Raiders of lost ark

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How does Steven Spielberg use the opening scene and a half of raiders of the lost ark to help the audience understand its genre and know what to expect from the rest of the film?

In this essay I will be analyzing the film the raiders of the lost ark to show audience that in the first scene and a half that this is an action adventure film. I will analyse the lighting of the movie, the camera shots, shot transitions and the sounds of the movie like the diagetic and non-diagetic sounds to show how it creates danger and suspense. I will also show the characteristics of the Hero and the characteristics of the villain because an action adventure film also has a hero and a villain which are both similar to each other. Also I will show the reward in the film which both the hero and villain want.

In an Action adventure film there is always a hero and a villain. Indiana Jones is the hero in the film and the characteristics of the hero are he is brave, and we see this as Indiana risk his life for the idol, has two sides ordinary and extraordinary for he is treasure hunter and a university lecturer, youngish guy in his early 30’s, his trademark whip and hat, intelligent, resourcefulness and this is shown by the way Jones uses the whip to get across the empty hole, he is motivated by the greater good, the best at what he does, has a weakness he is scared of snakes and he is good-looking/attractive guy and we can confirm this by in scene 1 when one of his pupils has ‘I Love You’ written on her eyelids.

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The characteristics of a Villain are he’s nearly as good as the hero at what he does, willing to be evil to achieve his goal, willing to kill for his personal gain, protected by henchmen and this is seen by how he surrounds Jones with his henchmen, will use what is dear to the hero against him and is motivated by personal gain/selfish aim and also by power. He will also be vengeful.                                                      ...

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