Sunday, 15 November 2015

#PorteOuverte #ViveLaFrance


The atrocious and inhumane attack on Paris on Friday the 13th of November is still hard to comprehend. Destruction and terror such as this is the stuff of nightmares.
There are no words I can find to describe what happened on Friday.
The only thing I can tell you is that it is times like this that we need to come together as a species. 
Do not point ignorant blame at religions you know little about.
Terrorism has no religion and no race.
Do not cast hate at the many because of the actions of the few.

Please remember that over a hundred hearts stopped beating in Paris on Friday, do not use their deaths to excuse your own ignorance. Be considerate.


PRO-SEX FEMINISM and why it's AWESOME.



Female sexuality has always been a touchy subject even since the 60's when sex became "kind of okay". But there seems to be no logical reasoning behind it. Male sexuality is so deeply engrained into our culture that we have naked women on the front page of magazines, ready for young boys to see so they know exactly what to expect from women in their adult years.

Second wave feminism in the 1970's challenged these ideas surrounding female sexuality. Women were protesting for abortions, and in 1974 The Pill became readily available for young single women in Britain. Feminist writers such as Angela Carter appeared in the mid to late seventies publishing works explicitly exploring female sexuality; in such work we would see female characters who wanted to be dominated, menstruation was discussed like the norm that it is, and females actually enjoying sex.

In the 1980's sex-positive or pro-sex feminism became widely recognised following many protests against sex work, pornography and BDSM by some feminist organisations. Pro-sex feminism is the belief in the sexual liberation of women, following on from what was discussed in the late 70's.

Sex Work
Many feminist organisations disagree with sex workers such as strippers, exotic dancers and prostitutes. Sex-positive feminists believe that both men and women can have positive experiences in the sex work environment, providing that environment is not linked to abuse or trafficking. It is generally accepted by pro-sex feminists to not stigmatise or discriminate against sex workers, male or female.

Pornography
A lot of feminists find pornography to be sexually discriminatory to women, and a lot of women forbid their husbands or boyfriends to watch it as well as campaign to make pornography illegal. However pro-sex feminists believe that criminalising pornography violates female freedom of speech. There is nothing specifically degrading to women about pornography, and it is watched and enjoyed by men as well as women across the world. Also, professional pornography (as opposed to home-videos and revenge-porn) involve actors who have consented to be in the film.

BDSM
BDSM is the practice of bondage and sadomasochism and, like pornography, is enjoyed by both men and women all over the world. The mantra of the BDSM community is "safe, sane, consensual", meaning that true BDSM has to involve consent. With that said, discriminating against women who have chosen that lifestyle from themselves is more demeaning to their sexuality than the practice itself. Some feminists view BDSM as glorifying misogyny and rape, however roles in BDSM are not fixed to gender - males can be the submissive and females can be the dominant.

Overall, the sex-positive view of feminism is the one that will push the movement forwards. By restricting female sexuality and the exploration of this sexuality, is effectively pushing feminism back to pre-second wave. As a movement and as a community, man or woman, feminists should strive to move forwards towards complete equality. With the complete disregard for female sexual liberation from members of our own community, there is no hope.

Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Twelve Twenty Three

Cinematography in my latest short film “Twelve, Twenty Three.”


"The last thing I saw was my alarm clock flashing 12:23 before she pushed her long rotting nails through my chest, her other hand muffling my screams. I sat bolt upright, relieved it was only a dream, but as I saw my alarm clock read 12:22, I heard my closet door creak open."


The story for Twelve Twenty Three came from a series of two sentence horror stories posted on Buzzfeed. We decided to use this incredibly short story because it gave us an interesting narrative idea, yet it left us a lot of room to expand. To make the narrative flow better on screen, I decided to show time passing throughout the day leading up to the male character's death, and this is shown through the use of a flashback. The watch is shown in multiple shots to show how time has passed. Throughout the day he notices a few suspicious things, foreshadowing the event that the viewer already knows is coming. 

"In 'Friday the Thirteenth' and 'Halloween' the director uses a subjective camera in the stabbing scenes, which, essentially, makes the viewer the killer. The camera moves in on the screaming, pleading victim."
I took inspiration from these scenes in 'Friday the Thirteenth' and 'Halloween' for the shot of the male character in the bed when the female antagonist appears. The use of a shot from his POV as she slowly moves towards him like a shadow again subverts the horror genre gender stereotypes. 

 ^ click me  to watch!^





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