Action films contain lots of physical stunts, chase scenes, rescues, fights, humour, destructive disaster (Explosions, floods, fires, natural hazards), escapes, and non-stop action. People expect the stunts when they come to see an action film, because the stunts and fights are what make the film so popular. Action films are normally set in either popular cities or glamorous islands.
I watched a film to see if it fitted the expectations of what id expect from a typical action film, the film I watched was twister. Twister doesn’t fit the expectations of an action film entirely, it is different to what I would expect from an action film, however it does have some of the conventions. The story of twister is that there is a large group of people attempting to find out how tornados really work, they have designed a machine to send things up inside a tornado and give readings from inside it. There is a relationship between the main characters (the hero and heroine), this is the sub plot, Bill and Jo meet again to sign the divorce papers, and start working together again, and end up back together. This is one of the things different to a normal action film there is two hero’s, instead of one. Jonas is portrayed as a villain, stealing the idea of Dorothy, and is only in it for the money. But the real villain is the tornado. There are a few fights between Bill and Jonas, but it is mostly verbal fights, they are racing each other to get to the tornado first. Bill, and Jo and there team of workers tend to get their first, and Bill has a skill of being able to sense if the tornado is going to change direction. They are trying to find out how the tornado works so they can predict tornados and give people more warning so they have more time to get to safety. The film started with a scene where Jo’s dad is killed by a tornado. Near the end of the film the Jonas is killed. This is typical of an action film because the villain ends up dead. And like in typical action films Jo and Bill escape unharmed. Jo, the hero, is attractive, and is facing near death experiences quite often, the job Jo has is thought typically a males job, but she is extremely good at her job, there is a scene where she is in the shower, this scene is to show her femininity. There are quite a few stunts involving the tornado, for example the tornado changes direction, to come towards them. The music and sound effects improve the film, and are very important
to the film. The music is typical of action films fast beat, but not very loud, the sound effects however are loud, the sound effects of the tornado is extremely realistic, but
some how seems animal like, as if the tornado has been made into a creature. The music reflects the characters, and there feelings.
I am going to watch clips from two action films to see how well they are edited and to focus on the camera angles, lighting and, music etc. the two films I’m going to concentrate on are ‘Mission Impossible 2’ and ‘Twister’. In Mission Impossible 2 there is non-stop action. I watched the clip where He escapes on the motorbike then there is a hand-to-hand fight at the end. The camera shots capture the action really well and make it feel like your there. The shots change very quickly from one angle to another, and a close up shot to a distance shot. At one point there is a point of view shot so you see what he would be seeing when then knife comes towards his eye, when this happens you can feel the tension. Also there are replay shots when the car is shot from the bike, which is effective. When there is a car/ bike chase tracking shots are used, which makes the viewer feel involved, as if there are part of the scene. The scenes in the film are varied in length and they change between the action scenes and scenes of the girl and the helicopter. The clip ends with the death of the villain. There is slow motion used in the action sequences, which cause more suspense. The lighting is very good and realistic. The music in Mission Impossible is loud during action sequences, but goes quite before a gunshot. In the scenes with the girl the music is soft and mournful, which makes you think she’s going to die.
The clip I watched from twister was the ending. There were also lots of quick camera angle changes in this clip. When Jo ands Bill are trying to escape from the tornado a tracking shot is used, as if the tornado is following them. There is a few close ups of their faces to show their emotions, these shots show the fear they are feeling. When the scene is about the tornado the camera is shaky to make the tornado seem more realistic. The camera shot is of either Bill or Jo’s view when they are in the tornado, which makes the viewer feel as if it is them in the tornado. When the car goes into the fire it feels as if your there. The lighting is low-key (dark and shadowy); the darkness makes the tornado more realistic, because it is dark in and around tornados. The lighting goes bright suddenly when the tornado is over. There are whistling sounds, and the music changes with the direction change of the tornado. When Bill and Jo are in the middle of the tornado there is soft music, which makes us believe they’re going to die, although we know they wont.
Out of twister and Mission Impossible 2 I think Mission Impossible 2 is a better action Film, and Fits more of the expected action film characteristics.
