Homework: My Film pitch

Operation Kiwi

Sub-genre: Buddy/Comedy
Narrative

Special agent James Tyler and his (work) partner Mike Yorke are set the assignment to stop Dr. Relyt from dropping a nuclear bomb on the United Kingdom which would result in the bottom half of the country sinking and being permanently underwater from his home country of Russia (a common setting for the home of a villain).

After 2 days into the week-long job, James Tyler finds out Mike is a double agent working for Dr. Relyt after stumbling across a phone call.

James’ company then hire ‘The best agent ever to come out of…wait for it…New Zealand’, Shawn Merritt.  Contrasting James’ current mood after finding out one of his closest friends for about 10 years was plotting against him, Shawn Merritt is excited and full of life (due to the amount of cases that actually occur in New Zealand…not many)

Along the way, James' meets Dr. Relyt's Assistant, Marie, an attractive blonde bombshell with a penchant for martial arts and guns.  After a stand off between the two (where Shawn is left cowering in a corner) it becomes clear that she in fact a secret government agent.  A love interest develops between the two.

The films concludes with the newly acquainted duo infiltrating the base of the films villain and reaching the bomb, only to be confronted by the Doctor with the firing button in hand. 

The last shot is of an explosion, but we don’t know whether it has exploded in the base or whether Dr. Relyt’s plan came to completion.

This leaves the chance to make a sequel.

Iconography

Explosions will be imminent throughout the film, setting the scene at the start of the story and helping it end on a cliff-hanger-type conclusion.  British imagery, major scenery from Britain contrasted with, snowy Russia.  Russian Base is dark and gloomy.  Lots of guns!!

Shawn Merritt: Ridiculous costumes and pathetic gun.

Marketing Plan
Trailers to show in both action films and comedies to gain wider audience.  
Synergetic relationship with McDonalds where there are competitions with their Big Mac meals which is also a major point in the film of why Shawn loves the west.  Joke pitch within Flight of the Conchords.  Possibly write a song? 

Characters

Hero: James Tyler (Strong, Brave, Fearless)-Jason Statham
Villain: Dr. Relyt (Corrupt, Dangerous)-Alan Rickman

False Hero: Mike Yorke (Dodgy, Odd)-Daniel Craig

Helper/Donor: Shawn Merritt-Rhys Darby

False Villain/Princess: Marie Draper-Yvonne Strahovski

Setting

Main settings:

• London
• Russian Base

Other settings (briefly shown):

• New Zealand
• America
• Austria/Various snowy places in Europe (during snowy fight scene)

USP
Combining the comedy of Flight of the Conchords with the typically serious action star, Jason Statham.  Following the success of buddy cop films such as Rush Hour, this combines two cultures to create a new interesting dynamic.  By utilising the straight lace of Daniel Craig and the villain factor of Alan Rickman, a unique blend of cringe comedy is created.

Target Audience
Primary Audience:
Males 16-30
Fans of Action-Adventure
Mass appeal

Secondary Audience:
Fans of Flight Of the Conchords
Fans of comedy
Females 16-30 (due to 'hot' guys)

Tagline
When there's no other option...New Zealand's got your back.

Homework: A-A clip genre analysis

Narrative

Equilibrium: No clear equilibrium shown in the beginning of the film

Disruption: Dominic Cobb is hired by the wealthy Mr. Saito to perform the act of 'Inception' to 'extract' information from the mind of Robert Fischer, son of the owner of Mr. Saito's Rival company.  Wealth is often used for characters in action-adventure film with high budgets.  The team that Cobb assembled eventually go down to four levels of sedation (a dream within a dream within a dream within dream), resulting in Mr. Saito (who gets killed in his dream), Cobb himself and Ariadne (the architect who design the dreams) reaching limbo, a world Cobb Spent 50 years (around 9 months in real life time due to elongation of time in dreams).

Resolution: The team escape, an almost inevitable factor in this hybrid genre, by riding the 'kicks' (an occurrence that wakes one up from that certain dream) back up the levels of dreams.

Iconography

There are many iconic features in this film, for example, all the characters are very smartly dressed but are still very ready for action, this is very typical of modern action-adventure, most notably the James Bond films.  However, arguably the most iconic feature in the film is the totem of Dominic Cobb (formerly of his ex-wife, Mal's), used to let him know when he is in the real world, indicated by whether it stops spinning or not.  This is not typically Action-Adventure, making it unique within a world filled with typically Action Adventure iconography i.e. guns, explosions, fight scenes and car chases.  The most iconic scene is the zero gravity scene which includes CGI special effects and fight choreography which is one of the foundation in the tower known as Action Adventure. 

Characters

Hero: Dominic Cobb; Strong, cool, good-looking

Villain: The Sub-Consciousssssss
Princess: Ariadne; Clever (more recent attribute), good-looking

Helper: Cobb's Team; Trustworthy, helpful, untrustworthy

Donor: Robert Fischer; Powerful

These characters conform  to Action Adventure stereotypes as they are competant fighters yet are attractively dressed and are aspirational figures.  Cobb, for example, is very attractive and aspirational as he is multi-talented and very successful in a job that  is incredibly difficult.  In contrast, the sub-conscious is quantiful, dangerous and constantly chasing the positive characters which despite being stereotypical of action adventure is presented in a new and interesting way within this film.

Setting

The settings in Inception are very varied as they are designed to be from the dreams of Robert Fischer.  We see such setting as Cities with car chases, very posh hotels, snowy mountains and a city full of skyscrapers crumbling to the ground.