Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real

media products?


Use


Moby - Music

• He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music.
• Moby also had his song "Extreme Ways" used in the Bourne movies. 
• Although it wasn't a hit when released, "Extreme Ways" has gone on to become one of Moby's most-downloaded songs. This was due to the synergy that promoted the song from the Bourne movies.
Moby - Extreme Ways (Bourne's Ultimatum)

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Mission Impossible 2


The opening is of an acceptance of a mission but also it is set in a very luxurious location like many other action films.

James Bond - Die Another Day


In the film Die Another Day and near the beginning of the film we can see Gustav Graves make his entrance in a Union Jack themed parachute. The shots show the idea of it being set in London, you can see the Thames, The Gherkin and even Buckingham Palace as well as London as a whole from birds-eye view. These therefore, give a real insight of what London is like and this shows its 'Britishness'
Snapshots from the film are as followed :-

Development

• Use of real radio broadcast and so this gives it urgency as well as a realist semi-documentary. This is because the commentary used in the background of The Final Ceremony is extracted from a House of Commons Speech but also from a BBC broadcast.

I extracted some parts of the Audio for my film.. 
These clips were taken at 1:37-1:48 and at 2:26-2:42

• The music was influenced by Moby however, it is different. Instead of a continuous piece, there is three distinctive elements synchronised within the sequence. For example, the pace is slow at first but then gradually gets faster with the support of strumming violins. This is to build tension and to show the feelings of what goes through the female protagonists head at the time.
• The female protagonist has a back story and so there is psychological complexity. She is in conflict with the world that she inherited by her father and the flashbacks introduce this. She comes across as more of a street person and someone who doesn't have the class and status of the BSA director. We therefore want her to become part of that class but she is at a young age and so it can't  be as expected of and so overall, she does come across as different.
• It is based on a real event, the 'Olympics 2012' and this isn't necessarily the norm in many action films. It is quite rare to have an action film that is based purely on a real event that is about to occur.

Challenge

• The female protagonist can be described as credible, realist and young. This therefore, challenges the conventions of a female action hero.
• My female protagonist is almost like Gina Carano who plays a beautiful freelance covert operative. She is hired out by her handler to various global entities to perform jobs and in one scene, she needs to use all of her skills, tricks and abilities to escape an international manhunt. My film however, challenges this representation. We still have an action hero who is female but the female protagonist isn't turned into a masculine type. I wanted a female protagonist who was tough but reserved and feminine. The original idea was that she was going to be one of the Occupy protestors. The research I had carried out about the female protagonist when the film was in production made me construct her as a psychologically complex heroine. The flashback of the boxing sequence presents her relationship with her father rather than making her look 'bad ass'.

• The relationship with patriarchy is double edged or contradictory and she confirms this by being like her father and the audience wants her to be like this too. The twist at the end challenges what the father stands for by undermining the ideal of the secret agent.
• The terrorists reinforce the stereotype of a dangerous foreign gang who comes across as Russian and so they don't necessarily come from a Middle eastern territory like other action films/bomb plots.
  In Four Lions, the terrorists are more comic fools however, in my film they are more straight and serious. In this film, the terrorists want to bomb the London Marathon which is a huge event where as 'The Final Ceremony' is based on a bomb plot for the Olympic Ceremony.



The Marathon Scene at 1:12 - 1:30
• The Cold Light of Day is a film that has a similar narrative. It is about a son whose father dies because he was rebellious spy, the son therefore has to retrieve something of importance. This is challenged because I am using a female protagonist,although her relationship with her father is still crucial. The research shows that the people know about the female protagonist and her role within 'The Final Ceremony'.