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