Media evaluation Q2

Question 2How does your media product

represent particular social groups?

Black Protagonist The protagonist (Agent Savs – Played by Bruk Simon) in our media product is black. This is unconventional of the genre as most crime thriller protagonists are white Americans/British.

Black ProtagonistFirst time you see Agent Savs is a high angle shot. This represents Black-British people as vulnerable and powerless.

Black ProtagonistA black protagonist is a counter-stereotype. However there are still a few examples that we followed/got inspiration from for our final film.

Django (right) is not a crime-thriller, however it supports the anti-stereotype that we used

Foreign AntagonistsWe followed a traditional stereotype within British and American cinema by making the antagonists foreign . This is common and is used to create a divide between the audience and the villains within the film. They can be foreign in many ways, whether it be from a different country or different species.

Orcs in Lord Of The Rings: Foreign species to the protagonists Goldfinger: Latvian villain in

James Bond

Dinosaur in Jurassic Park: Foreign species to the human protagonists

Foreign AntagonistsWe followed another common stereotype in our film by making our antagonists Russian. This follows a long standing ‘tradition’ in American and British cinema of vilifying nations that they are in conflict or involved in tensions with by making them antagonists in media. This fits with our villains being Russian as there are now international tensions between Russia, America and Britain.

Red Skull: Captain America villain, first used in 1941 (during WW2), is a German Nazi officer

The Mandarin: Villain from Iron Man 3 (2013), Middle-Eastern terrorist, relating to Al Qaeda, ISIS etc.

From Russia With Love (1963): Russian assassination attempt on James Bond, released during the cold war

Gender RepresentationFor our opening two minutes of the film we have an all male cast. This is common within action sequences in films, as males are generally represented as more violent, aggressive and strong. However, it is not common for whole films as there is almost always a love interest.

‘The Box’ – Se7en Marie – The Bourne UltimatumTess Ocean – Ocean’s 11

SpiesThe mise-en-scene is also used to represent a group; spies. The setting of a nice part of central London (the South Bank) presents the lifestyle of spies as glamorous and urban. The iconography of buildings like Big Ben and the London Eye make the setting iconic and recognisable as a glamorous and affluent setting. The costume of a black suit and white shirt also give the impression of wealth and conform to the stereotypical spy image.