Alex Gillam

WOMEN IN ACTION: FEMINISM OR FETISHISM?

PITCH

• This is the story of how inequalities between men and women in film still exist and the struggle to find out whether this will ever change

ACT 1 (4 MINUTES)

• This documentary will be edited in a way that mirrors how action films are cut through fast cuts, action music, titles, b-roll, and color-correcting

• Music will all be action /upbeat songs. I’m talking to some friends who might write a song for me (Harry Ong and Tommy Shugart)

• The beginning of the documentary will start by following someone walking into a movie theater as seen in my opening sequence then sitting down to watch the movie (in this case, my documentary)

• *Already filmed and edited, needs to be color-corrected

ACT 1

• A-Roll: Interview with Dr. McLaren from the women’s studies department at Rollins about women's roles in society and the steps that we've made since the women’s liberation movement and, gay and lesbian movement. Has agreed to be filmed, date TBD.

• Brief 8 second montage of people describing women's traits as portrayed in film in one word (To be filmed Saturday evening at Regal Cinema)

• Interview continued with Dr. Margaret McLaren Professor in the Rollins College Women’s Studies Department.

• A-Roll: Discussion on violence against women. Discussion of protest on campus for v-week and its importance because 1 in 4 women get sexually harassed (B-roll: Graph of four female characters with one in red). This is the number one crime at Rollins campus even though its not talked about.

ACT 2 (7 MINUTES)

ACT 1

• A-Roll: Interview with Campus Security this Saturday, filmed in campus security. Asking what they know about violence against women on campus and why it isn't talked about even though it is the number one crime on campus at Rollins.

ACT 2

• A-Roll: Discussion with campus security on how rape scenes exist in action films and how this affects audiences.

• B-roll: Show scene from Kill Bill where the lead female almost gets raped

• Discussion with Lauri Turchin Associate Course Director of Film who teaches film history at Full Sail and has an extensive background in Production.

• Talking about how students made a video centered around rape and how she was horrified that they thought it was appropriate. Discuss how the media plays a role in desensitizing people to violence against women. (Already filmed).

INCITING INCIDENT

• A-Roll: Discussion with Dr.Cavenaugh, Feminist and Communications Professor at Rollins College (Already filmed)

• Talk about how the role has changed to women being the ones who act violently in the media. Aggression is no longer solely for men and because of this people think it means that women are equal to men in the media. Violence is usually gender masculine but we see women more and more women doing it in film now

• B-roll footage of Alien, Tomb Raider, Hanna.

• People at the Regal Cinema describing what they think women in action films are like men and women. To be filmed Saturday evening outside the Regal Cinema in the Winter Park Village

• Discussion with Jeff Moldovan Stunt Coordinator and potentially two of his fellow stuntswomen (he is in the process of trying to set this up for me) location: his studios

• Talking about what discrepancies he has noticed between men and women in the film business and in film’s themselves

• Discussion with one of his fellow stuntswomen on what it is like being a female in the film business

ACT 2

• Cut to interview with Lauri Turchin (already filmed)

• A-Roll: Discussion of women in action films and how they have developed over time looking at blaxploitation, film noir and contemporary films with clips from the discussed movies as b-roll.

• Discussion with John Walsh Associate Course Director, History of Motion Picture Arts at Fullsail on why the inequalities and discrepancies that exist in roles

• Already filmed.

• (pointing out income differences between actresses and actors with graphs as b-roll).

RISING ACTION

• Interview with Dr. Trier-Bieniek at Valencia on Thursday April 19h 10:00 am in her office

• A-Roll: Discussion on how although more and more leading roles have been awarded to women, they are still portrayed as unequal. Females are often sexualized, mentally unstable, or emotionally attached and reliable on another male.

RISING ACTION:

• B-Roll: Montage of women provocatively dressed from action films (10 seconds maximum) Commenting on these so its fair use.

• Voiceover fades in to clip from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) with the T-X breasts’ growing to match those of the Victoria’s Secret model. State how the film comments on the female T-X being constructed as a sexualized object created to conform to man’s requirements.

• Cut to interview with John Walsh (already filmed)

• “Although movies may revolve around a female character, the plots are often male driven as seen with the film Kill Bill (show clip). These characters often have weaknesses that are associated with the female gender”.

• A-Roll: Discussion with other stuntwoman that Jeff is setting up for me date and person tbd.

• B-roll: Full-figured women in the 50's by 80's and 90's women's bodies started to look more girlish and thin (images of this as b-roll with statistics)

• A-roll: Suntwoman discussing how the shift in bodies makes them less threatening and they are literally taking up less space while images of men have gotten bigger, stronger, more muscular over-compensation making up in size (images of this as b-roll)

• Voiceover: (Count number of male directors out of all the action films I analyzed and note how it’s no wonder films are portraying women as unequal. The people behind the films are mostly male.)

• Call to action: Why is it important that we look at how women are portrayed in film?

• A-roll: Interview with John Walsh “Because of the fact that there is an audience for these films which shows something about our culture that taps in to anger against women, misogyny etc”

CONCLUSION

• A-roll: interviewees providing their opinions on whether or not females will ever become equal to males in film.

• Backup interviews as fillers:

• I have also interviewed Tiffany Martin who is an intern with the Lucy Cross Center as well as students from Voices for Women as fillers/ back-up interviews

• I am also talking to the alumni relations person at my high school (it was an all girls school) for alumni who are in this field. Some potentials include a feminist senator and someone who works for the Sundance Film Festival.