The Action Genre Documentary

Hi!

This is our documentary that we made during the school year. It was made to show our research into the first action films that were really made during the 1980's like the film Robocop. Action films started becoming more and more popular with the excessive use of CGI (Computer Generated Images) using explosions and make-up to make the films seem more realistic.
The first film that we looked at was the Great Train Robbery which was made in 1903. This was the first real action film to be made and obviously, due to the lack of technology, it was very basic as you'll see in our clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nHCSt5qXgI&feature=youtu.be 

See you soon!

Director Study

Hi!

As the genre of our opening film credits is action, it made sense for the director that we analyse be one who directs many films that are of the action genre. Therefore I decided to use an established and famous action director in Quentin Tarantino. He is known for his critically acclaimed films such as 'Pulp Fiction', 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Django Unchained'.

Tarantino is an American director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He was born March 27 1963. He grew up as an avid film fan and spent a period of time working at Video Archives, a video rental store. He trained as an actor at the same time he was working at the video rental shop. Tarantino kicked off his film career by writing and directing the film “My best friend’s birthday”. In the early 1990’s he started making independent films, the first film he created was “Reservoir Dogs” which has since been voted the greatest independent film of all time. His second film was arguably more successful than his first. Pulp Fiction, released in 1994, has been critically acclaimed and was also judged to be the best film of the past 25 years (1983-2008). Tarantino subsequently went on to direct films such as 'Kill Bill' and 'Inglorious Basterds' both were received well by film watchers and critics alike. In 2012 he directed 'Django Unchained' which became the highest grossing film he’d ever been involved in when it made over $425 million at the box office. He has received several awards for the excellence of his critically acclaimed films these awards include; two Oscars, two golden globes and two BAFTAS. In 2005 Time magazine voted him placed him within the top 100 most influential people in the world. He has often been called the most influential director of his generation.

There are several camera angles, shots and effects that Quentin Tarantino can be judged to regularly include in his films. He uses these features in order to display his thrilling stories to the public visually: 

Long takes and tracking shots:  These kinds of shots let us follow the characters and spend time with them without cuts/edits. There is a real beauty and daring to these kinds of cinematic sequences.

In Pulp Fiction: Long take: We stay with Vincent and Jules several minutes before they go to meet Brett. There are no cuts here. Tracking shot: Butch gets out of his car and walks through an alleyway to get to his apartment to retrieve his father's gold watch:

In Kill Bill: Tracking shot: The Bride walks into the HOBL bathroom----->Charlie Brown & the HOBL owner walk up to O-Ren's private room then we join ----->Sofie Fatale who walks from the private room to the bathroom where we rejoin The Bride.

Quentin Tarantino has trademarked the trunk shot camera angle and he's used it in every movie he has directed. He also uses reverse trunk shots with characters being watched from outside the trunk, as in from the point of view of the person inside the trunk.

The Trunk and POV (Point of View) shot:  

In Reservoir Dogs: Mr Brown, Mr Pink and Mr White looking at Marvin Nash:

In Pulp Fiction: Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield:

As Quentin Tarantino noted, his use of this shot was inspired by Director Brian DePalma who often used the 360 tracking shot to emphasize the feeling of love or togetherness. It can also be used to emphasize confusion as in DePalma's Blow Out (the scene when Jack's tapes are erased) and in QT's Jackie Brown where the camera spins around Jackie. This is actually a trick on the viewer because as we find out, Jackie plans out the entire caper and is merely acting confused:

In Reservoir Dogs: Opening dinner scene:

In Jackie Brown: Sequence at the mall:

See you soon!

Genre Features

Hi!

Genre features are what you would typically expect in your standard action film, we have split these lists into different sections as there is a lot to take in!  

Editing:

-       Shots tend to be sharp and fast, especially in the battle/conflict/competition scenes.

-       Slow shots occasionally used to build up tension.

-       Sound effects (non-diegetic sound) usually plays a massive part in emphasizing the viewer’s experience, especially in an action film as there tends to be a lot of things clashing together/exploding for example.

Camera Angles:

-       A real mixture of long shots and close ups.

-       Again depending on the scene, if the director wants you to get inside the characters head, then maybe close ups would be appropriate, but if he wanted to provoke you thoughts about the overall moment and what the current situation is then he might implement some long shots.

