GCSE Media Studies 2011Action Adventure Film Exam Monday 13th

June

Codes & Conventions of the Genre – AKA ‘Key Ingredients’Chase scene(s) – on foot or in vehiclesCGI/pyrotechnics (special visual effects)Fight scenesCharacters: Hero/villain/love interest for hero/sidekick for hero

(usually loveable/funny) (Propp)Stereotypical gender representations – men are ‘butch’, women

are ‘eye candy’ (Mulvey)Stunts & Daring saves at the last minuteSimple, closed narratives (Todorov) – easy to followHero usually on a QuestHeavily reliant on binary oppositions (Good vs Evil, Right vs

Wrong, Hero vs Villain)Snappy dialogue & catch phrases ‘Ticking clock’ scenario – time limitations which create tension

REVISION TIPGo through the list of codes & conventions and apply them to an Action Adventure film you have seen recently. This will mean that you have examples to refer to in the exam.If you haven’t seen an AA film recently (or at all) then watch one or more of the following:•Mr & Mrs Smith on Film 4 at 9pm on Friday•Batman Begins on ITV1 at 10pm Saturday •Fantastic 4 on Film 4 at 9pm Saturday•The War of the Worlds on Film 4 at 3.30pm on Sunday•Collateral Damage on C5 at 9pm on Sunday

Representation - GenderWhen we first look at some of the titles for Action

Adventure we immediately think of men fighting over treasure or women and the woman in question being very weak.

Allowed to be tough, but still wear revealing clothes and are, for the most part, controlled by or need rescuing by men (Think MULVEY!).

Charlie’s AngelsThe Angels are the strong heroes but are sexy & use their bodies to get what they want.

They are also controlled by Charlie – a man.

Other common female representations

• Sneaky and manipulative – although Evelina Salt is strong and fierce, she is also cold, calculating and vicious – she is strong but not necessarily heroic.

However…Throughout the franchise of Pirates of the

Caribbean Elizabeth Swann has become a strong female – use this to argue that representations are becoming less stereotypical in some films.

Men – macho heroes

Sylvester Stallone in Rambo

Arnold Schwarzenegg

er in Conan the Barbarian

and Commando

More ‘metrosexual’ heroes

Spiderman – he cries

Legolas (Orlando Bloom in Lord of the Rings) Bromance with Aragorn?

Jack Sparrow – slightly camp and very goofy

Representation – Race, Ethnicity, Nationality, DisabilityAction Adventure is unfortunately renowned

for being unfair to certain other demographics as well as stereotyping gender.

This is particularly evident if you look at villains, who are often disabled, conventionally unattractive and/or ‘foreign’ (i.e. not American – there are many British villains in action films!).

Often non-white American/British groups are not represented at all – consider the main characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Ability/Disability

‘Jaws/Zbigniew Krycsiwiki’ in the Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) : Jaws is meant to be Polish.

Bloefeld

Nick Nack in The Man with the Golden Gun

• Villains are often disfigured or depicted as insane. Heroes are beautiful, graceful and gallant.

Albinos

Silas in The Da Vinci Code

The Twins in Matrix Re-loaded

Bald

The Mummy Returns - High Priest Imhotep

Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End – Sao Feng (with facial scar also)

Robin Hood - Sir Godfrey

Bond - Bloefeld

Damodar in Dungeons and Dragons

RaceVillains are often non-white or ‘foreigners’ in

Hollywood Action Adventures.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Indians and Raiders of the Lost Ark - Germans

The Mummy - Egyptians

The Goonies – the Fratellis

(Italian)

RaceAsian (Chinese, Japanese etc) characters

are often wise or skilled in martial arts (Karate Kid, Jackie Chan/Jet Li/ Bruce Lee films).

Negative representations of Race: The cowardly/incompetent black side kick

Chris Tucker as Ruby Rap in The Fifth Element

Snails in Dungeons and Dragons (Marlon Wayans)

More recent improvementsDenzel Washington

Wesley Snipes

Samuel L Jackson

Will Smith

Revision TipThere may well be a question in the exam asking you to discuss representations of a certain group or more generally in the exam. Ensure that you have reasons and examples to discuss the following viewpoints:• Representations of gender are stereotypical and favour

a male audience.• Some films offer representations which are less

stereotypical, or not stereotypical at all.• Representations of race, nationality and ethnicity have

historically been negative and limited but this is changing.

Action Adventure AudiencesGenerally speaking: Primary audience =

Working/lower-middle class males aged 15-24 whose interests include sports & computer games. Secondary audiences = Older men and Women.

For YOUR film you’ve been asked to target FAMILIES though – this is your PRIMARY AUDIENCE and is very BROAD.

Uses & Gratifications Theory says that audiences choose media texts to fulfil specific needs/desires. Different audiences may choose AA films for different reasons:

Uses & GratificationsSurveillance – people feel better feeling that they know what is

going on in the world around them. News and other non-fiction texts are often used to fulfil this need, although reality television and some fiction texts can also be used.

Personal identity – allowing us to recognise aspects of our own character in the characters we see in the media, or to aspire to them. Soaps are often used here, as they aim to represent ‘real life’ and so are identifiable for real people.

Personal relationships – using the media to enhance relationships with others or even forming a relationship with a media text. All media can be used for this, as they can be a shared experience which people can use as a talking point.

Diversion – being entertained or immersing ourselves in a media text to be distracted from our real lives. Films are particularly popular for this, as they encourage total immersion in the world of the film.

GLOSSARYCGI – Computer Generated Imagery (e.g. monsters, mystical creatures, flying)

Pyrotechnics – explosions, fires, bomb effects

Mulvey – Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory says that women in film are represented in a way which appeals predominantly to heterosexual male viewers, usually sexually

Binary Oppositions – Claude Levi Strauss says that all narratives contain conflict (e.g. good vs bad, man vs woman, heaven vs hell) and that we only fully understand one because of the existence of the otherClosed narrative – where there is a definitive ending (all the loose ends are tied up)Open narrative – where the ending is left open, possibly for a sequel or for the audience to interpret for themselvesTodorov – Tvetzvan Todorov’s narrative theory says that all narratives follow a pattern of Equilibrium-Disruption-New Equilibrium (e.g. Harry Potter lives under the stairs-Hagrid comes and Harry is a wizard! He has to battle Lord Voldemort & wins-Harry is safe again but now lives at Hogwarts & has a very different life.) Propp – see separate slide

Propp’s Character typesAA Characters tend to conform to Vladamir Propp’s theory that all characters fit a certain ‘type’. They are:

•the villain, who struggles with the hero

•the donor, who prepares and/or provides hero with magical agent

•the helper, who assists, rescues, solves and/or transfigures the hero

•the Princess, a sought-for person (and/or her father), who exists as a goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain

•the dispatcher, who sends the hero off

• the hero, who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and weds at end

• the false hero (or antihero or usurper), who claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero (ie by trying to marry the princess)