Conventional Elements (Codes and Conventions)

Conventional Element

How is it used in Action/Adventure films?

Protagonist

The protagonist of a story is often called the main character. The plot revolves around the protagonist. There may be more than one main character. Protagonists are the good heroes of the films, they are usually are represented  as being confident, reliable, special, and the hero of the story, also stereotypically handsome. They usually wear bright colours, which symbolizes its arises from its powerful association in stories, this also signifies passion, danger and warnings.

They have different costumes which associates the warm and positive colours that tells us they have a good personality, associating with the most physical needs. 

Antagonist

The antagonist is the character who represents a challenge or an obstacle to the protagonist in a story. In some stories, the antagonist is not a person! The antagonist is used as the bad villains, who destroys  their relationship with others in order to take revenge . They are represented as being selfish, dishonest, and bad because of their costume and facial expressions.

They usually wear dark colours such as the colour black and purple. These colours are often used to portray something evil, depressing and scary. It is also a very powerful colour that portrays elegance and wealth, It is also a negative colour which appeals to the audience that there is something bad going on.

Other

Action scenes (car chases, races, battles)

In  action adventure Scenes are important to an Action Adventure film audience. They are usually the scenes that audiences enjoy the most as they create the most excitement. Action scenes are what audiences associate with watching Action Adventure films.

Violence

Action Adventure films often made violence look unrealistic with heroes being massively bigger, scary opponents and still winning fights. Action Adventure heroes would suffer punishment that would seriously injure or kill people in the real world and yet they would often survive with minor or no injuries. Action Adventure films often made violence look attractive by being exciting and often funny.

 

Plot

Plot is not just what happens in a story. Rather, plot is a pattern of cause and effect or conflicts upsetting  a situation. Plot is characters responding to those conflicts into some form of resolution.

Similarly, the plot in a film is not just what happens. The theme or message is the main point or points that the viewer draws from the way the characters respond to the obstacles or resolve the conflict in the film.

Location

The locations are used in action adventure films to show the setting of the film, where the film is located and the scenes going on. Action Adventure films shoot scenes in some exotic or far away locations that most people would have never visited. This makes the films more attractive as the audiences can see countries that they will never probably have seen in real life. However, some action adventure films are displayed in cities which are commonly known.

Soundtrack

 

Sound tracks are often as complicated as the image on the screen. Background music is used to add emotion and rhythm to a film. Usually not meant to be noticeable, it often provides a tone or an emotional attitude toward the story and/or the characters. This also views the understanding by linking scenes. It also builds tension and creates suspense for the audience, knowing what's happened.

    

Camera

Camera shots are used to demonstrate different aspects of a film's setting, characters and themes. Camera shots are very important in shaping meaning in a film. 

Camera angles are used to position the viewer so that they can understand the relationships between the characters. It very important for shaping meaning in film as well as in other visual texts.

Mise en Scene

Mise en scene refers to all the objects and characters in a particular frame. More specifically, it refers to the composition of the frame. When you use the term mise en scene, you are discussing where the setting is held to show the audience. This includes  – the setting and the actors; it includes costumes and make-up, props.

Editing

Editing is a way to form a narrative, both in the making and the viewing of a film. Editing speeds up the shooting process in ways outlined earlier it speeds up the viewing process by creating a rhythm of forward action. Editing describes the relationship between shots and the process by which they are combined.

  

Genre

This terminology is used in  a way of categorizing a particular media texts according to its context and style,it adopts the codes and conventions of other texts in the same genre,For example, the TV programme 'doctor who' and a comic book the' incredible hook' can both be categorized as a science fiction.

