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I'm interested in exploring either production design or costume design, in regards to my practice. I like to explore topics such as female identity, the male gaze and body image. These are the topics I'd like to explore and narrow down my question with.

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- To what extent have female superhero's in both the MCU and DC film franchise been subjected to the male gaze through costume design? (this question I feel the most confident doing)
- How costumes worn by iconic figures such as Marilyn Monroe, create history (not a fully formed question but I like the idea of discussing how influential her clothes have been. Specifically in light of Kim Kardashian recently wearing Marilyn's iconic 'Happy Birthday' dress to the Met Gala 2022 and it receiving a lot of backlash.)

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May 2022:
I think I'm going to do the female superheroes question because I feel like there'd be more to unpack and research. Here's some of my topics to discuss throughout the essay:
- The under representation of women within both DC and MCU. Look at statistics and facts
- Discuss the character of Black Widow, her costume design and how she was always represented as 'sexy'. How this affected people's view of the actress in real life (interview questions asking inappropriately about the underwear she was wearing under her costume) Her solo movie showed her dressed in a more appropriate way (hair was up and outfits weren't so form fitting and were a bit more realistic to the plot). Scarlett Johansson is now dropped from the MCU due to conflict about the amount of money she earned from Black Widow stand alone film.
- What was the publics reaction to Black Widow? She was one of the main female superhero's throughout the MCU.
- Look at the mcu female costume design critiques but also enthusiasts, to get the comparison.
- Halle Berry's Catwoman, her costume was very 'scandalous', read up more about that and how people may have viewed the character in a certain way
- The progress of female representation within both franchises. Birds of Prey, WandaVision, Black Widow etc more films and shows are being released where the costume design has been improved to allow the characters to be viewed more seriously.

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I have now read: Laura Mulvey's 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', Judith Butler's 'Gender Trouble', 'The superhero costume' by Barbara Brownie and Danny Graydon

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Monday 30th May- hand in dissertation preparation submission
During June, July and August, it will be my personal goal to rewatch Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, Wanda Vision and Dr Strange Multiverse of Madness. These are all including the characters Black Widow and Wanda, I want to watch the films from a viewer perspective and write reviews about any key parts.
I will also be watching Halle Berry's Catwoman, Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey. I will be updating the research journal with what I think of the portrayals of the characters and note done any key plot lines, quotes or costume scenes.
I would also like to carry on doing secondary research of the costume designers discussing the costumes more thoroughly.

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I watched the Iron Man 2 (2010) & the Avengers (2012) movies, to get me to start thinking about the portrayal of Black Widow through her costume

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October 6th 2022- First meeting with dissertation supervisor

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October 6th 2022- First meeting with dissertation supervisor

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My dissertation supervisor- Hayley Lock
We discussed the format of the dissertation which made me reflect on what I'd planned to originally write about in my dissertation.

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October 13th 2022- Changed format of Dissertation

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October 13th 2022- Changed format of Dissertation

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Originally, I wanted to discuss more characters within the MCU and DCU like Wanda (The Scarlett Witch) and Catwoman (Halle Berry's version of the character). But after discussing the format of the dissertation, I decided to only discuss Black Widow and Harley Quinn as I could have a more developed argument.

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Started doing secondary research- October 29th

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Started doing secondary research- October 29th

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I've started writing my introduction and chapter 1.
Goal: For November 3rd, I would like to finish writing the rough draft for my introduction and chapter 1.
I've researched Laura Mulvey, the MeToo movement, female critics discussing the 'female gaze'

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- Introduction is completed
- Chapter 1 is mostly written, the endings of the paragraphs need more work
- I planned what points to discuss in Chapter 2 & started researching articles discussing both Black Widow & Harley Quinn's costume

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I watched Suicide Squad & started making note of Quinn's portrayal through her costume design, preparing notes for chapter three of my dissertation.

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I tried writing more for Chapter 1 as the paragraphs still needed a bit more research, but as I hadn't written for a few weeks, I'd lost track of my train of thought.
I decided to start writing for Chapter 2, discussing Black Widow's costume.

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I wrote 200 words for Chapter two. As I have work to do for my other film projects, I don't plan on doing any more writing until after January 12th.

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I finished writing my first Black Widow point discussing her portrayal in Iron Man 2 (1249 words) I will need to edit this section down a lot before submitting the whole dissertation.

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I wrote 800 words, finishing my second Black Widow point

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January 19th- I rewatched Black Widow (2021)
January 20th- I finished writing Chapter two of my dissertation discussing Black Widow's costume in the MCU franchise before it developed in Black Widow.

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My goal for today is to start writing at 10:30am and write most of my Harley Quinn chapter.
I finished writing at 6pm: I wrote one point for my 3rd chapter discussing Harley Quinn, I researched Harley Quinn in the comics.

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Found the article 'What Have Clothes got to do with it? Romantic Comedy and the Female Gaze'  by Paula Marantz Cohen 

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Found the article 'What Have Clothes got to do with it? Romantic Comedy and the Female Gaze'  by Paula Marantz Cohen 

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I was finally able to find a female critic discussing the 'female gaze' more. Although she was discussing it being used in romantic comedy, some of the things she stated were insightful and I was able to use in my argument.

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I started editing and proof reading my essay. I specifically started going back through my introduction and chapter 1 as they were completed. I added in new critics and research, as well as just tidying up what I'd written

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I finished writing chapter 3 and my conclusion.

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I created my bibliography, cited all of my references and research within the text and edited the rest of my work (chapter 3 and conclusion)

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My work is finally completed and ready to submit!