How is gender represented in the opening sequence of Skyfall

Firstly, we are introduced to James Bond, who is instantly shown the be the male protagonist. With the use of a tracking shot, Bond is portrayed to be a leader and the dominant character within the film, this is very stereotypical as it is extremely common for the man to be the main character of the film and for them to be more important than women, however he is soon presented to be counter typical due to the fact that his boss is a women and is giving him orders, this can be shown by a diegetic voice over from a woman directing Bond what to do. An over the shoulder shot showing him trying to save someone’s life, signifies that he is also very compassionate, this is also portrayed through eye line match as he is searching for something to help representing him as caring and helping. This shows a positive representation of gender by Bond as he is shown the be the archetypal male with power and a heroic status. Mise en scene is also used to show a positive view of bond through the use of costume and props, signifying his status through a smart suit and a gun. This shows that Bonds, character is both stereotypical and counter typical as he is the main and most dominant character, however he is being instructed by a woman.

Additionally, we notice that the roles are reversed with the character M as she is a woman with the position of power who is presented to have male characteristics to show that she is in charge. Wide shot tells us that M is powerful as we can see that she has a private office, it also allows us to see that everyone is behind her, giving her importance compared to the other characters in the same scene as her. We also see her in control through the use of simultaneous cross cutting as this shows her being the “brains behind the mission”, whilst she Is having a diegetic dialogue and therefore reinforcing her control. Overall the gender of the woman in charge is a counter type as stereotypically the man should’ve been in charge.

Lastly, we are also introduced to another female character – Moneypenny who is shown to be Bonds sidekick which is a stereotypical character role. We initially see her waiting for Bond and following his orders. Additionally, she is also shown to be stereotypical as she seems to be a bad driver, smashing the car. This conforms to the gender expectations as she is letting the male lead take control, although she does demonstrate some power, which is shown when she smashes the car window through a match on action shot, instead of staying and hiding.

Overall, gender is represented in Skyfall through the use of camera, editing, sound and mise en scene, as it allows the audience to see how the characters are portrayed throughout the opening sequence, we see both stereotypical and counter typical behaviours between characters allowing us to make a decision whether or not each character makes a positive representation of their gender groups or not.