Attending the Medway Media Conference No17

This year’s Medway Media Conference was based around the topic of gender and partly next years theme Genre. Lucy and myself attended the conference an found it very helpful. The conference takes place annually at The Central Theatre in Chatham. The conference followed many aspects of the broad theme of gender, stated below are some of the presentations made:

-Men and Genre,

-Nordic Noir,

-Hitchcock's Blondes,

-Suffragette's,

-Representing Gay Men in the Media,

-Sexism in Media,

-How Girls are Represented in Disney,

-Plus Sized Models,

-Female Representations and Sexual Violence in American Horror Story,

-How has Social Media changes Feminism,

-Male Character in The Walking Dead,

-The Social Hegemony of the Heterosexual Male and Misogyny.

  

All of the above presentation helped me to understand the topics far better than I had before going to the conference. The themes that will help me with our preliminary task the most would have to be Nordic Noir and Hitchcock's Blondes. Using my knowledge gained from the presentations:

Nordic Noir:

Nordic Noir is an umbrella term to describe Scandinavian crime fiction, a genre which has gone stratospheric in the last few years on the back of the popularity of the Millennium series of books by Stieg Larsson. Kick started by the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the subsequent films, Scandinavian crime drama has gone from strength to strength with the screen adaptations of Henning Mankell’s Wallander spawning the BBC Four English language remakes starring Kenneth Branagh. The genre was further cemented into the psyche of British viewers in early 2011 when the 20-part Danish police procedural drama Forbrydelsen (The Killing), was aired on BBC Four. Racking up a million viewers per episode and winning over the hearts and minds of the UK media, Sarah Lund and her traditional Faroese knitwear shot to success and made Danish crime drama a must-see. Nordic Noir is the UK home of Forbrydelsen I, II and the forthcoming (and final) III, Borgen I, II & III as well as the Swedish Wallander films, Sebastian Bergman (soon to be seen on BBC Four) as well as the Van Veeteren films from the books by Hakan Nesser. Nordic Noir is also releasing feature films and has a library on DVD, including the original version of Insomnia, starring Stellan Skarsgard. All of the information above was in the presentation and can be strongly linked to our preliminary task as our theme is thriller and Nordic Noir as discussed is a unique and dark type of genre.

Hitchcock's Blondes:

One of the most esteemed directors in the history of filmmaking, Hitch was also a peculiar man with numerous obsessions, chief among them women and, specifically, blondes. All of his most renowned films feature a blonde in a pivotal role. These blondes aren’t just picturesque stars at whom Hitch directed our gaze. These blondes are beautiful and eye-catching, sure, but they also project the qualities of independence, poise, range, determination and, most significant, mystery. It’s that last quality which led to the related label “icy blonde” in reference to Hitchcock’s female protagonists. Hitchcock's leading ladies complement their classic 1950s/1960s beauty and elegance with an added curiosity that often drives the film, creating tension and contradiction. Hitchcock blondes are the "Bond girls" of Hitchcockian cinema, each radiating with beauty while servicing her own mysterious agenda. This mysterious secret world beneath her surface pulls the audience deeper into Hitchcock's universe of suspense. The Hitchcock blonde represents a restructuring of the submissive, domestic female popular image of the time. While she fits the physical appearance of the classic model, she operates as a modern woman with a simmering sexuality and emotional complexity hidden beneath a clean wardrobe, aloof perfection and hairspray. The blondness of her mane only amplifies her duality: an iciness stored within the buttery innocence of flawless style. Her sex appeal is indirect; she is a cool exterior with an inner fire. All of information above will help innovate our preliminary task as Hitchcock’s work is very sternly linked to thriller and he has been very successful with all of his work.