Theatre and Film

—The White House Project: Film and TV

• In film, women constitute 16 percent of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers; this represents a slight decrease in their representation in these positions in the last decade.
• Among situation comedies, dramas and reality shows in the 2008-09 prime-time television season, women made up one-quarter of all creators, directors, executive producers and producers.
• Women don’t do much better on screen: across 400 top-grossing G, PG, PG-13 and R rated films released between 1990 and 2006, only 27 percent of over 15,000 speaking characters were female. African American women constitute only 7 percent of characters featured in dramas and situation comedies, Latinas constitute two percent, and Asian women account for less than two percent.
• Women own less than 6 percent of the full-power television stations in the US

Posted at the White House Project site is a New York Times op-ed by By Kim Elsesser, a research scholar at the Center for Study of Women at the University of California, Los Angeles:

"Many hours into the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony this Sunday, the Oscar for best actor will go to Morgan Freeman, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Colin Firth or Jeremy Renner. Suppose, however, that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented separate honors for best white actor and best non-white actor, and that Mr. Freeman was prohibited from competing against the likes of Mr. Clooney and Mr. Bridges. Surely, the academy would be derided as intolerant and out of touch; public outcry would swiftly ensure that Oscar nominations never again fell along racial lines."

"Why, then, is it considered acceptable to segregate nominations by sex, offering different Oscars for best actor and best actress?"

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The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin is hosting an exhibit, Making Movies.

The exhibition is organized into two sections, the first of which explores the responsibilities of the director, producer, screenwriter, production designer, art director, actor, costume designer, hair and makeup artist, cinematographer, special effects designer, editor and music composer. In the second section, the original scripts of iconic scenes from about 10 motion pictures will be displayed alongside production materials for that scene — stills, memos, call sheets, production reports, storyboards, research material, production photos-and digital clips of the filmed scene to give visitors to a clear impression of the number of individuals it takes to realize a few seconds of performance history.

One of the research materials used in the exhibit is the censorship code, A Code to Govern the Making of Motion and Talking Pictures, imposed on the films beginning in the late '20s:

Murder
a. The technique of murder must be presented in a way that does not inspire imitation.

b. Brutal killings are not to be presented in detail.

c. Revenge in modern times must not be justified.

Methods of Crime Must Not Be Explicitly Presented
a. Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, dynamiting of trains, mines, buildings, etc., should not be detailed in method.

b. Arson must be subject to the same safeguards.

c. The use of firearms should be restricted to essentials.

d. Methods of smuggling should not be presented.

Illegal Drug Traffic Must Never be Presented

The Use of Liquor in American Life, when not required by the plot or for proper characterization will not be shown.

Among the exhibition's highlights will be a selection of important screenplays, from The Misfits to North by Northwest, Lord of the Flies and Shakespeare in Love. The exhibition will also feature correspondence, construction drawings and storyboards from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Top Gun, Spellbound, Black Narcissus and others, as well as costumes from Gone With The Wind, An Affair to Remember, Taxi Driver and Casino.

Some of the accessible features are:

The Financial Effects of Ingrid Bergman's Beauty:

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Through the availability of Netflix, we watched The Hurt Locker last night and understood its prominence in the list of the Oscar nominees for 'Best Picture of 2009.'

Illustrations from an exhibition at  Oxford's Museum of the History of Science, The Geometry of War, although not exactly comparable to the scenes used in Kathryn Bigelow's film, are elemental enough to illustrate the use of weaponry:

"The mathematicians of the Renaissance applied their geometry to all manner of practical disciplines - from navigation and surveying to cartography and perspective. They aimed to demonstrate the usefulness of geometry as well as its ingenuity and certainty, and to associate it with action, achievement and progress. Many new instruments were designed in this context, as the collections of this museum amply demonstrate."

"Developments in the art of warfare in the late 15th and 16th centuries provided another outlet for geometry, and the mathematicians were quick to respond by devising techniques, designing instruments and writing books. Heavy guns manufactured in single metal castings were longer, capable of more accurate fire, and were adjustable in elevation. Consequently, gunners needed instruments to measure both the inclination of the barrel and the distance to the target, together with a means of relating these two measurements. Geometers offered a variety of solutions to these problems, as well as designs for fortifications to withstand attack from the new artillery."

"The ingenuity and precision of many instruments, and in some cases their elegance, poise and delicacy, contrasts with the harsh conditions of the battlefield. How usable would they really have been in practice? They were supposed to be employed in battle but it is clear that their purported military value also had other functions, in justifying textbook geometrical problems, for example, or in attracting patronage."

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The National Academy of Sciences provides entertainment industry professionals with access to top scientists and engineers to help bring the reality of cutting-edge science to creative and engaging storylines:

"We can help flesh out ideas that depend upon accurate details relating to insects, extraterrestrial life, unusual Earth-based life forms, or the mysteries of oceans. We can refine concepts relating to emerging science concepts in areas such as space travel, multiple dimensions, nanotechnology, computer technology, and engineering. We can find experts in environmental and ecological issues, health, medicine, and disease, and US educational practices. We are also well positioned to work with you on public policy issues that relate to science such as stem cell research, global climate change, and teaching about evolution and the nature of science."

Here are a few examples of  collaborations:

The Science and Entertainment Exchange explores The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and social network theory.

The Science and Entertainment Exchange: Guest blogger E. Paul Zehr discusses what it would really take to become Batman. Could a real world superhero ever exist?