QUESTION 1

Here is the base script to my Question 1:

The most obvious subject of representation in our film is that there is the binary opposite between a strong female lead and her male target. The main female lead is portrayed as powerful, dominant and predatory with-in the opening sequence of our film, this contrasts drastically to the stereotypical representation of women in other movies of the same genre, such as James Bond or Mission Impossible, where they are portrayed as the ‘damsel in distress’ character that is dependant on a male (often the lead) to save her which plays into a hegemonic ideology. She is also a murderer which also contrast the stereotypical caring, domestic idea of what a woman is / should be. This may attract a heavily concentrated female audience as the market for strong, empowering female leads is small, although it is on the rise in recent decades. However, one thing that does play into female stereotypes with how our female character is portrayed is the way she was dressed. She is very glamorous in a dress with a long leg slit, some would say this is sexualising her which is a common thing for films with in the same genre to do as they may want to appeal to the ‘male gaze’. However, I believe that the main characters costume is a countertype as it is not normally what you would expect a train assassin to wear and instead of it being intended to sexualise the character it is more of a way for her to blend into the high class environment she is tasked with entering. This again portrays her as a highly trained, clever character, which is historically not the way women have been represented.

This reverse of the stereotypical genre roles is also seen in the fact that the ‘hunted’ character is a man. This is a counter typical representation of masculinity as men are normally portrayed as the more dominant characters, whereas this is completely flipped in our film. This portrayal of the male character being the ‘prey’ may make men in the audience uneasy as they are not used to seeing men portrayed as hunted by or weaker than women.

Before I continue with other factors and ideas within our film, I will reference the lack of racial and ethnic diversity within our movie. As our school class is not very diverse it was difficult for us to cast non-white characters as we had to work with the actors, we had access too. Although we could have got actors from outside of our class to partake, we thought it would be easier and more realistic to choreograph plans if we stuck to actors within our assigned group.

Another form of representation within our film are the different social classes of society. We start the sequence off with the main character living with in a normal working / middle class house hold (you cannot tell her social-economic situation from the shots we filmed) this then progresses through the travelling sequence to a stereotypical high class environment, the Royal Opera House and the surrounding areas. This change of environments heavily contrast the setting against one another portraying different social classes within our sequence. We used stereotypical iconography to portray the high class environment including a large, clean, glass building, marble heads and intricate details.

However, one thing that is counter typical of a high-class environment is the narrative itself. You would not expect an intense chase and violent crime like the one with in our film to occur with in ‘proper’ society but instead in a perhaps rougher setting, so the fact that this does occur may be an unexpected thing for the audience. However, the actual assassination does happen in a dark alleyway which is a predictable place for something like that to occur. This sudden change of setting (between the high class environment and the alleyway just a few streets away) may signify to the audience that something untoward / mysterious is about to happen, almost like it is being casted in shadow and hidden from the rest of the world. This theme of mystery also links to the genre our film is based in, meaning that this creation of mystery and enigmas so early on with in the film draws the intended audience in, holding their retention and making it more likely they will continue watching.

Something that does not match the key iconography of the genre however is the lack of weapons and key props often seen with in similar movies. The simple answer for there lack of presence is that it would be very hard for the group to obtain a permit for the use of weapons. Also, as our filming took place in Central London (which iconography is seen with in key shots of the movie) we would not want to evoke any suspicion or fear with in people. This meant we simply opted to assassinate the victim in a different way without the use of weapons.

The last thing I would like to talk about with reference to our movie is the social issues or fears it references. The main overarching one of course being violence of all forms. Fear of individuals or unofficial organisations carrying out hate crimes, like the one heard with in the news report at the beginning of the sequence. And also fear of the power the police and official organisations (like the one Maria is with) have to be able to carry out violent actions that would otherwise be crime with no legal action taken against them.

Overall, our film tackles a lot of issues and stereotypes (however does play into a few) whilst also creating a fast paced, exciting, action filled sequence which would entertain our intended spy / action loving audience.