This document discusses how the media product represents various social groups: - The protagonist, Agent Savs, is black, which is unconventional for the crime thriller genre which usually features white protagonists. - The antagonists are made foreign, following common stereotypes in British and American cinema of villainizing other nations. In this case, the antagonists are Russian. - In the opening scenes, it only features male characters, which is common for action sequences to portray men as more violent and strong, though full films usually include a love interest as well. - The setting of nice areas in London represents spies as living glamorous, urban lifestyles, conforming to stereotypical spy imagery through

1. Question 2
How does your media product
represent particular social groups?

2. 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.

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

4. Black Protagonist
A 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

5. Foreign Antagonists
We 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

6. Foreign Antagonists
We 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

7. Gender Representation
For 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 Ultimatum
Tess Ocean –
Ocean’s 11

8. Spies
The 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.