Blog Assignment One: Character Deconstruction

In deconstructing characters I've chosen two iconic characters from the same film series. I won't reveal who the characters are until the end of the post for those interested in guessing.


Protagonist

For the protagonist's color scheme I chose black, white and gold. They portray the character's elegance as well as their viewpoint on the world. This character tends to view things in a good/bad kind of way often taking issue with characters who are ambivalent in nature. Thus, the black and white contrast. Everything this character does has an element of class and refinement to it. Even the most drastic of actions taken by this character are done gracefully or with an air of superior class and coolness. Their calm demeanor and smooth handling of nearly every conceivable situation gives them a mysterious cool that has been emulated for decades.

For the protagonist's lighting I chose a horizontal angle of light leaving a noticeably dark shadow over one side. The two aforementioned elements of the lighting both represent key features of this character. The horizontal angle of the light accentuates a sort of duality that the character has. This individual has two very distinctive sides, which can essentially be boiled down to the lover and fighter stereotype for protagonists. The two sides sometimes create inner conflict, but often coexist with slight blending as in the above photograph. The shadowing over one side of the statue's face in the image is also representative of this character's dark side which often appears when they are angry or in the heat of an intense sequence. The dark side of this individual is fairly relentless as evidenced by the lack of definition in the shadowed side of the statue in the photo's face.

The sharp, but sleek echelon shape of the above yacht is highly representative of this character's symbolic appeal. They have a few sharp edges, but are overall incredibly sleek and often referred to as such. The sharp edge accentuates the sexy sleek aspects and vice-versa, creating the perfect blend of hard and soft for which this character is known. While they lead with their sharp, confrontational edge most often they do quickly reveal their smooth, refined sides which become one of their most prominent features. The strength and military associations typically afforded to the echelon as a shape are accurate depictions of this character and his adventures.

Antagonist

For the antagonist's color scheme I chose the above combination of tans, oranges, and reds. Their nearly monochromatic, yet slightly complementary, combination show the mostly one-sided way in which this character is portrayed throughout the film series. The tan shows this character's practical nature and almost generic feel (which was later replicated and lampooned by many). The oranges and reds show the anger and, of course, evil which this character possesses. While this color scheme at first seems bold it slowly becomes uncomfortable and, to some extent, offensively bland with the occasional (almost out of place) element of blaring red as evidenced by this character's sometimes misplaced anger.

The above image showing the spotlighted chair is a very appropriate representation of this character's role within the story of the universe of fiction they inhabit. Initially shadowed ever so slightly in mystery, this character gradually gains prominence within the stories of this series just as the chair in the image gradually emerges into our vision out of the darkness of the background. Just like the lone spotlighted chair though, this character is placed in a class of their own during their time on-screen, but quickly fades away in the context of the series almost like a piece of furniture or a slight obstacle for our protagonist to quickly step over.

Much like this backwards chair our antagonist isn't completely revealed at first (both visually and conceptually). They are visibly supported by other smaller antagonists, which build suspense about their identity, but isn't fully revealed until long after their name is introduced. They have a very square, uncreative method of going about things. Their antagonistic actions aren't particularly original and usually take the least amount of originality possible to still be interesting and threatening. Their supporters, their air of mystery, and their one-sidedness are really their key traits as evidenced by this simplisticly designed backwards facing chair. The choice of subject in the last two images are pretty big hints as to the identity of this character.

Identities

For those playing along at home if you guessed that our protagonist was Agent 007, James Bond you would be absolutely correct. Mr. Bond's elegant brand of hard-edged violence against the universally "bad" villains and lackies in his twenty plus adventures has always greatly amused me so he seemed like a perfect character to deconstruct here. The antagonist, in case you couldn't guess from the number of chairs involved, was repeatedly underwhelming Bond nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld; the perpetually seated, cat-stroking, scar-faced leader of the international terrorist organization SPECTRE. Blofeld has always seemed like the most stereotypical of all the Bond villains and is certainly the most often mocked. His signature swiveling chair reveal is lampooned in many TV shows and movies and his character was so stereotypical he even served as the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the hillariously bland and dimwitted villain of the Austin Powers series.