MediAsia 2015 Conference

I recently returned from the MediAsia 2015 Conference, which took place in Kobe, Japan, and was run by the International Academic Forum (IAFOR). The theme of the conference was power and I presented a paper entitled 'Socio-political influence on the ideologies of Daniel Craig's Bond films: The power that lies within.' The paper discussed some of the potential influences on the themes and ideas in Craig's Bond films with a particular focus on Skyfall and Spectre. It was a wonderful experience to share my research interests and to learn about the work of others who had travelled from many different places including Palestine, Kuwait, USA, Philippines, Thailand, Australia, France, Turkey and India. The conference location also gave me an opportunity to see a part of the world I had never visited before and indulge in some Japanese culture.

In the discussion following my presentation some interesting questions and points were raised:

How much influence does the director (Sam Mendes) have on the ideas and themes in the film? This reminded me of a comment made at another conference, in which it was suggested that the influence was perhaps not as much as you'd think since the Bond films employ unit directors for their multiple action sequences and the films are all overseen by the key influence of the producers Broccoli and Wilson and the overall Bond brand. In this sense, the involvement of Sam Mendes was seen as having a promotional function as well: a well-known name attached to the franchise when it needed a boost following the luke-warm reception of Quantum of Solace.

Do you think that the casting of young actors in the staple character roles, Q and Miss Moneypenny, is setting up the franchise for another 20 year run? It will certainly be interesting to see if Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris remain in their roles in the way Desmond Llewelyn and Lois Maxwell did or if they will be re-cast on a similar frequency to Bond.

The publicity photos for each of Daniel Craig's Bond films show an interesting evolution in his character: from the untied bow tie and open jacket in Casino Royale, representing his inexperience, fallibility and vulnerability in that film, to the white dinner jacket and red carnation of Spectre, completing the iconic Bond look made famous by Sean Connery in Goldfinger.

Kinkaku-ji - The Golden Pavilion Temple in Kyoto

MediAsia 2015 Conference Photograph