FINAL REFLECTION
Historically, women in the film and screen industries have tackled barriers in almost every respect. Foremost, is the challenge of career progression in an industry dominated by men (Screen Australia, 2015), and the knock-on effects such domination has. Not only are women severely underrepresented in key creative roles, both in the fiction and non-fiction sectors, but opportunities for women to actually enter these roles have been far and few between.
This lack of opportunity stems from the inherently patriarchal nature and structure of both the industry and society, where perceptions of women’s professional capabilities are born out of, perpetuated and enforced by sexism. For 1970-2014, Screen Australia reported that a mere 16% of narrative film directors were women, 30% producers, and 21% writers – reflecting this fundamental lack of opportunity afforded to Australian women (2015).
While this is slowly changing, it’s interesting to consider how “the cause of the imbalance does not appear to lie in education…rather, it lies in what happens after the education ends” (Screen Australia, 2015, p.7). Given the proportion of women and men graduating from film school/industry courses being fairly equal (Screen Australia, 2015), it’s clear how such inequity is perpetuated on both a structural and cultural level. From lack of funding for female led projects, to having to leap over male mediocrity to ‘prove oneself’ to decision makers – challenges for women are constant.
Moreover, this lack of representation not only presents serious effects for professional development, but also potentially discourages women from pursuing the industry at all. This discouragement extends further to young women and children, who, without representation in the industry to look to, may feel hopeless at any chance of entering it. Another devastating effect of the industry’s patriarchal structure is the rampant misogyny women face in the workplace. Sexual harassment, assault and sexist workplace cultures are common issues faced by women, especially in an industry which so heavily favours and protects the careers of the ‘male auteur/visionary’. A US survey found that “94% of women employed in the American film industry have experienced sexual harassment or assault” (Pulver, 2017, para.1) – a heart wrenching reality of the industry.
Having said all this, it does not begin to scrape the intersectionality of problems faced by women globally. For women of colour, disabled women, queer women etc…, the barriers only become more complex, rooted in more forms of oppression.
Hence, combatting these issues and encouraging more women to enter the film industry is critical, and has recently become a focus for the industry. Urging women to pursue their screen careers is crucial, because diverse stories are so important. As Lisa French notes, “diversity is a significant driver of innovation” (2015, p.3). To date, the diversity of ‘mainstream’ narratives (in a broad, western, Hollywood sense) have primarily comprised of stories created by and for cis-het white men.
French reminds us how “the implication of a lack of diversity in content is…when decision makers come from only one part of society, it will be harder for them to take into account the diverse…audience when they make decisions on…production” (2015, p.3).
By urging more women to tell diverse stories, we gain women’s unique perspectives on issues and lived experiences. Nuance and authenticity can be brought to female characters and narratives, simply by affording women the resources and platforms to tell their own stories. Encouraging such stories also considers female audiences and their relationship to film (French, 2015), no longer should we need men creating narratives of what they think women need, feel, think or desire.
French precisely articulates the significance of supporting women in the industry when she notes that, “what women filmmakers bring, by dint of having the experience of being women in the world, are diverse stories from female viewpoints, which are valuable to the culture and…marketplace” (2015, p.10). As aforementioned, having greater representation of diverse women in the industry may also influence and invigorate younger generations of women and minorities to be the future of storytelling.
For my interviewee, Diana Fisk, navigating these barriers throughout her career was a complicated journey. Not only was she discouraged during her studies by her professors (as one of few women in the course), but her initial entry into the industry was halted when she experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
Although, Diana was determined to re-enter the industry, and upon returning to the Australian industry was “quite protective of [her] own experience” and was therefore very “intentional” with who she worked with. Diana’s strength to renter the industry was also driven by her mission to “create safe workplaces for women in the industry”. Hence, in order to tackle the barriers of opportunity, she sought to connect with other women in the industry and joined support groups and professional networks. This included Diana founding the Victorian Chapter of Screen Vixens and becoming a board member of Women in Film and Television (WIFT).
