pocket cinema : ideas

It's time to start thinking about our next project! I haven't decided yet what I want to do but I already had some ideas:

  1. Put a GoPro on different objects and see the different effects I can get.

2. Build a DIY rotational dolly and do a stop motion (even if the following example is a slow motion video).

3. Do an inception of videos: shoot something with a cellphone, then shoot with a tablet the cellphone playing the video, then shoot with the webcam of a laptop the tablet playing a video of the cellphone playing a video.

remix: the video

remix : process (ii)

This long weekend I started doing the project. I've started by searching Toddlers and Tiaras on Youtube. I have some full episodes, some small clips of funny moments, some others clips of their different costumes. But, the most surprising thing that I found was fan videos of the beauty pageant participants! I've also found some video bloggers that made videos criticizing or making fun of this reality TV show.

The next step was finding other materials that I could use for the remix. I've thought of using an Obama speech about education or a TV show for kids. Then, I remembered that in one of the clips of Toddlers and Tiaras the participant was dressed as Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and did a research about other famous prostitutes/strippers in movies. I did not know if I should be so provocative and shocking, by comparing little girls with prostitutes/strippers... But then I realized that for me it is that they are doing: they use their body to make money and they are being objects and they are playing a role when they are on stage.

During the remix I also put some parts of the participants complaining or being funny, in order to humanize them and to show they are just kids.

remix : process (i)

I have decided to do the remix about the sexual objectification of women. I am going to focus on the TLC reality TV show called Toddlers & Tiaras. I used to watch this TV show during my Summer breaks in Portugal and I could not stop watching it, even if I knew how ridiculous/disturbing it was. Girls are competitive, mean and spoiled. Their mother are even worse: they force their children to participate in these beauty pageants; they make them wear make up, false eyelashes, and spray tanning. Their kids become sexual objects that can be sold. The little girls look like dolls and act like ones too.

I have done some research about this TV show and found some interesting articles that back up the message of my remix.

"Generation Diva: How our obsession with beauty is changing our kids" 

By Jessica Bennett. Article here

• Oversexualization of teens
• Young girls use more beauty products than before
• The responsible ones for this transformation: ads for the latest fashions, makeup tip and grooming up products. Also people know how to use Photoshop or the digital cameras come with retouching options
• There is another TV show like Toddlers and Tiaras - Little Miss Perfect

"From Alice to Alana: Sexualities and Children's Cultures in the Twenty-First Century"

By Lance Weldy and Thomas Crisp. Link here

• The author describes Toddles and Tiaras as a show in which "legal guardians provide an outlet for children to perform as miniature adults; contestants are not only made up as adults, but they also dress as popular adult characters"
• Controversial episode: little girl dressed as Julia Roberts in the film Pretty Woman.

"The sexualization of prepubescent girls; where we have been and where we are going"

Eliza Smithwick. Article here

• Children are being turned into sexual objects. Advertising and marketing objectifies and subjectifies them.
• We live in a capitalist world: making profit is the most important thing. Sex is a lucrative marketing tool.
• Sexiness and physical appearance are seen as “the pathway to power” 
• There are less and less boundaries between children and adults. Children want to act like adults.

remix : brainstorming

I am really excited for my first project but I know it is going to be hard to find and choose the right footage. After all the different types of remix we saw in class, I have decided to a political remix, such the one about the gun control PSA and the "Set me Free" song with Mad Men clips.

I am interested in these three topics:

• How social networks have transformed human interactions: we are more connected yet more alone than before.  
• Sexual objectification of women: Toddlers and Tiaras, Little Miss Sunshine
• Racial stereotypes on TV shows

My next step is to do some research about these topics and to try to find other related remixes, to see what techniques were used and to see what is the best way to show my message.

- Beatriz