The male gaze is a theory from a feminist film critic "Laura Mulvey". It refers to how a text is created to please male viewers. Films aren't made with a male gaze as its seen as negative thing. If a movie has a lot of male gaze it will have a high chance of failing the bechdel test as woman are seen as objects and not a valuable part of the narrative.
The clip above is from Transformers (2007) where male gaze can be seen as Megan Fox is moving in unrealistic ways to show off her body. Another example of a movie where male gaze can be seen is in all the James Bond movies as the women are always portrayed as objects and end up dying without having any other significant purpose.
In this image you can see Roger Moore as James Bond and two Bond girls. This is a good example of where male gaze can be seen, the girls are wearing little clothes and hiding behind Bond because they are seen as weak and helpless. The fact that females in James Bond films have a the name "Bond Girls" instead of their actual names is anchors the fact that they don't hold any significance.
In class we looked at the clip above from the British TV show Torchwood and was asked to analyse the clip. Just from look at the first clip there is allot you can deconstruct, without thinking about sound or editing.
Starting off there is intertextuality to "Silence of the Lambs" with the glass wall, which for movie fans is a sort of Easter egg in the fact that if you don't watch movies it will seem as a coincidence.
This shot is a medium close up which is unusual for the opening because in movies they use extreme long shots to clearly identify the location and sometimes the time period. This medium close up creates a narrative enigma because the audience don't know where she is. They slightly follow the stereotype of a woman in the facts that she has long hair, and some make up. If this was a full stereotype she would be blond with red lip stick and have heavy make-up, but it doesn't challenge any conventions so it's not counter hegemonic, instead its normative because we assume that this is what a girl should look like (with long hair and make-up) because that's what the media has told us.
As the clip continuous you see that she is the central protagonist, this is anchored by the shot reverse shot flowing the 180 degree rule. Even though the action is happening in the cell the camera focuses on the protagonist so the audience can see what the protagonist is feeling. As the shot goes on it uses continuity editing to have a smooth feel to it.
When the victim is on the floor they use a countertype because it's a female that helps her in need to a handsome man. A "male gaze" is connoted as the girls start kissing, when this happens the non-diegetic music starts playing this clearly signifies a relationship. Then it cuts to a typical male stereotype in a chair watching. The stereotype is anchored by his body language.
They also use a false scare when she leans in to one of the cells, the non-diegetic and diegetic sound goes quite so when the monster screams it startles the audience, the editing pace also increases slightly to get more action and engage the audience.