Throughout our interview, Diana’s intense passion for creating impact and advocating for change was clear. In her career, Diana has utilised her skillset as a producer and filmmaker to highlight barriers in the industry, and create films exploring social/cultural and political issues. Her producer projects have centred on range of issues with some intersectional discussion within them, including women’s liberation, female homelessness, and LGBTQ+ rights in Australia. Most recently, her directorial debut, True Vision (2021), explored the stigmas around disability through a uniquely personal lens, linked to her own experiences as a mother.
Thus, through her works, we may recognise Diana as an “advocate change agent”, whose goal is to “open channels for women’s voices to be heard in both mainstream and alternative media” (French, 2019, para.3). In this way, a primary element of Diana’s journey to overcome industry barriers, is through her fervent focus on impact in her projects.
Regarding the stylistic choices of my film, I wanted to create simple, engaging and cohesive visuals to support the narrative I was creating around Diana’s passion for impact. I utilised a few key elements consistently throughout my profile – the first being a basic colour scheme. This consisted of four colours that I chose to compliment the Zoom interview footage, where Diana’s pink shirt stands out. I alternated these colours for the text and drawn graphics, which I think helped create a cohesive look whilst also enhancing Diana’s upbeat personality.
Another choice I made was to create basic hand drawn graphics using a stop-motion type technique. I used these graphics as I wanted to break up the Zoom footage talking heads, as they were quite low resolution. I also hoped the graphics would enable viewers to focus more on what Diana was saying. Additionally, when I did include the Zoom interview footage, I placed it in the centre of the frame. This was because the footage itself was quite small, and I thought it would be a good contrast to having the talking head fill out the frame (which I didn’t really think was an option for me anyway, considering how pixelated it was). Since the frame of the Zoom footage was so small, I filled out the space around it with alternating text to match the audio – which I think helped shape the upbeat tone and pace of the profile I was aiming for.
Moreover, I made certain choices in arranging my audio and footage. The biggest being in how I opened and closed the profile, which was by using audio anecdote Diana had told. I essentially split this anecdote so I could create an opening and ending for my profile. I wanted to use this snippet specifically, because I felt it encapsulated Diana’s passion for the industry and creating change, and also provided inspirational advice to end the profile with. I think this also allowed me to create a circular element to my profile, whilst keeping the body of the narrative generally linear in exploring Diana’s career and thoughts. To coincide with this, I kept the visuals simple with audio wave form graphics, as I wanted viewers to really focus on the anecdote and the emotions conveyed in it.
Lastly, I kept the sound design quite minimal, and used only instrumental (copyright free) background music. Again, this was because I wanted to the core of the profile to be the interview audio, so I chose music that I felt supported the uplifting tone I was aiming to create in highlighting Diana’s work and discussion.
If I was to create my profile again, there are definitely things I would want to improve upon. Primarily, I would want to tighten my narrative and explore more of Diana’s specific work as an Impact Producer. Although I liked my overall narrative, I feel it was a little vague which may have been due to my interview questions being too similar. Hence, I think having a more focused approach could bring some greater depth to my profile. Moreover, I would like to experiment more with the profile’s sound design and visual aesthetic. Particularly, in how I could more creatively incorporate footage from Diana’s projects, as I feel that I didn’t do as much with them as I could have. I also feel the graphics could be more refined, as I liked their place in the profile, but the execution could be improved.
References:
French L, 2015, ‘Does Gender Matter? Women and Australian Film and Television Now’, Lumina: Australian Journal of Screen Arts and Business, no. 14, pp. 139-153.
French L, 2019, ‘Women documentary filmmakers as transnational “advocate change agents”’, Cultura y representaciones sociales, vol. 7, no. 17, pp. 15-29, viewed 10 April 2021, < http://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/inter/article/view/67536/62717#B9 >
Pulver A, 2017, 94% of women in Hollywood experience sexual harassment or assault, says survey, The Guardian, viewed 22 May 2021, < https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/21/94-of-women-in-hollywood-experience-sexual-harassment-or-assault-says-survey >
Screen Australia, 2015, Gender Matters – Women in the Australian Screen Industry, industry report, Screen Australia, viewed 10 April 2021, < https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/getmedia/f20beab8-81cc-4499-92e9-02afba18c438/Gender-Matters-Women-in-the-Australian-Screen-Industry.pdf >