Response to Feedback

I think to avoid any kind of assumptions, talk about 'how far' or 'to what extent' do Hitchcock's heriones appeal to women. I think my strengths will be in analysing the film, and getting audience responses to it. To avoid giving myself too much to do, maybe include modern directors and how they have been influenced under audience responses, rather than making modern directors a main focus.

The second idea to talk about the development over time and his influence on other directors is a possibility, but i may have too much to do, thinking about what was going on in the world at the time of Hitchcock's films, the common views of men and women at the time, the release dates of hitchcock's films, as well as his representation of women and how it has influenced other directors.

feedback

from what I can see, you are really thinking about an audience study: ie women's responses to/readings of Hitchcock's female characters

'how he chooses his heroines for female audiences' assumes he does, and you need to avoid any assumptions like this.

OR you can look at changing representations over time, and the influence of hitchcocks reps of women on other directors/films

avoid trying to do everything - you must think about narrowing your focus

Detailed Proposal

1. Topic Area
Women & Film

2. Proposed title, question, hypothesis
Hitchcocks portrayal of women. "The chief point I kept in mind when selecting my heroine was that she must be fashioned to please women rather than men" - Alfred Hitchcock. To what extent is this statement true to a modern audience?

3. Teacher approval granted, in principal?
Yes

4. Principle texts (if text based study)
Psycho, Vertigo, The Birds, Rear Window.

5. Reason for choice
I really enjoy Hitchcock's films, there will be a lot to talk about as his portrayal of women has recieved criticism as well as praise, there are also a lot of books regarding his films and his portrayal of women.

6. Academic context for this study (similar research, relevant theory, named theorists)
Laura Mulvey - "The Male Gaze"
Ken Mogg - "The Alfread Hitchcock Story"
Tania Modleski - "Hitchcock and Feminist Theory" - The Women Who Knew Too Much.

7. Institutional context for this study (industry focus, other texts for comparison, named practitioners, relevant theory, issues, questions)
"Spectatorship Theory"

8. Identify the audience context for this study (audience profile, access to audience, potential sample)
Women, aged 16+ as they are more likely too have seen Hitchcock's films, they will be fairly accessible on the internet, via Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, Forums, as well as in the street.

9. How will the 4 key concepts be relevant to your study (audience, institution, forms and conventions, representation)?
Audience - who the audience are, how the audience diversifies through age, ideologies.
Representation - construction of text underpinned by ideologies - positive representations of women, is the representation a reflection of what the institutions/director believe the audience want?
Institutions - TV, DVD, directors influenced by his work - make his films available to a modern audience.
Media forms and conventions - Genre - what the audience want/expect, style of the director.

10 Potential research sources (secondary):
Books by theorists (Laura Mulvey - "The Male Gaze", Tania Modleski - The Women Who Knew Too Much"), websites,

11. Potential research sources (primary):
Questionnaire, Internet Forum, Focus Group, one-to-one interview.

12. Modifications agreed with your lead teacher
To decide the specific question at the end

13. Potential limits/obstacles/problems?
Getting access to my audience - some of them may not use internet, or be approachable in the street (too busy, maybe not even find any).

14. Teacher concerns

15. Teacher approval

Initial idea development

I have thought an idea for a possible question -

To what extent do Hitchcock's leading ladies appeal to women?

- Using the quote "the chief point I kept in mind when selecting my herione was that she must be fashioned to please women rather then men.....no actress can be a good commercial proposition as a film heroine unless she pleases her own sex" - Alfred Hitchcock

- Women as passive objects vs empathetic towards women

- Spectatorship theory

Books:-

1. Laura Mulvey - The Male Gaze
2. Ken Mogg - The Alfread Hitchcock Story
3. Charles Ramirez Berg - "Alfred Hitchcock: A Brief Biography" - The Encyclopedia of Film - 1996
4. John Fawell - "Torturing Women and Making Men" - The Midwest Quarterly - 2006
5. Tania Modleski - "Hitchcock and Feminist Theory" - The Women Who Knew Too Much.

Initial idea

1.Which topic area is this proposal for?

Women and Film

2. What is the suggested focus?

Alfred Hitchcock and criticism of his portrayal of women.

3. Do you have an idea for a question/problematic?

Not sure about the question yet, but there is a lot of possibilities.

4. Why would you choose this?

I am a great fan of Alfred Hitchcocks work so i have a lot of oppinions regarding his films. There are also a lot of debates over the way he portrays women. There will be a lot to say.

5. Do you have any concerns or are there any limitations to this proposal?

A possible limitation could be if I dont have a clear enough focus. I need to find a point to argue/question to answer.

6. Can you rate it on a sliding scale 1- 5 (5 being great proposal, 0 being lousy proposal)

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