I have previously spent three years in Crosskeys’ college, at first I was studying psychology A Level because I thought that it was the career direction that I wanted to go in although shortly after I realized it didn’t spark as much of an interest as I hoped, in the second year Media Studies was available to study as an A Level and realized that I was a lot more interested in the psychology behind media and all the cultural theories that underpinned it. Other courses that I had studied there, I had found had also linked very closely with media studies: Religious Studies, Film Studies and English Literature and also took up Theatre studies to experience what it was like from all aspects. My interest then encouraged me to apply to higher education through UCAS.
This summer I received my As/A Level results that I had hoped for to go to my first choice university and continued my journey in learning. Now that I have settled into university life, I am able to concentrate on my future ambitions. My next goal is to learn about screenwriting in more depth, mainly because it has been a hobby of mine for the past couple of years ad hope that some day I am able to create a short film and submit it into a film festival.
I have also had a parallel interest in journalism and the practical side of creating media, a couple of years ago I had bought my own digital video camera so that I could experiment with camera angles when doing my coursework in As Level Media studies, which explored the skateboarding subculture and how the youth often don’t get a voice in the eyes of the media unless it’s a negative representation.
My goal is also to learn about all aspects of media for it is the direction in which I want my career to take form. A personal goal is make a short documentary on the Aurora Borealis when it reaches its peak in activity, which is approximately 3-4 years.
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‘Being Lara Croft, or, We Are All Sci Fi’
By Mike Ward – PopMatters Film Critic
http://www.popmatters.com/features/000114ward.html
‘Eidos Interactive’ has released another sequel to the ‘Tomb Raider’ series which features the character Lara Croft which is becoming an increasing sex symbol.
Lara Weller has been dubbed the ‘real-life Lara Croft’, and is often pictured in her trademark clothing which consists of: - leveled pistols, tan shorts and holster straps around her legs. And the camera is often positioned in an unusual place that catches the audience unawares, for Lara Weller looks directly at the camera, this makes the statement that she acknowledges and offers to return the male gaze whilst holding an attitude of non sexual rage.
Whereas Lara Croft never looks at camera or at who is controlling her actions throughout the game and is therefore trapped under the male gaze. Weller is seen as a living contradiction of the way Lara Croft is represented, and also attempts to complicate the character of Lara Croft by adding multiple narratives to her through intertextuality in the media.
There are several models that play the role as Lara Croft in the real world, which not only conveys how popular the concept of Lara Croft has become but also how they have tried to bring her to life, most models that play her role only refer to her (Lara Croft) in the 3rd person, acknowledging that it’s a fictional iconic image. However the fact that Lara Croft has been taken out of the virtual reality and being represented in various forms of multi-media in the real world, resulting in making Lara Croft more complex and confusing.
Weller featured on the Sci-fi channel as Lara Croft with Cindy Margolis as spokespeople for the channel, this is where they both say “I am Sci-Fi”, this states that we have alienated ourselves through this process of intertextuality, and slowly tried to bridge the gap between fact and fiction through our pleasure in escapism. It is interesting that when Lara Croft is played by a model in the real world the ‘male gaze’ is always returned. Whereas in ‘Tomb Raider’, Lara is constantly fixed in the centre of the screen at all times and never looks at the camera (returns the ‘male gaze’), for the player it is sometimes easy forget that they are her, in the game.
In the game ‘Doom’ the narrative is also first person so that the viewer feels they’re in sync and have full control of the character, e.g. the character looks where ever the player looks. But it is Lara’s character that is a lot more skilled than the marine soldier in Doom, she can roll, back-flip and tackle steep drops, not to mention the fact that she has a more desirable physique, allowing her to effortlessly climb and move stealthily. There’s only a few ways that Lara acknowledges her characters and the players role as separate entities, by replying ‘no’ to any invalid commands from the player and becomes impatiently and restless towards the character when the player is away from the controller for a number of seconds. It is Lara’s behaviour that binds both her character and the consumer as one entity. Resulting in a more intense game experience and making the game player a part of the Sci Fi.
