In this dissertation I explore a number of contemporary science fiction franchises in order to ascertain how the figure of the action heroine has evolved throughout her recent history. There has been a tendency in film criticism to view these strong women as ‘figuratively male’ and therefore not ‘really’ women, which, I argue, is largely due to a reliance on the psychoanalytic paradigms that have dominated feminist film theory since its beginnings. Building on Elisabeth Hills’s work on the character of Ellen Ripley of the Alien series, I explore how notions of ‘becoming’ and the ‘Body without Organs’ proposed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari can be activated to provide a more positive set of readings of active women on screen. These readings are not limited by discussions of sex or gender, but discuss the body in terms of its increased capacities as it interacts with the world around it. I do not argue for a Deleuzian analysis of cinema as such, because this project is concerned with aspects of representation which did not form part of Deleuze’s philosophy of cinema. Rather I use Deleuze and Guattari’s work to explore alternative ways of reading the active women these franchises present and the benefits they afford. Through these explorations I demonstrate, however, that applying the Deleuzoguattarian ‘method’ is a potentially risky undertaking for feminist theory. Deconstructing notions of ‘being’ and ‘identity’ through the project of becoming may have benefits in terms of addressing ‘woman’ beyond binaristic thought, but it may also have negative consequences. What may be liberating for feminist film theory may be also be destructive. This is because through becoming we destabilise a position from which to address potentially ideologically unsound treatments of women on screen.

Science fiction film has been telling stories about artificial anthropomorphic robots and androids for almost a hundred years, spawning films, such as Metropolis (1927), Ghost in the Shell (1951), and Blade Runner (1982). Each of these science-fiction films was complemented by a musical score that helped to create an onscreen world dominated by a dystopian view of the future. Influenced by the generations of prior science-fiction films, Automata (2014), The Machine (2013), and Ex Machina (2015) are all concerned with the same narrative in which humanity is in decline while artificial robots are rising up and experiencing life in a way that humans are no longer capable of doing. These three films were all chosen as exemplars of recent science- fiction films with stories about robots versus humans. Further, this difference between robots and humans is paralleled in the film's musical scores. Humans are represented by depressive musical themes with dull and cold timbres that symbolize how empty they have become. Robots, on the other hand, are represented by bright and lively timbres that symbolize how the robots are living more vibrant lives than humans. This thesis traces themes for humans and robots through several important moments and tropes in each film: the state of humanity, the first encounter with the robot, the quality of life for robots and humans, and the eventual conflict that erupts between artificial and organic life. This conflict ends with the arrival of a robotic Eve figure, a sole female robot that is set apart by the film score as a special being, the start of a new age that is dominated by robotic life. These films choose to portray female robots and promote the idea of Eve because the female is seen as a mysterious Other to be feared; in the same way, humans fear these female robots because of their Otherness. Analysis and conclusions were achieved through transcription of the film scores, interviews with the film composers, analysis connecting the score to the visual scene, and constructing a historical context that connects the three films to their predecessors. Future research can expand on these findings by adding more science fiction films to the film pool, examining just how far the musical difference between humans and robots can be traced in film. Unlocking the musical themes assigned to humans and examining how they change over time can reveal how humans perceive themselves, for better or worse. This study is also meant to serve as a gateway for more science fiction films to be studied through their music, as some film's have hidden meanings that can only be understood by examining the music and how it interacts with the visual scene. A study of Automata, The Machine, and Ex Machina manifests how humanity is making way for the robotic Eve and the next stage of evolution for the world.

The science fiction cinema is often concerned about future, and presents to its audience possible alternatives for it. Each science fiction film about the future constructs a different idea in the audience&rsquo / s mind and supports a currently existing ideology at the same time. The science fiction genre extrapolates and speculates about future which results in a new world: Aliens, androids or clones become participants of this world, intergalactic federations regulate diplomatic relationships or natural disasters endanger the whole humankind. The indispensable factor in every case is that new objects surround the future. They are extrapolated or speculated as well from the objects of today in order to fit to and satisfy the needs of the future world of the science fiction film. The ideas about the future presented in the film are supported by the material existence of these future objects. This study demonstrates the ideas and ideologies in respect to future in the science fiction cinema and investigates how the future objects contribute to constructing them.

The study aimed to develop a theory describing the nature of the relationship between industrial design and science fiction, based on the observation that science fiction caninspire industrial designers and enrich industrial design processes and products. The hypotheses were that: 1. The roles of industrial design and science fiction are based on parallel ideas. 2. Industrial design is suffused with, and sympathetic to, science fiction thinking. 3. There is a ‘cause and effect’ relationship between aspects of industrial design and science fiction. Science fiction cinema is a key ‘cause and effect’. 4. Science fiction cinema performs a key function in the roles of science fiction, and cinema can be employed to explore and discuss the roles of industrial design and science fiction. The study used a range of research methods. An extensive literature review critically compared and analysed the characteristics and roles of science fiction and industrial design. The analysis identified contrasting and common themes, ideas, processes, texts and subtexts between the two areas. The findings were further analysed using graphic analytical tools, to form models that described and structured the industrial design/science fiction relationship. Three case studies were used to further test the model: the work of industrial designer and visual futurist Syd Mead; science fiction author Bruce Sterling; and the industrial design and production design content of selected science fiction films. Analysis of an Internet discussion among industrial designers also illuminated the model. The findings from the analysis and the case studies supported the validity of the original hypotheses. The study identified as the key elements of an emerging theory the parallel ideas of innovation in industrial design and novum (the new thing) in science fiction; the cause and effect relationship found between the two disciplines; the parallel concepts of mediation and responsibility in industrial design, and anticipation and interrogation in science fiction. The theory was presented as a graphic model that demonstrated these elements. This study concludes that science fiction challenges the design profession to produce better design by requiring that social, political, and technological contexts in which products will exist are explicitly understood and addressed. This is mapped out in an emerging theory that outlines a complex, multi-layered relationship between industrialdesign and science fiction. In industrial design terms, this emerging theory could be considered a prototype.

This thesis interrogates the interrelation between architecture and science fiction cinema to understand the fictional and representative power of architecture. Since cinema embraces both physical and representative aspects of architecture it is convenient to carry out the research through the mediation of cinema. To accomplish this goal science fiction genre is particularly chosen where architectural image can break its commonly acknowledged facet and can reconstruct to participate in the narrative. The architectural image is intended to be interpreted through the concept of city and architectural components in science fiction cinema. To create a mutual language, a world wide known city &amp / #8211 / New York City &amp / #8211 / is selected as the case study subject / that the research is developed upon. Initially the study is based on the discussion over cinema architecture relationship from an architect&amp / #8217 / s point of view. Subsequently architectural image in architecture and cinema is studied under several categories. Twenty four science fiction movies with various plots are chosen where all the movies are either located in New York City or in a fictional city inspired by it. By analyzing these movies through architectural concepts it is aimed to gain understanding to key points in architectural design.