in this short period of 55 seconds. 

News Values; 
The females mention nothing about being heard, or receiving justice - potentially due to the fact that they are living in LEDC's (third world country's) i.e. Pakistan, which is not an elite nation, and neither are these victims celebs or politicians to be seen elite - thus cases go unheard and even if they are heard, they'll be unreported. 


Moral Panics;
Half of the acid attack cases were done by family members husbands, making husbands in the Pakistani society seem like
furthermore, one of the attacks was done by a school teacher on a 13 year old, showing that teachers can't be trusted in the Pakistani society, and this can potentially be seen as a moral panic. 

Theories

Gender and ethnicity;
women are Pakistani, thus  expected traditionally to stay at home and cook, exactly how the key victim Zakia is shown.

Audience theories; Subtitles are included rather than dubbing, in order to appeal to those who are both Asian (speak urdu/hindi/punjabi), or understand the spoken language, and subtitles in English - for those in the Western society. To further appeal to the audience, the plastic surgeon - Dr JAWAD speaks in English when talking to the audience.  

Marxism and hegemony; 
Liberal Pluralism;
Colonialism and Post-colonialism; 
Genre theories.
MIGRAIN/SHEP
This scene starts with a close up of the hands and of the first character in this specific scene being shown. Her hands are shown to be resting in each other on her knees - from what can be seen she is covered with a scarf, and her hands and the traditional henna pattern on them is all that can  be seen.

This is then followed by a sudden long shot, of the victim's bare burnt face and hair tied up - clearly showing the burn marks and disfigurement. 

She narrates the events that took place, and clearly states that her husband had burnt her with acid, at this point only her hands are shown. she then goes on to talking about how he did it, and says her husband threw acid on her whilst she was asleep, this information further creates empathy, as anyone who is sleeping is unaware of what is happening, and in other words when they are most vulnerable, showing she was taken advantage of when she was in the most vulnerable situation - asleep.
This is followed by a close up of her face as she continues to speak. Then she spoke about why she was burnt and gave a very short response, stating ''he just didn't want me'' in Urdu, and lifts her shoulders connotatively meaning that she believes its not a valid reason, and is still unsure about the events occurred. 

Straight after the first victim shown, there is a fade transition to another victim who is shown using a long-shot. She starts off with vulnerable information, not that she was attacked - but the fact that she was attacked at the age of thirteen - again representing women in this documentary as vulnerable. This links in with leadership and dominance of males in tradition and society - as her school teacher wanted to be with her.

This is quickly followed by another story, again introduced with a long shot clearly showing the deprived and undeveloped background of the third victims house/garden. She begins to talk about how she was attacked, and she starts with ''I was sleeping'' -- again reinforcing the negativity of males, and representing women as vulnerable. She mentions he missed her face - however, he had repeated the act in order to get her face. This had left her with further  disfigurement/disability. This shows that many attackers are getting away with what they do, and even 1 year later, they are able to repeat such inhuman actions - and yet again, get away with it.  She is then shown in a close up, of her destroyed face, eye/nose and lips - and she states that it was due to the fact they(her family & her), rejected a proposal. This was seen as revenge and nothing was done about it.

Again, with a fast pace - this fades onto the 4th victim, who looks like the youngest victim shown so far. She clearly states how vulnerable she is and states ''I was an innocent child. Why did he ruin my face?''. By this time as an audience, the assumption that mainly  females are being targeted by men is created. This  shows the female to be in control, and males be the controllers. This shot is followed by a close of the teens face, and she is only able to look up for a few seconds then drops her head down, showing not only the physical affects, but the mental affects as this connotates the lack of self-esteem  in individuals after such an attack.

The quick pace of editing, and summary of acid attack stories emphasizes and connotates that there are a number of incidents yet left to hear out,  a number of untold stories and a number of unheard females who are awaiting their justice after such heart-breaking attacks.

There is soft non-dietetic classical south Asian sound/music playing in the background throughout this scene. This is very traditional and seemed quite soft and archaic, thus was parallel. The dialogue is all in Urdu, however running subtitles are provided during the editing process. This is done in order to appeal to those who don't understand Urdu - this was vital to do as this film was not intended to show in Pakistan, but was created by institutions and the producers in order to raise awareness about such devastating events.  

Critical Investigation Task #2 Academic research and bibliography

Books

''our knowledge of the world is constructed by media representations”
Andrews, M. Burton, J. Stevenson, E. (2009). p. 182.


Stuart Hall, whereby he stated that “ethnic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial (and racist) stereotypes.”

Laughey, D. (2009). p. 78.


“how we are seen determines in part how we are treated; how we treat others is based on how we see them; such seeing comes from representation.”
Dyer, R. (1993). p. 1.


“the media are highly selective in the way in which they construct and represent the world back to us”
Kruger, S. Rayner, P. Wall, P. (2004). p. 47.


“Zeitgeist.”Collins, W. (1989). p. 1388.


“The hegemonic model acknowledges that much of the media is controlled by a relatively small group of people (who are generally male, middle class and white) and that the viewpoints associated with these groups inevitably become embedded in the products themselves.”

Baker, J. Clark, V. Lewis, E. (2003). p. 113.




