ACTION ADVENTURE RECAP

LO: To recap knowledge of narrative structure

To understand the terms ‘spectacle, jeopardy and suspense’

What is a hybrid?

What is a sub-genre?

Target audience of AA films?

List all the words you associate with a hero

HERO

What theory can we link to AA films?

Narrative structure

There are 5 stages to any narrative.• What are they?• Who came up with the 5 stage narrative

theory?

Character types

• List the 7 character types which occur in any narrative.

• Who identified these character types?

Point of the narrative

Levi Strauss identified the key term which refers to the conflict which drives the narrative. • What is this key term?• List 3 examples of conflict

Action Adventure

Jeopardy and Suspense

Conflict and Combat

SpectacleSpeed and motion

CGI Fast tempo Explosions

Fighting Special Effects Epic

Exotic location High Speed Chases

Hero and Villain Sound Camera work

Damsel in distress Threat of injury/death

Spectacle

• Special effects are becoming an essential to any modern Action Adventure film

• Sometimes hard to spot because the technology is now so good

Types of special effects

• Models and miniatures – scaled down realistic representations of buildings or vehicles (e.g.: Star Wars, Harry Potter)

• Make-up – transforms actors – scars, blood, alien creatures etc.

• Physical Effects – Stunts and pyrotechnics

• Camera Speed – slow or fast motion

• CGI – Computer Generated Imagery now makes everything possible (Avatar)

Task

Make a list of any Action Adventure films that you know which use the following special effects, provide examples :• Scale models• Make-up• Stunts• CGI

Conflict and Combat• The fist fight – common in early films - now also

includes martial arts• Combat can be hand to hand, involve lots of

different weapons or mass battles• Fight scenes can be comic in tone with no one being

seriously hurt OR realistic portrayals of mass deaths e.g. Gladiator

• Which films use light references to violence and which ones are more graphic?

• Speed and Motion – chases, races against time and escapes are common features

• Speed is mainly associated with fast moving vehicles (e.g. Speed, Bourne Identity etc.)

• This is created by the editing - straight cuts every second.

• Non-diegetic sound - Fast paced music also adds to create a sense of speed and motion.

• Diegetic sound adds sense of urgency (e.g.: wheel spins etc)

• Jeopardy and Suspense – scenes often end on a cliff hanger set around the hero having to escape a threatening situation.

• To create suspense the characters need to be someone we can identify with and care about.

Watch

• As you watch – make notes on all the key terms we have identified and recapped in today’s lesson that are featured within the clip.