2. WHAT IS ACTION AND WHAT IS THE TYPICAL
ICONOGRAPHY IN ACTION FILMS?
• Action Is a genre where the protagonist are involved in a series of challenges that if they
fail them have serious consequences for the characters personally e.g. they lose a family
member, get money stolen off them.
• These challenges typically include: Violence, fighting, physical feats, and frantic chases
where the protagonist chases the antagonist or vice versa. In life threatening situations
the hero typically triumphs over the villain conforming to various narrative theories like
Propp because Action films have a classical storyline which allows Propp’s theory to be
adapted into many Action films e.g. Baby Driver (Dir. Edgar Wright, 2017) and
Hollywood blockbusters like Jaws (Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1975).
• The iconography of an Action film is mostly related to the challenges the protagonist has
to endure like: car chases, violence, high emotion interests and in some cases depending
on the sub-genre can be a love interest in Taken (Dir. Pierre Morel, 1988) or hilarious
personalities of characters like Hot Fuzz (Dir. Edgar Wright, 2007).
3. ACTION FILMS THAT HAVE A “CLASSICAL
STORYLINE” ACCORDING TO PROPP
• Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Dir. Steven Speilberg,1981) conforms to the
“classical storyline” due the protagonist: Indiana Jones having to overcome a series of
obstacles to defeat the antagonists and save Marion Ravenwood and try and get the ark.
The morals of the film is family and friends first as the ark is left behind, with moral
messages applying to many Action films other than Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark also embodies typical themes that Action films need like:
violence, fight between the protagonist and the antagonist and dependant on the sub-
genre, a character may be saved from the hero e.g. Marion is saved from Indiana Jones.
These themes and moral messages are pivotal for Action films to appeal to the target
demographic and so that the audience can differentiate between genres.
4. DO ALL ACTION FILMS ADHERE TO GENERIC
CONVENTIONS?
• Adhering to generic conventions of an action film will satisfy what the audience expects in terms of
(cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing and sound) which has already been described. If a film follows
generic conventions then the audience will enjoy the film; get a sense of gratification or pleasure.
However, if a film does not do this then, the audience may be disappointed or pleasantly surprised
depending on how effective the pastiche is in the film.
• Two films that subverts and follows conventions is ‘Men in Black (Dir. Barry Sonnenfeld, 1997) and ‘Die
Hard’ (Dir. John McTiernan, 1988). Both films follow conventions by having protagonists (John McClane)
from Die Hard and (K) from Men in Black defeat the antagonists; save everyone against the odds. Both
films start with a sense of equilibrium until it is disrupted by the antagonist; as a result the antagonist
needs to be defeated so the equilibrium can be established again. However, both film do partially subvert
generic conventions from both films as McClane and K use pastiche within their dialogue to mock the
antagonist and the situation they are in. This is done to give the audience a sense of excitement and
energy.
• Overall, action films generally do not follow generic conventions in contemporary media, as producers
want to create hybrid and unique films that will excite an audience.
5. CINEMATOGRAPHY IN ACTION FILMS
• In action films, there is various of close ups and reaction shots, so that the audience can relate to the
character better. Also, these shots may help illustrate a character’s emotions or feelings, which they may
show a reaction to a major event in the film, so the plot can be progressed.
• Examples with this typical cinematography is ‘Spiderman 2’ (Dir. Sam Raimi, 2004) where the reaction
shot from Spiderman (Tobey Maguire) informs the audience of the protagonist’s feelings and emotions, so
the audience can align with Spiderman as he battles to save the public.
6. MISE-EN-SCENE IN ACTION FILMS
• Mise-en-scene in actin films usually have the protagonists show their authority by
wearing suits or police uniforms; the mise-en-scene of the antagonists, depicting
their callous and brutal nature.
• An example of an action film that has this mise-en-scene is ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ (Dir.
Richard Donner, 1989), where (Roger Murtaugh) is dressed formally in a suit and
(Martin Riggs) is dressed casually. This highlights Murtaugh’s professionalism and
authority; Riggs’s rebellious and careless attitude.
7. SOUND IN ACTION FILMS
• The sound in action films has to build up the suspense before the fast-pace action
unfolds that could be about a car chase involving the protagonist trying to capture
the antagonist.
• An example of this is from ‘Skyfall’ (Dir. Sam Mendes, 2012) where the suspense is
built up before the non-diegetic music starts playing as Bond tries to recapture Silva
to stop him executing his plot to kill M.
8. EDITING IN ACTION FILMS
• Fast paced editing accompanied with jump cuts help describe the craziness of a
scene to the audience, so that it makes the viewers confused like the
protagonists/antagonists and put the target demographic in the character’s
perspective.
• Examples of fast paced editing is in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (Dir. Steven Spielberg,
1998) This scene manages to create fear against an unseen enemy. He also borrows
the same technique used in Raging Bull by (Dir. Martin Scorsese, 1980), by moving
between fast and slow cutting. This is used on the beach when all war sounds are
drained out and Tom Hanks looks hopelessly across the war-torn landscape.
9. CONCLUSION
• Overall, typical Action films have this natural storyline because it is appealing due
to it being a filming norm in the film industry. This is why Raiders of the Lost Ark
grossed $384,140,454 worldwide, highlighting how Propp’s theory has become a
blessing for increasing profits for multi-billion dollar conglomerates like Paramount.
