The character of Agent Chase was based on the internationally recognised character that is James Bond, in particular, Daniel Craig’s rendition of the role. Like Bond, Chase is a figure who is confident in what he does, and has a tendency to take matters into his own hands, even if that means going against direct orders from someone ‘higher up.’ This could suggest that both of them believe themselves to be better informed to act to the situation than others, and bring about a rather brash, egotistical and reckless representation of men.

This is exemplified when you compare our chase, to the running chase scene in Casino Royale, with Bond causing havoc and destruction in the building site, whilst in our’s Chase shoots somewhat wildly in a public town. Moreover, both main characters resolve the chase by killing their targets very recklessly and so playing on a stereotype of modern media, which is that men have very little emotion and remorse. For this shot, as seen in the still, we filmed it so as that the main light source was behind Chase, casting a dark shadow over his face, giving him a darker representation to the audience, which makes him appear even more brutal and heartless in his actions.

One major difference between Chase and Bond, is that Bond is a iconic figure, that people across the globe recognise as ‘the good guy.’ On the other hand, our film is introducing characters never before seen, so the audience may be unaware of whether or not Chase is actually the classic ‘good guy.’ We purposefully tried to go against this norm and make our main character more of a cold-hearted killer than Bond. This is seen in Chase’s killing of the unaware security guard on the stairs, and causes the audience to question whether or not Agent Chase belongs to a national intelligence agency, or whether he is part of a more sinister operation. Similar ideas were explored in the Angelina Jolie film: Salt, in which the audience was consistently unsure whether or not her character was an infiltrating Russian spy or someone who had been set up.

This results in a more dynamic, mysterious character for Chase that offers the audience something new compared to action movies that have come before. It could also give men a more deceptive and dark representation, and this is mirrored in the character of Commander X….

The inspiration for Commander X came from the video game Call Of Duty: Black Ops, which features a woman speaking into a microphone, However, we never actually see the woman, only obscure, extreme close-ups of her and so this surrounds her in a blanket of mystery. We tried to replicate this, so as that the character of Commander X would be presented to the audience as this unknown, elusive figure. The fact that he is so separated from the action, also implies that he is almost this untouchable ‘Voice of God’ figure with power over the situation.

To add to this effect, we chose a voice actor with a deep, strong, voice which creates an impression of a very powerful, controlling character. Once again, the audience have very little idea at this point in the film whether or not Commander X is a stereotypical ‘good guy,’ all we do know is that he is very controlling and assertive, knowing much more about the current situation than Agent Chase and directing him accordingly. The only time we see Commander X lose control of the situation is right at the end of the opening sequence when Chase shoots the target, against the orders of X. These actions mirror current stereotypes presented by the media surrounding men, as it indicates that these two male figures are battling for the highest control of the situation, and Chase is attempting to rebel against his superior.

Harper is the thief within our opening sequence, and he spawned from the runner in Casino Royale, played by Sebastian Foucan, the creator of free running. For this part we picked an actor who we knew was a fast runner and could do an assortment of stunts.

Harper is first presented to us as a stereotypical thief who is dressed in what could be seen as working class clothes (hoodie and tracksuit pants) which when compared with Agent Chase’s attire, make him look less sophisticated. However, we believe we reversed this stereotypical view somewhat because once the chase starts, we see the Harper is a better runner and has a smoother, more sophisticated style than that of Agent Chase.

Moreover, Harper is not causing anywhere near the amount of collateral damage that Chase does in killing a security guard and firing a gun in a busy public place. We can also assume Harper infiltrated the building and stole the mystery item without tripping any alarms and without having to kill any of the security guards, making him a more effective infiltrator than Chase. This also, once again somewhat questions the audience’s perception of who is actually the good or bad character of Harper and Chase, and could cause them to think perhaps neither fall into one category or the other. This all works against the initial stereotypical view of Harper being a working class thief, and makes us question whether his attire is actually to blend in more effectively.

In the opening sequence of Rogue, the audience receives what

is quite a stereotypical view of the spy espionage sector as being

highly male dominated as all 3 of the characters present are

male. As well as this, the representations of the males within it

are quite stereotypical of the norms of the film industry:

emotionless, reckless and power hungry. Unfortunately, this is

often needed if you want production and distribution funding from

the multimedia conglomerates that dominate the industry, as they

are looking for films that follow the conventions, so as not to

alienate the audience, and so are a safe bet for the companies

which will inevitably make them money.We have defied some of the stereotypes surrounding ‘hoodie thugs’ and archetypical thieves through the

character of Harper which gives our film some uniqueness and results in it not building on stereotypes

surrounding class and clothing.

Our opening sequence did not touch on representations surrounding ethnicity, disability, sexuality or those

of women. If the film was to be made fully we would definitely include some major female characters and in

doing so defy common representations of women within media. Moreover, we would like to be able to

represent groups that are often given very poor representations or minimal roles within films. For example

we could ensure that our film passed the Russo test, which is outlined as followed by GLAAD:

1. The film contains a character that is identifiably lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender.

2. That character must not be solely or predominantly defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity.

I.E. they are made up of the same sort of unique character traits commonly used to differentiate straight

characters from one another.

3. The LGBT character must be tied into the plot in such a way that their removal would have a significant

effect. Meaning they are not there simply to provide colourful commentary, paint urban authenticity, or

(perhaps most commonly) set up a punchline. The character should matter.