study

1. Ben Land | Media Studies | July 13, 2016
Taken
MEDIA STUDIES SUMMER ASSIGNMENT

2. PAGE 1
Institutions:
 The director of Taken is Pierre Morel. He has been known to direct films such as Before
Sunset, The Transporter and Transporter 2.
 Taken was produced by Luc Besson. The company that paid for it was Dune
Entertainment. They have produced films such as Night at the Museum, The A-Team,
Alvin and the Chipmunks and Hitman.
 The company that distributed Taken was 20th Century Fox who have distributed films such
as X-Men The last Stand, Ice Age The Meltdown, The Omen and The Pink Panther.
 Taken made $226.8 million in the box office.
Audience:
 The target audience for this film are young adults who like violent, thrilling movies. The
age limit is rated 15 by some companies and 18 by others due to its strong theme of drugs.
This does not affect the target audience.
 The violence and thrilling storyline attracts the target audience as they enjoy the thrill of
scenes like that.
 Empire says “If you took Commando and replaced all its humor (intentional or otherwise)
with snarling hatred, you’d end up with Taken - a risible male-re-empowerment fantasy set
in a world where a fatal headshot and rescue from a life of inter-racial rape is the best way
to win back your daughter’s heart.” I agree with this rather negative view because despite
its mildly entertaining violence and satisfaction that every person to do with the crime was
brutally killed its storyline is so simple and not very believable.
Genre and Conventions:
 The genre of this film is Thriller and Action Adventure. Because of this the audience expect
to see lots of violence and for there to be an antagonist and protagonist.
 The conventions of this genre that are present are chase scenes, antagonist and protagonist
as well as fight scenes.
 Examples of films with similar conventions are The A-Team, Taken 2 and Taken 3.
 This film is very typical of its genre because of its intense fight scenes ad clear bad and
good guys.
Representation:
 The main character is an American who is suspicious of everything. He is portrayed as a
paranoid shell of a human who is worried about everything and everyone.
 The film is set in America and France around the 21st century. America is portrayed as a
safe haven to everyone and France as a drugged up base for crime and prostitution. I think
both of these representations are negative as the America one is a lie and the French one is
not even the stereotype of France, far from it in fact, and makes France look like a
dangerous crime run country.