Time Stamp: Ex Machina 1:32:54-1:38:44
TITLE Composer of the male gaze, Laura Mulvey, explains how a heterosexual male views different aspects occurring in a film. The male gaze captures how male viewers depict females within the film. In Alex Garland’s movie, Ex Machina, there is an abundant usage of the male gaze occurring through Nathan and Caleb’s perspective. The male gaze is important in this film because it reveals to the audience who truly holds the power. Throughout the film Nathan and Caleb obviously are the men in power but during this six-minute sequence the power changes in Ava’s favor as she transitions from having robot mind to having a real human mind. To show this, Alex Garland uses camera angles, camera movements, a …show more content…
For example, when Ava put on the first piece of skin she lingers over it and the camera follows her lingering stare. This moment was easy to miss the first time viewing the film but watching this sequence over and over, it becomes clear that the audience isn’t just being shown the skin, but they are being shown what Ava sees. The camera’s pans and tilts as Ava’s eyes pans and tilts enhance this aspect of the film. In this sequence, Garland utilizes non-diegetic sound to explain to the audience what is happening without dialogue between the characters, even the music doesn’t use words to express meaning, only the melody if used. The soviet montage is another great tool that Garland utilizes in order to give Ava’s character more depth and explanation while she transforms from have a naked robot body to a skin covered robot body without loosing the focus of the audience. There are a few moments when Ava and Caleb have their faces blocked by different aspects of the movie set, which shows that our characters are longer as who they once were. It’s as if Ava and Caleb change roles, he is no longer the dominant power figure like Ava was when she was trapped in her room. The camera angles that Garland uses are repeated to reiterate what is happening, like the medium shots of the window where Caleb is standing that shows his blocked view. The repeated shot shows that no matter where Caleb stands in the window his view of Ava will be blocked and his power is weakening compared to the power she is gaining. This sequence used the basic aspects of film to transform characters into new characters, and transform the male gaze into something more than just the heterosexual male view of a film. Ex Machina is a movie that uses the male gaze to represent power, and when Ava gazes over herself, it is as if she has the ultimate power, and she
TITLE Composer of the male gaze, Laura Mulvey, explains how a heterosexual male views different aspects occurring in a film. The male gaze captures how male viewers depict females within the film. In Alex Garland’s movie, Ex Machina, there is an abundant usage of the male gaze occurring through Nathan and Caleb’s perspective. The male gaze is important in this film because it reveals to the audience who truly holds the power. Throughout the film Nathan and Caleb obviously are the men in power but during this six-minute sequence the power changes in Ava’s favor as she transitions from having robot mind to having a real human mind. To show this, Alex Garland uses camera angles, camera movements, a …show more content…
For example, when Ava put on the first piece of skin she lingers over it and the camera follows her lingering stare. This moment was easy to miss the first time viewing the film but watching this sequence over and over, it becomes clear that the audience isn’t just being shown the skin, but they are being shown what Ava sees. The camera’s pans and tilts as Ava’s eyes pans and tilts enhance this aspect of the film. In this sequence, Garland utilizes non-diegetic sound to explain to the audience what is happening without dialogue between the characters, even the music doesn’t use words to express meaning, only the melody if used. The soviet montage is another great tool that Garland utilizes in order to give Ava’s character more depth and explanation while she transforms from have a naked robot body to a skin covered robot body without loosing the focus of the audience. There are a few moments when Ava and Caleb have their faces blocked by different aspects of the movie set, which shows that our characters are longer as who they once were. It’s as if Ava and Caleb change roles, he is no longer the dominant power figure like Ava was when she was trapped in her room. The camera angles that Garland uses are repeated to reiterate what is happening, like the medium shots of the window where Caleb is standing that shows his blocked view. The repeated shot shows that no matter where Caleb stands in the window his view of Ava will be blocked and his power is weakening compared to the power she is gaining. This sequence used the basic aspects of film to transform characters into new characters, and transform the male gaze into something more than just the heterosexual male view of a film. Ex Machina is a movie that uses the male gaze to represent power, and when Ava gazes over herself, it is as if she has the ultimate power, and she