TITS: A Voyage Into Objectification

TITS: A Voyage Into Objectification explores the disparity between the fantasy of the male gaze and the reality of women’s breasts within contemporary society. As a creative social experiment, we set up the “Tits Hotline”, an anonymous phone-line that appealed to young men to leave their raw and uncensored thoughts on women’s breasts.

In parallel, women with breasts typically rejected by the patriarchy were invited to be shot against a hot-red Playboy inspired backdrop. By adopting this colour, we subverted its use from promoting sexualised imagery of women, to showcasing real female beauty.

The resulting film is a satirical piece that visually celebrates imperfectly perfect breasts in all their wonky, deflated, inflated, blemished and scarred guises, set against a coarse and crude hotline soundtrack to highlight the absurdity of sexist male views.

  • Will & Carly
    Director
  • Ailsa Aikoa
    Cinematographer
  • Meg Thorne
    Editor
  • Amy Patterson
    Producer
  • David Maart
    Production Manager
  • Oliver Whitworth
    Post Producer
  • Megan Lee
    Colourist
  • Sarah Crux
    Online Editor
  • Adam Smyth
    Sound Designer
  • Steph Coles
    Casting Director
  • Hetty Yoxall
    Production Assistant
  • Laura Flack
    1st AC
  • Aida Garcia Vega
    2nd AC
  • Dorothy Iskrzynska
    Gaffer
  • Atikah Zainidi
    Spark
  • Poppy Hughes
    Grooming
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Experimental, Doco, Womanhood, Social Experiment, Documentary, Unscripted, Artist's Film, Shot on Film, Women
  • Runtime:
    2 minutes 11 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 8, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    16mm
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Aesthetica Short Film Festival
    York
    United Kingdom
    November 8, 2023
    Artists' Film - Official Selection
  • Berlin Commercial
    Berlin
    Germany
    August 21, 2023
    Cultural Impact - Official Selection
  • Berlin Commercial
    Berlin
    Germany
    August 21, 2023
    Experimental - Official Selection
  • Berlin Commercial
    Berlin
    Germany
    August 21, 2023
    Unscripted - Official Selection
Director Biography - Will & Carly

Will and Carly are London based directors whose work focuses on the emotive richness of people and the social and political relationships and practices that they engage in. Through stylised cinematography and visual symmetry, they tackle contemporary issues to raise awareness and inspire change. Their films have won various awards including 1.4, Berlin Commercial, Kinsale Sharks and Vimeo Staff Picks.

Will studied Graphic Design at Camberwell College of Arts before becoming an award-winning Creative Director where he has picked up everything from D&AD pencils to Cannes Lions. Most recently he has created a chart topping track with Snoop Dogg. Carly studied Fine Art and Photography at Central Saint Martins, had a brief dalliance in an all-girl punk band called The Itchy Tits, later becoming a Photographic Commissioner. Her art works have been exhibited with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and in galleries nationally including the Truman Brewery.

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Director Statement

The film was conceived one evening whilst watching the Edgar Wright documentary on the weird and wonderful Sparks Brothers. On hearing their 1970’s track “Tits”, we were struck by lyrics which exposed a man’s disappointment at his wife’s breasts no longer being “a source of fun and games” having been repurposed to nourish his new-born son. It made us curious to explore to what extent the male gaze still exists within society today.

We're also fascinated by technology’s impact on the growth and development of young people. A few years ago we looked at the effect social media was having on young girls' mental health with our film FilterFace: Double Tap To Like and it felt timely to turn our attention to young men, especially with the rise of toxic influencers like Andrew Tate. In the age of the iPhone, sexualised imagery of women is readily available to young men whether streamed through porn websites, shared on WhatsApp and Snapchat or disguised as an innocent influencer dance on Tik Tok.