Representation

Representation is when the way people,places,and events are portrayed in the media and the message it sends.When representing a person media often focuses on their:age, gender, ethnicity, job,culture and nationality.To represent also means to symbolise,stand for,for example when you see a sign you can relate it to something, which represents it. Things can be described as re-presentation of things, so the media can represent the world.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Movie Sequences:)
Enjoy...........:)

Sound

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Fighting for the key scene

Diegetic - Throughout the whole scene the sound of swords is heard a lot as that is what they are using to fight. This is diegetic sound as the sound relates to the action taking place on screen and the swords would really be making that sound in real life when they are being used to fight.
Other types of diegetic sound used are the sand on the beach, the bushes in the forest, the sound of cutting through objects such as flesh and rope, the sound of breaking wood, the metal beam hitting Jack on the head, the falling key, and creaking wood as these are all sounds which appear in the movie world and that the characters would be able to hear along with the audience as they take place because of the things that occur on screen.

Non-Diegetic - The entire scene features a piece of music that sounds fairly epic and dramatic. It fits with what is going on on screen but yet it is only there for the audience's benefit as the characters cannot hear it making it non-diegetic. It creates tension and suspense with the deep, rumbling drums and string instruments. As the pace and nature of the action changes the music changes along with it. This  music fits with what is going on on screen and the emotions it creates are the emotions you would expect to be having when watching what is on the screen.

It continuously repeats the sound of music of Pirates of the Caribbean which is instantly recognizable to the audience. It is this music that the audience can associate with Jack and his fellow crew involved in some kind of heroic action and so can immediately know that this is what is about to happen or is already taking place on the screen. It acts as a link between the pirates world and the real world as the audience can relate to it and it is a piece of music attached to Jack and his crew. It reminds the audience what they are watching and makes the audience feel as heroic and pirate like as Jack himself.

Camera angles and mise-en-scene

Pirates of the Caribbean- Curse of the Black Pearl-opening Scene

The opening scene starts off with a low camera angles focusing on the water. A shot of the water may not seem very 'creepy' but due to the fact that the colour of the water is grey may suggest a more sinister and early atmosphere.

Then the camera pans up towards the main focus point which at this point is the ship. This choice in camera work was done to ease the audience into the surprise and also makes it look more dramatic as it shows how large and domineering the ship is. Like the water, the main colours of the ship, which are grey, brown and black, show of the dark mood of the opening scene.

When the characters are introduced the main camera effect is a 'shot reverse shot' between the 2 characters on the screen at that point. This is done to prove to the audience that both characters are equally important and their physical and facial reactions need to been by the audience.
The setting at this point however has changed from almost sinister to a more calm and happy vibe. The colours are more warm and natural and the setting on board the ship looks rich and bright, proving to the audience the social class of the main protagonist.

After the confrontation between the two characters, the camera does an eye-line match between young girl and a small boy floating in the sea. This technique is used so the audience can see through the eyes of the actor and also doesn't leave them in the dark about what the actor has focused on.

However, not long after this there is another eye-line match between the main protagonist and a sinking ship in the distance.

The happy and calm vibe the audience would receive previous to the eye-line match suddenly changes back to a disturbing and unpleasant theme.




The opening sequence to any film is important as it sets the scene and sometimes introduces the characters to the audience. However I decided to write about this opening sequence as it had a mix of different camera shot ranging from low-angle and the beginning to a panning shot of the ship to a shot reverse shot of the characters to finally a eye-line match of the young boy and sinking ship. Not only did this opening scene include a wide range of camera angles but also the mise-en-scene changed drastically from grotesque to happy and back to disturbing in the matter of minutes.
This opening scene was a great example in how it pulls the audience in and sets of the theme of the film.

 

Editing Techniques
Pirates of the Caribbean 1- Jack kills Barossa

In pirates of the Caribbean - Jack kills Barbarossa ,The process of editing like the selection, timing and assembly of given shots into a film continuity – is a crucial element to the production of the film. There have been  purposeful jumps, fast-paced cutting and cutaways techniques are being  more creative control with the editor.

This enables the audience to realize what's happening. Post production editing affects the pace and rhythm of the scene in addition to building suspense and an emotional connection with the audience.