What makes a spy movie great? Are they built with common elements? Dan and Tom decode the blueprint that most spy movies use in creating their story. From the protagonist, the villain and a variety of other essential elements we look at how to build a spy movie.

What do we need if we want to build a spy movie?

Some of the things decoded include:

• Obviously a spy movie needs a protagonist or spy. But, what characteristics does that, or those spies have? What does he or she look like? Importantly, do they have different characteristics if the spy movie is gritty, an action spy movie, or a comedy?

• Next, what are the characteristics of the mission? We look at some examples of different spy movies to highlight some of these.

• And of course, every spy mission's protagonist needs a villain. And these villains aren't all carbon copies. They each seem to have their own physical traits. Again, we look at some examples of successful spy movie villains.

• If you have a male spy, do you need a femme fatale? What about allies? And what are some examples of how locations influence spy movies? What are some successful locations that we've seen in spy movies.

• One area of contention is around how much of the movie needs to be action sequences and what are some of the ways a studio can blow these for the audience?

• As we often talk about, there is a moral ambiguity in most spy movies. We look at this ambiguity and how it has two sides.

Of course, there is more that we discuss, but this list gives you some good reasons to listen to this episode: How to Build a Spy Movie.

Tell us what you think

Are you ready to build your own spy movie? Are there things Dan and Tom missed?

Let us know your thoughts, ideas for future episodes, and what you thought of this episode. Just drop us a note at [email protected]. The more we hear from you, the better the show will surely be! We'll give you a shout-out in a future episode!

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