Action/Adventure research
What is a action movie-
"Action film is a film genre in which one or more heroes are thrust into a series of challenges that typically include physical feats, extended fight scenes, violence, and frantic chases"
Click through examples of action films
Conventions of action films
Where are they set?
Camera work and sound often used..
Mise-en-scene
More research:
I carried out a questionaire to discover action movie s target audience and what makes action movies entertaining. This helped determine the target audience for my own . Here is the questionaire..
From reading my questionaires I discovered that
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Target audience is largley male dominated however females also watch action movies
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Also teenagers and young adults are far more prominant then adults and elderly.
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Also trailers play a big part in the success of action movies as from my questionaire and asking people they often watch action movies after seeing the trailers. This is because trailers broadcast all things great about the film - the fights, car chases and the hero getting the girl e.t.c.
I placed my results in a bar and pie chart to visually demonstrate my findings
Trailer
The cast
Here is a video that I made about what i think is desirable about action movies.
Anaylsis of Skyfall
Even from the first 15 seconds there is evidence of fights, guns and cars. Due to the high volume of conventions I decided that this film is a great example to explain what an action film is.
The James Bond film "skyfall" is a great example of an action film as it displays an array of conventions throughout. The plot follows the main character unravel the secrets of MI5 with many fight scenes inculding weapons such as guns. The film also contains many explosions, death and a collection of fast cars. The Bond series are known for their action and in the 1970s the films were notoriously popular and to this day still are. The bond films have huge production budgets and generate billions for the Economy. Skyfall had made $1.109 billion at the box office.The Bond films are also know for inculding Sony Laptops (Product Placement).
Taken
"Taken" is another great example of an action film. The plot revolves around main character Brian chasing human traffickers around france to save his daughter from becoming lost in prostitution ring. The movie is full of fights, weapons, deaths, car chases , suspensful music and the imminent threat of danger around every corner, making it a rather successful action film which generated $226.8 million at the box office.
Fight scenes in Taken (What makes it an action film)
Me talking about Taken as an action film
Adventure Films
Conventions of adventure movies
What is often found in adventure movies
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Main plot elements include quests for lost continents, a jungle, mountain, island
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urban and/or desert settings,
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characters going on a treasure hunts and heroic journeys for the unknown.
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Adventure films are mostly set in a period background and may include adapted stories of historical or fictional adventure heroes within the historical context. Kings, battles, rebellion or piracy are commonly seen in adventure films
I found this youtube video which I found very useful in understanding action/adventure movies and the conventions of them. It solidfied my understanding and explains simply what makes an action/adventure film.
Examples of adventure films
Analysis of Harry Potter
Harry Potter written by J.K.Rowling is the most successful British films ever to grace the cinema screens. Produced by Warner Brothers who saw the success of her books and decided to make them into films (pre-sold idea). Since then Harry Potter has become a Blockbuster success.
The first film had a budget of 130 million USD and the last 250 million USD, clearly demonstrating the success as Warner Brothers and Hay Day films were aware that the blockbuster would make an immense profit the film made $960.3 million at the Box Office.
Click here to be directed
Track and Dolly which they used to film Harry Potter
Camera work in Harry Potter
Closer analysis of camera work in Harry Potter
Here a close-up is used to show Harrys confusion as the hat decides Harrys house. It also demonstrates his shock when hearing that he may be in Slytherin. Close-ups are also often used to establish a relationship between a character (in this case Harry) and the audience. It also is used to show his relief when being picked for Griffendor implying to the reader that Griffendor is a better house-the "good guys" whereas Slytherin is the "bad guys".
The use of the wand is effective in demonstrating that Hermoine is a witch and powerful, which is a contrast to the high angle. The empty woodland location behind her highlights how there is no -one around to help her
The high angle is utilsed in order to portray the characters as weak and defeated. The high angle mid shot of Hermoine show her with her bloody hands up suggesting a battle was occured and she is surrendering. The high angle enforces her defeat.
The close-up high angle of the professor again demonstrates her vulnerability as she is defeated. The big close-up is very close to her face (OBVIOUSLY) which is highly disorientating and makes the audience feel some what uncomfortable yet also manages to cause the audience to feel sympathy as we can clearly see her pain and struggle. The dark grading of the scene also establishes a sense of doom.
The two-shot here is used to show the complicated relationship between Harry and Voldermort. Two-shots are often used to show emotions and here we see Voldermort's hand on Harry's face demonstrating that their isnt much of one and that they in fact hate each other. The two-shot beautifully demonstrates and practically summarises the story of all the movies- an epic battle between the dark evil side and the good side.
The establishing shot is used to demonstrate to the audience where they are- in this case Hogwarts. Due to the wide nature of the shot it displays multiple things, here we can see the Demontors who surround the school, this adds a sense of dismay and horror as the Demontors are brutal creatures. From this the reader infers that something is wrong or something bad has happened or is about too.
The dim lighting and dark grading further reinforce the idea of doom. The foggy shadowy filter used almost distorts the readers view and mirrors the distorted apperance of Hogwarts which is usually magical and inviting suggesting that something is wrong.