Lighting:

-       Tends to be slightly darker and therefore more serious as unless it’s an action comedy, then the overall mood of the film won’t be a necessarily joyful one.

-       However again this may change due to the scene, as maybe during the fighting/competition scenes the contrast/saturation/brightness of the picture might change to match the general mood of what is going on.

Props:

-       Guns/knives/anything violent

-       Sunglasses

-       Watches

-       Smartphones

-       Expensive vehicles

-       Futuristic/clever technology

-       Sometimes the whole film can revolve around a prop and obtaining it.

Costuming:

-       Costuming usually depends on the tone of the film, but stereotypically for men:

-       Black clothing

-       Vests

-       Military look (belts with items attached/tank tops/boots/some sort of gun)

-       Always muscle showing when appropriate

-       Scars/injuries visible

-       Sunglasses to emphasize importance

-       For Women:

-       Tight, lycra clothing

-       Heels

-       Vibrant lipstick

-       Some sort of weapon attached with clothing

Characters:

-       Hero’s/’goodies

-       Villains/’baddies’

-       Side kick(s) of some form

-       Sometimes family involved

Storyline:

-       Being incredibly stereotypical, action films usually start with a bang, a fight, a death, a plot twist, something major that hits you right from the off and sets the tone for the film.

-       Then the middle section of the film tends to be the build up to the end, this part may consist of a few plot twists or even romance.

-       Then the final part of the film is usually the big finale, a fight/conflict or competition, something along those lines. This usually ending in the good guys/hero’s coming out on top.

See you soon!

Target Audience Profile

Hi!

For our target audience profile we have created a male called Dom. Dom is the ideal person who would watch our movie therefore this is our Target Audience Profile of Dom (our ideal target person):

Dom is a 17-year-old male who lives with his parents in London and goes to his local sixth-form studying A-level sport, A-level Business, Law and Biology. He was at the same school that his sixth-form is at and got 9 GCSE’s in his time at secondary school. He is currently single and is enjoying his time at his sixth-form and is also interested in females.

Dom spends most of his days revising, however he does allow himself time to hang out with his friends and have some time to himself. He had a part time job at the school as a cleaner and enjoys his job which he does for 2 hours each week day after school. He has a small family as he is an only child but his parents are loving, caring and supportive of him which is very important to him and he makes sure he always has time to spend with them. When he has any spare time weekend, he enjoys spending time with his friends. They hang out together at each others houses watching TV and playing online games. They often also go out into London to go to the cinema or shops for sports and clothes to wear on nights out. He hates people who think they are better than everyone else and are big headed. He also plays football for his local side Shoreditch Rovers FC. At night time, he often goes out for a meal with his friends or goes out to local clubs in the area.

In 8 years’ time, Dom wants to be a business manager at a medical company. His goals are to climb up in the business management world to eventually become the boss and then start his own business. He dreams of travelling around the world visiting every location on the map then to settle down and start to have a family. He wants to move out of his parents’ home when his finished sixth form and move onto college or University.

Dom has a TV in his room which he loves watching Netflix and Box Sets such as Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Prison Break. He also loves films and takes recent trips to the cinema, trying to see all of the currents films with his friends. But his favourite genre of film is action suspense. He loves films about guns and hostages and the reason why he like these sorts of films for example, Taken and Die Hard is because he fines them intriguing and enjoyable. He loves the fact that you don’t know what’s going to happen next and that anything can happen, so he’s always left guessing on what’s going to happen next.  

See you soon!

Font Type

Hi!

For our opening credits to our new film we had to decide and chose what font style we would use in the opening credits. Different films in different genres will have different font types and styles to match or coincide with the story line.

The first one I looked at was The Walking Dead:

This is the opening credits to the walking dead. Although a TV series and its genre is horror. However it can be looked at as action suspense also. Therefore it is the same as our movie idea. The colours used in these photos are dull, greys and greens. These are very plain, empty colours that can also signify depression which helps show the nature of the story. Also the all the colours are dull and plain except the red in the eye. The eye is dark around the lids and red in the eye, drawing our attention to it making us feel uncomfortable and have a sense of evil or disturbance. The font is small but in bold, which gives us a sense of urgency. The pictures have all something in common, that they are all lifeless apart from the eye, yet this isn’t just a normal eye. Therefore this tells us as an audience that something has happened and all is not the same.    

