codes and conventions of action adventure films

Action adventure films are designed to create an action-filled, energetic experience for the audience who can live vicariously through the exotic locations, conquests, explorations. struggles and situations that confront the main characters. The producers aim to please the audience by keeping them on the edge of their seat with a series of mind boggling chases and hair raising adventures that are historically inaccurate yet elementally possible.

Narrative
Narrative led films have different story arcs where the dialogue drives the plot rather than building character. An action adventure film is essentially one long quest with numerous different chase sequences, each one being more death defying and seemingly impossible than the one before. The producers aim to ramp up the tension as the film progresses to a storming end sequence. The producers aim for the audience to be positioned so they are thinking "will our hero make it, or will the evil antagonist get there first?" An action adventure film usually contains a strong story ark of a quest for treasure, or an incredibly valuable object, or an item which has occult power. Also it would usually contain a love interest that both hinders and support the main quest. There is usually a fast moving narrative with a constant set backs that are overcome; leading to fairly complex plots. Finally there is usually thrilling action where the protagonist saves his fellow travellers through a variety of non-realistic yet apparently logical escapades. Action and adventure genre derive their energy from being more exciting and a much more dangerous and adult versions of children's stories.

Characters and locations
The characters in action adventure genre are set in a stereotypical world of the not too distant past or future; or the fictional world of storybook adventures. The main protagonist is usually a recognisably normal guy, and who just has great endurance in the face of danger and who usually is extremely clever. There is usually a number of different characters who are known as the 'helpers'; these are usually a team of innocent characters who get caught up in the action. Humorous dialogue is usually used to create a characters persona and to diffuse frightening situations. The characters usually face a plot that takes them on twists and turns that often put them in mortal danger from an assortment of unusual animals, machines and monsters orchestrated by an evil antagonist. Exotic locations are used where the characters have to endure extreme climates as well as evil forces.

History
Action adventure stories have always been popular and the films share elements with other genres such as fantasy and sci-fi. The early action adventure films were adapted from novels where the genre originated such as 'The Three Musketeers'.

synopsis of film

Alaina jones is a small town girl who faces life changing events when her father is killed in a accident. She moves to london to live with her uncle where secrets start to be revealed; after mysertous men start appearing and she over hears a numerous of phone calls and meetings that aren't like the usual business conversations. Aliana realises that the uncle she has known her whole life may not be the person she thought she knew. After finding out the secret behind her fathers death she finds herself homeless and seeking revenge on her uncle and the mob he belongs to.

Evaluation of questionnaire

From my questionnaire I found out that the most popular genre of film would be action adventure as 57% of my target audience said that action adventure is the genre that they watch the most. This has effected my preliminary task because I will have to make sure that the genre of my clip will be action adventure. I believe this could be because of the sense of power and danger that is achieved from an action adventure films makes it appealing to my target market. For my setting I found that the majority of my participants wanted the setting of the clip to be a cellar as 54% opted for this setting, this result has made me change the setting of my clip from a run down office block to a cellar. I believe this setting is the most popular because this setting has a sense of danger and mystery that may be appealing to the target audience.The time period that my target audience wanted was is modern day where 34% of the participants wanted the film set in modern day; I believe they have picked this time period because it creates more verisimilitude that the target audience may find more interesting and appealing. This means I need to make my film set in modern times instead of making it futuristic like I hoped. 74% of my target audience picked Imovie as the editing software I should use, this could be because apple products are appealing to my target audience. This gives me the opportunity to use more sophisticated software that will make my clip more appealing to the target audience. The majority of my target audience (70%) picked colour over black and white for the effect of the film, this could be because the majority of image now is in colour even though black and white gives an original effect I will have to make my clip colour to make it appealing to the target audience.

55% of the participants asked said that they wanted the clip to contain two protagonists; and 72% said they wanted the cast to contain both a male and female main character. I will make my one of my protagonists male and the other female to make my film more appealing to both genders and make sure they is no gender stereotyping or sexism found within the clip. The most popular age that the main characters should be is sixteen to twenty-six because 52% of participants said that this was the age they wanted the characters to be, this could be because it is close the age range of my target audience. Therefore to make my film more appealing to my target audience I will have to make my main characters between the ages of sixteen and twenty-six.

Genre

"Family dramas are all about conflict, about family oblications versus free will. The martial arts film enternalises the elements of restraint and exhilaration. In a family drama there is a verbal fight. Here you kick butt." (Ang Lee, on the differences between his films Sense and Sensibility and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)

Genre theory has developed considerably over the past few decades. Many approach film genres as they are set in stone, with sets of codes, conventions and themes that should not be changed. Action and adventure is a far less easy genre from which to assemble common characteristics. It embrases a varity of sub-genres, and many western films are also considered as part of the action and adventure genre.