‘’Nur Cintay a writer for a leading Turkish newspaper said that she is anti-feminist’’

ALAT, Z. (Sept 2006). p. 295

‘’there’s an urgent need of increase the involvement of women in the media and the decision making processes’’ ‘’feminist groups should continue to provide constant feedback and disentangle the hegemonic gender discourse in the media’’
ALAT, Z. (Sept 2006). p. 314.
‘’young women (on TV) get enough love from their husbands’’

ibid

PERLM, A.(2007). p. 129
‘’An average of 5 women die each month in Portugal as a result of domestic violence’’
PERLM, A. (2007) .p. 140
‘’The willingness of public figures with powerful cultural influence to speak up in the media sphere is an important means of awareness’’

PERLM, A. (2007) .p. 143
‘’research on domestic violence in the news has been less common than sexual violence from strangers’’

"News journalism has a broadly agreed set of values, often referred to as 'newsworthiness'

Boyd, A. (1994) Broadcast Journalism

''Elite people & nations''
Galtung, J. & Ruge, M. Holmboe (1965)


Journal of Film Preservation, nr. 70, November 2005.
''Compared to dramatic narrative films, documentaries typically have far lower budgets which makes them attractive to film companies because even a limited theatrical release can be highly profitable.''

CREED, BARBARA Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism and Psychoanalysis, The

MACDONALD, MYRA Representing Women

MALIK, SARITA Representing Black Britain: Black and Asian Images On Television~

Journals

Avon Global Centre For Women And Justice
 ''Acid attacks, like other forms of violence against women, are not random or natural phenomena. Rather, they are social phenomena deeply embedded in a gender order that has historically privileged patriarchal control over women and justified the use of violence to “keep women in their places.”
''acid violence is a form of gender-based violence and discrimination prohibited under international law, including the “Women’s Bill of Rights,” i.e., the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. ''
''To combat acid violence, governments should limit the availability of acid, appropriately punish perpetrators, provide adequate redress to victims, and support women’s empowerment to enhance their self-confidence and ability to sustain independent livelihoods. ''

PALLAVI, KAMAT, (Stop Street Harrasment Correspondent) Stop Street Harrasement Blog- July 2012
''we usually visualize women being subjected to a few catcalls and obscene comments in public places. Over the last few years, in India, however, women are being confronted with a completely gruesome form of street harassment.'' 
''Women in different parts of India have faced acid attacks from men for several reasons, most common among them being refusal of a proposal. Men track down these women, accost them and attack them with acid leaving them severely scarred. Though the physical injuries may heal (after laborious and multiple operations), the mental injuries remain for life.''

News
NOSHEEN , ABBASS BBC Online World News - May 2012
Pakistan acid victims try to block Saving Face film

’’Relations between filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and some of her documentary subjects have turned sour.''
''The survivors say they could be at risk of a backlash and even further acid attacks if the film is shown at home.
'' At the centre of the dispute is the question of whether the survivors featured in the 40-minute film gave permission for it to be screened in Pakistan.''

"This is disrespect to my family, to my relatives and they'll make an issue of it... ''
''We may be in more danger and we're scared that, God forbid, we could face the same type of incident again.''
"We do not want to show our faces to the world.''
"Most times, men who throw acid are members of one's own family, they don't get prosecuted,"

SIMON, ROGERS  The Guardian News – March 2011
"Men still earn more than women in nearly 90% of job categories, according to analysis by The Guardian"
"Men earn 42.4% more in their annual salaries"
"The average man working full-time has a median salary, including overtime, of £28,091 in 2010, 19.9% more than his female counterpart""The gap falls to 10.2% when overtime - which typically pays a much higher rate and is largely carried out by men"""It's appalling. How can this be when we have pay equality laws?" said Ruth Sealy, deputy director of the International Centre for Women Leaders at Cranfield University.""Six in 10 women aged 15 to 30 say they have experienced sexist remarks or sexist behaviour, while 47% of women do not believe they are treated equally to men in the workplace, according to a survey by Ipsos Mori on behalf of Amnesty International, the Fawcett Society and Women's Aid"

SUSAN, KING LA Times - 8th March 2012  
''With all the attention on celebrity and glamour at the Academy Awards, it's rare that the award for short documentary film gets much notice.''
''Obaid-Chinoy, who also will be receiving a civilian award from Pakistan's prime minister this month for the film.
''The acid phenomenon has been growing in her country for the past decade, especially in parts of the country with high levels of unemployment and low levels of literacy.''
SHARMEEN OBAID CHINOY, Interview on release of documentary Saving Face LA Times - March 2012
"Most times, men who throw acid are members of one's own family, they don't get prosecuted,"
"They don't get sent to jail and it emboldens other people.''
'' If you look at any Third World country where there is abject poverty, you find there is violence against women. They are the first line of easy defence you can knock over."

CLANCY, CHASSAY  The Guardian News – November 2008

''Afghan women who defy traditional gender roles and speak out against the oppression of women are routinely subject to threats, intimidation and assassination. An increasingly powerful Taliban regularly attacks projects, schools and businesses run by women.''

 Media Magazines

AMY, CHARLEWOOD The Media Magazine Issue 40 – April 2012
''Post-feminism can be defined as the current ideological belief in culture and society that we are somehow past needing feminism – that the attitudes and arguments of feminism are no longer needed; that those battles have long been won.’’