The second credits I looked at was 'Sherlock Holmes’:

The first thing you notice is the style of font used. The font for this film is handwritten, this makes the film and the story feel more personal to the readers. Also the background is like a canvass to show it’s almost a story and like a book, therefore you’ll be taken through the journey and pages. Also it is to illustrate the time of which the movie is set as they are still using parchment and feathered pens. I like the style of this font and think it is another style to consider for our own film.

 Next I looked at was James Bond Casio Royal:

This opening credits writing is all in capitals again giving us the feeling of urgency and the feeling that something’s going to happen. With the title already giving you a sense of gambling, the whole opening credits incorporates and blends action with the gambling affect such as the cross hairs of a gun to look like the roulette tables. Also the fact that James Bond is always in black and white gives us a sense of him being mysterious and hard to read. Whereas the other man is in red, this is to show or give you the sense and thought of blood and therefore death.

See you soon! 

Mise En Scene

Hi!

Mise En Scene is a huge part of filming and media as a whole. Everything that we see in a film has a meaning and is put there for a purpose! This all comes under Mise En Scene! It includes these elements: props, costume, hair, makeup, facial expressions, body language, lighting, colour and positioning.

After learning the basics of what this meant I made notes in class about what Mise En Scene was and is:

Mise En Scene:

·         The French meaning for ‘in the scene’

·         Is everything we see on the screen that everyone can notice.

·         That everything is done for a purpose

·         Making the production as realistic as possible

Elements to this:

·        -  Setting

·         - Costume, hair and make up

·         - Facial and Tone expressions

·         - Lighting and Colour

·         - Posting of the Characters

·         - Props and Equipment

Setting:

·         To let the audience know where the scene is

·         Gives an indication of what might happen

·         Can be used to link characters and props

·         Also shows at what time and when the film is

Costume, hair and make up:

·        -  Tells us where and when the scene is set

·        - Tells us about the character and their role within the film

Facial and Tone Expressions:

·        -  Gives us and indication on what the character is thinking or feeling

·        - It can communicate with the audience what’s happening and how they should feel

Lighting and Colour:

·         - Shows us where we should be looking in the scene

·         - Can indicate a person’s personality

Posting of the Character:

·         Tells us what we should be looking at

-       Can indicate power and relationships between characters

Props and Equipment:

·        -  Can show us the roles in which the characters are in

·        - Can show how the characters are feeling and what they are going to do

·        - Used as a part of costume

 

Now that I am fully aware of what Mise En Scene is I am now going to use the skills and knowledge I have just learned to a photo from a movie. The movie I have chosen is rise of the planet of the apes. In this scene Caesar the ape, has attacked a man for shouting at his owner’s father. He has a relationship where he is a part of the family and when he sees his owner’s father who is an old man, he attacks the person and bites his ear. Caesar being a super intelligent ape realises what he has done as you see below.

 

Setting:


From this photo you can only tell a few things about the setting. One is the definition of film and photo. This shows that it is in either modern day or in the future, however we can’t tell as we don’t have enough evidence. We can also tell about the setting as the ape or chimp wouldn’t have that sort of emotion or feel that sort of emotion on his face unless he has been altered or genetically modified. This means the technology must be further than its time and that it has the brains, ability and facilities to do this.

Costume, hair and make up:

This is one is staring us right in the face. As an ape in present days wouldn’t be able to look like that and act on a movie set. Therefore they would have had a man to play the role and then it would have been computer generated. Also we can see the back of the man and he is dressed in a polyester shirt which are most commonly known to be worn by older men.

Facial and Tone Expressions:

We can tell by looking at Casers face that something bad has happened or that he feels guilty by the way his eyes look.  Even though we can only see Caser we can tell that something has just happened. We can also tell by looking at his face that he knows the consequences that will follow for his actions.

Lighting and Colour:

The lighting in this shot is very bright and everything in the shot we can see, this is so we can see the emotion on the face of Caesar and see what he is doing and what is happening. Also the colour used in the scene is especially focused on Caesar's eyes. This is so it directs our eyes straight to his so we can see the emotion on Caesar's face and what he is feeling.

Positioning of Character:

The positioning of Caesar being in front of the man and that the camera is looking at him being over the shoulder of the man. This is because we are meant to straight away focus and only look at caser. He is also right in front of the camera and a close up shot is used so we can see everything that he is feeling and that we can see all his emotions.

See you soon!