In Her Image: Producing Womanhood in America is a collection of media images accompanied by original song which acts as a springboard toward questioning how popular images represent and shape female life in America. Accompanied by a facilitator’s guide for discussion and action, this film generates dialogue about the ways in which commercial images of girls and women—images that are so common we might feel immune to them—portray and influence American life. In rearranging the obvious, In Her Image refreshes the investigation of gender dynamics in the United States today (a topic that, despite its importance, is tired of being discussed), and encourages viewers to become critical consumers and advocates for a society that is not dictated by commercial interests and pressures.
Watch the In Her Image trailer.
Motivation and Production
In Her Image: Producing Womanhood in America is not your typical documentary. It began as a live slideshow and musical performance followed by discussion (that version is still available too) and was made into its film version with guide in an effort to facilitate national outreach and adaptation to specific facilitator’s needs.
The entire process of making this film was and still is a completely by-the-seat-of-my-pants, intuitive (yet organized and purposeful!) adventure. Key to its completion was working with talented filmmaker friends, meeting with current field experts, learning tons about troubleshooting with technology, weather, and life in general, and researching everything from media to feminism, copyright to health advocacy. But what I learned most was to trust my instincts, listen to encouragement, and be willing to take risks.
I was motivated to make this film out of unwillingness to stand by while women in America are depicted as commodities in public media. This commercialization is based in entrepreneurship and private enterprise, and despite its profitability, there exist the negative consequences for all Americans of making women into objects (e.g. sex seems trivial and meaningless, aging becomes a “problem,” definitions of womanhood are unattainable and therefore are often harmful to female well-being, personal experience is devalued in the face of expert knowledge, medicine and cosmetics merge together). I hoped that in “re-seeing” information that is normally viewed unconsciously, audience-members would become aware of the contradictions found in the many roles that girls and women are told to fill, as well as the paradoxes inherent in gender role issues and their possible resolutions.
However, while the film is organized to question how commercial images represent and shape daily life, I felt it was important not to dictate pre-processed conclusions to audiences; rather, I decided to utilize images, text, and song—the usual methods of communication found in magazines, print advertisements, movies, and TV—to allow audience-members to recognize and access the collected content. It was an experiment in what would happen if people could experience these images condensed within one presentation and out of their usual expected context; I thought when viewers connected the dots and actively interpreted as they experienced the film, they would gain a new consciousness about the high volume of messages we internalize every day. (While some movies can be forms of mindless entertainment, film can still be a really powerful and thought-provoking medium!)
I also believed that the program’s underlying musical element would involve audiences directly, resonating for a different sort of impact than conventional methods of education which employ only the spoken or written word.
With this tweaked-out thirty-four-minute “music video,” I headed into the world with my outreach goals.
Next Steps—Know What You’ve Made and Stay Positive
The tricky business of doing outreach with a creative piece is that your product is different from what’s out there, and therefore does not fall into any niche, genre, category, or use that has been established as worthy of anyone’s time and attention. Many filmmakers on MediaRights.org have stressed that finding your audience is crucial, and I would agree. At the start, I met with educational film houses, submitted to film festivals, pestered college events boards, and so on in what seemed like a hopeless path of rejections.
But what I did notice and hang onto was the fact that most everyone I met with was interested by the idea of the film, but were prevented from taking it on board their organization, school, or cause due to field, job, or budget limitations - and of course, the fact that it addresses “dangerous” content. Some folks, scared of political or legal repercussions, wanted to steer clear of my film with a 10-foot pole. Some really wanted to show it but said they simply couldn’t because (gasp) there were images of breasts in it. (Funny that we can are bombarded by images of women’s bodies on TV, billboards, magazines, bus stops, and even milk cartons, but when someone wants to address their impact in an educational setting, suddenly these same images are forbidden!)
Of course it was discouraging to feel like small fry, an amateur filmmaker to whom no one would give the time of day—but, believing in my mission, I made note of constructive criticisms I received, did a bit of editing to make the film tighter and shorter, and continued my emails and calls of introduction to a more finely-tuned set of possible partners.
As you conduct your outreach efforts, you might notice that certain personal traits or directorial choices seem to be obstacles to your progress. However, these are actually the points that make you and your film strong, because they are unique! For example, I look young for my age (and on top of it was pretty young when I started out) and often am condescended to in meetings. However, there are grants that only young people or first-time filmmakers can apply to, youth is a hugely positive feature when connecting with teens, panels often look to hire multi-generational speakers, etc. What may seem like a disadvantage at first can be turned into an advantage: if you scrutinize why a certain characteristic or trait is valuable, you will be able to clearly see who will respond positively to your work. Then, spend your time and energy focusing on these people!
You can always go back to larger organizations, huge film festivals, and such that are harder to crack later if that’s important to you. If you are worried that you are “preaching to the choir,” rest assured that reaching like-minded people is a great thing! It is much easier to do secondary outreach to people indifferent or opposed to your message with that “choir” behind you! (I’d also like to add here, as disenchanting as this may be, that some people who will not give your work a second thought when you first start out, might reconsider their opinion of your film when you re-approach them a few years and substantial screenings later.)
In my journey’s beginning stages, I discovered that in addition to individual teachers, film-screening organizers, and student club leaders, of all things I never would have guessed, conferences seemed to be the venues that were willing to show my film with a “Director Q&A” or accepted my proposals for media literacy workshops. Some colleges were also interested. Very slowly I began to build up a resume of screenings, presentations, and groups that had used the DVD and guide on their own. I learned to celebrate each outreach effort, no matter how seemingly small, whether the meeting ended in a secured future plan or not, because many successes or connections are not immediately apparent and many things learned do not become meaningful until later.
I also learned that if I stopped making approaches or did not follow up on dropped communications, the project would come to a halt. And that was okay! As any type of artist, it is hard to keep up with supporting oneself and keeping an outreach effort going single-handedly. The good news is that it’s no big disaster that things take time. People I had contacted and long given up on called me three years later, finally having gotten their plans together. An email I followed up on after nearly half a year received a positive response. A grant I forgot I had even applied to came through. People heard about my film from other’s recommendations and contacted me out of the blue. You are responsible for planting the seeds and checking back on them, but the project will grow.
It is difficult not to become disheartened and impatient when no path seems to be unfolding for your outreach work. But I find that the more I continue, the more I have learned, honed my understanding of who will be interested in my film, and had the opportunity to take part in more events and activities which bring in interest. I am certainly not famous or rich, but I do feel that my film is making a difference, and that is what matters to me.
By Julia Barry
Photo courtesy of Arts Engine