In the future I would like to continue doing remixes, but I think I'd like to do it with some of my own work. I did not enjoy using imovie, and I think I would prefer I more complicated program that would be better able to handle the quality of work I expect from myself. I think one of the reasons I kept crashing imovie was because I tried to use so many clips off DVD's and the quality and format was too much for imovie to handle. For professional work, I could see myself creating PSA's, or making little movies for non profit organizations. For personal use, I keep thinking about all the sci fi shows I could mash up with each other =)
I think my original idea for my final project wasn't challenging enough, but after making a few modifications, it turned out to be -very- challenging. First, I had to go through all my Doctor Who and find which clips I wanted to use-- which clips I thought would best represent the ideologies of each companion. I also had to decide how many of those clips I wanted to include the Doctor in. Because the Doctor is the main proponent of the discourse, it was difficult to find clips he wasn't part of. So I planned it out in my head, and each time the Doctor (or another male character) makes an appearance in my project it is incredibly deliberate. Using multiple different programs to attempt to extract the clips I wanted proved to be very challenging. In total, I ended up using imovie, handbrake, steampeg, and audacity to get this project together. I also used a digital voice recorder to get the audio for my director's commentary.
Even though this project didn't turn out the way I envisioned it (being unable to access all the clips I wanted made it very difficult) I am still very proud of it. I worked very hard to get all of the timing down to project my thesis, and I think I did that quite well. There are numerous lines and timing I'm proud of, including "don't you think I know exactly where I stand" and Susan moves behind the Doctor, "just your typical prototype" and Romana II comes when beckoned by the Doctor. I think the thing I am -most- proud about with this project is the contrast I was able to create between the classic companions and the modern companions. I deliberately picked scenes where the modern companions were being active--many of them are holding weapons and they are all very active in their movements whereas the classic companions were mostly stationary. I am also proud I was able to get the commentary to match up so well with the actions. For instance, when I am talking about Rose and I say she becomes the nurturer, she is sitting on the bedside to a very sick Doctor rubbing a wet cloth on his forehead.
There is much I wish I was able to add. Mostly, though, I wish I could have gotten all the clips off the DVD's that I wanted. I feel like, had all my clips been high quality and the exact moments I wanted, my thesis would have come across much more easily. As it was, I was scrambling to find clips that reflected what I was trying to say. I put in a lot of time into this project. Between waiting for clips to import into imovie, and waiting for handbrake to strip the scenes off the DVD's (which mostly didn't end up working anyways), I feel like I put a lot of time into this project that I wish could have resulted in higher quality. But I feel like I did the very best I could given what I had to work with.
My project is basically a feminist critique of Doctor Who. The point I was trying to get across is that, while females have made remarkable progress over the past 31 years (and Doctor Who is a great platform to represent that), they ultimately end up being typecast. Even though modern companions are more complex than just either maternal or damsel, they still ultimately end up playing those roles at one point or another, and that won't really change unless something drastically changes with the Doctor. As a Timelord, the Doctor has lived over 900 years and with those years comes incredible wisdom and intelligence. The Doctor will remain unsurpassed in that manner until a companion, perhaps a more modern Romana I, comes along and actually presents a challenge to the Doctor. My underlying argument is that women, will having made significant progress, are still being stereotyped and aren't allowed to contribute much to the discourse. Media is still viewed through a male gaze, and this is very apparent throughout the Doctor Who series. There is much talk in the academic world about how we are in a "post feminist era". I think Doctor Who not only chronicles the progress of that achievement, but also goes to show that we haven't quite reached a place where we should start considering ourselves "post" feminists.