Sub Genres Of Action and Adventure Films

Action comedy - This is a sub-genre involving action and humour. This sub-genre became a popular trend in the 1980's when actors who were known for their background in comedy such as Eddie Murphy, began to take roles in action films. The action scenes within the genre are usually light hearted and rarely involve death or serious injury. Comedy films that contain action-laden sub-plots are not considered part of the genre as the action scenes of the genre as the action scenes have a more integral role in action comedies. An example of this sub-genre included The Blues Brothers, 1980.
Die hard scenario- In this sub-genre the story takes place in limited location; a single building, plane or vessel, which is seized or under treat by enemy agents, but are opposed by a single hero who fights an extended battle within the location using stealth and cunning to attempt to defeat them. This genre began with the film Die Hard and became popular in Hollywood because it's crowd appeal and the relative simplicity of building sets for such a constrained piece. This films are sometimes described as "Die Hard on a...". An example of this sub genre is Snakes On A Plane 2006.
Disaster film- This genre has elements of thriller and sometimes science fiction films; the main conflict of this sub-genre is some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes or nuclear disasters that are shown with heavy action scenes, special effects, over the top destruction and use of CGI. An example of this genre is The Day After Tomorrow.
Martial arts - Martial Arts films contain numerous fights between characters as the films primary appeal and entertainment value; and often as a method of story telling and character expression and development. These films contain many characters who are martial artists or actors frequently train in preparation for their roles or the director may rely more on the stylized action or film making tricks. Shanghai Noon is an example of this sub-genre.
Sci-fi action- This genre shares many of the conventions of a science fiction films and emphasises; gunplay, space battles, invented weaponry and other sci-fi elements weaved into action film premises. An example of sci-fi action is Bryan Singers X-men, 2000.

Directors and producers of action and adventure films

Notable action and adventure film directors from the 1960's and 1970's include Sam Peckinpan for his 1969 western The Wild Bunch which was controversial for it's bloody violence and ninilist tone. James Cameron (director of Terminator, Aliens and True Lies) and John Woo (director of Hard Target and Mission: Impossible II) were two of the influential and popular directors from the 1980's to 2000's. Many others are John McTiernan (director of Die Hard and Predator); Ridley Scott (director of Black Hawk Down); The Wachawski Brothers (The Matrix Trilogy) and Micheal Bay (Bad Boys Two and Transformers). Many notable action and adventure producers include;

• Ari Lerner



• Boaz Davidson



• Don Simpson



• Harrey Weinstein



• Jerry Bruckheimer



• Jerry Weintraub



• Joel Silver



• Menahem Golan



• The Wachawski Brothers

Action And Adventure Genre

Action and adventure is a film genre where one or more protagonist, or heroes in action and adventure genre, is thrust into a series of challenges that requires physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases. Usually the genre contains one resourceful character struggling against incredible odds such as;

• life threatening situations



• an evil villain



• and/or being chased in several forms of transportation (e.g. cars, trains, boats e.t.c)

with victory being achieved at the end after difficult physical efforts and violence. During the stories developments there are usually secondary explosions, fist fights, gunplay and car chases.

Action and adventure genres were traditionally aimed at male audiences from the early teens to the mid 30's many action and adventure filmmakers from the 1990's and 2000's added female heroins in response to the expanding social concepts of gender and glorifying the strong female archetype.

Because of the advancement in CGI and special effects action and adventure films are becoming more and more popular by filmmakers. It is now cheaper and easier to create action sequences and other visual effects that required professional stunt crews and dangerous stunt crews than in the past. Film audiences now have high expectations for action and adventure films because of the high level of computer generated imagery.

While action has been a major element in the action and adventure genre development in the 1970's has now made the genre closely linked with the thriller genre and also may have elements of science fiction and espionage.

feedback from questionaire

pie charts to show my results of my questionaire

genre of film

setting of film

time period the film will be set in

editing softwere

black and white or colour?

number of main characters

gender of main characters

age of main characters

questionnaire for primary research for preliminary task

what genre would you prefer the film to be?
horror [ ]
comedy [ ]
thriller [ ]
action [ ]
rom com [ ]
drama [ ]
other (please specify) __________________________________
what colour effect would you prefer the film to be in?
black and white [ ]
colour [ ]
male or female characters?
all male [ ]
all female [ ]
both [ ]
what age would you prefer the characters to be?
younger than 16 [ ]
16-26 [ ]
27-37 [ ]
38-48 [ ]
49-59 [ ]
60-70 [ ]
70+ [ ]
where would you prefer the film to be set?
school [ ]
office [ ]
cellar [ ]
attic [ ]
woods [ ]
stage [ ]
other (please specify) _______________________________
what editing softwere would you prefer to be used?
imovie [ ]
windows movie movie [ ]
other (please specify) _______________________________
how many main characters should be used?
1 [ ]
2 [ ]
3 [ ]
4 [ ]
5 [ ]
6 [ ]
7+ [ ]
what time period should the film be set in?
50's [ ]
60's [ ]
90's [ ]
2000's [ ]
modern [ ]
futureistic [ ]
other (please specify) ___________________________

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