TASK #1 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
DEADLINE: FRIDAY 28 NOVEMBER
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.
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