Narrative
The film Jurassic Park follows a somewhat conventional storyline, featuring Todorov's equilibrium, disruption and restoration. The main story begins in equilibrium, where Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler lead happy lives as paleontologists. There is then a small (but not necessarily negative) disruption, where the two are invited to an island inhabited by dinosaurs. The real disruption comes when the dinosaurs break loose and the visitors must get away from the island alive. Eventually, the restoration comes when most of the visitors catch a helicopter and fly away from the island alive.
The story is rather conventional of an action adventure, as it involves a lot of near death experiences and desperate survival, as commonly found in almost every action adventure. The constant threat of being eaten by dinosaurs adds to this
Iconography
Jurassic Park contains a lot of action adventure iconography. One of the main ones is Dr. Grant's typically western/Indiana Jones style hat, which connotes advenure, marking him from early on as an explorer. The use of land rovers reinforces this idea of adventure, as they are often associated wiht being driven through rough, dangerous terrain, and play a part in an action scene where characters are quickly driving away from a dinosaur. Obvious icons of action adenture are the dinosaurs themelves; the fact that they are from a different time period and nobody hs ever seen one before fits into the idea of adventure being about exploring the unknown. Their great size, speed and teeth make them fearsome creatures which plays a strong role in the action element of this film.
Characters
The characters in Jurassic Park are mostly stereotypical adventurers, but the lawyer, Gennaro, is an example of an unconventional explorer, and doesn't last long in Jurassic Park, not only adding comedy effect as to how out of place he is in a dangerous and adventurous situation, but showing how formiddable the dinosaurs are as predators, and emphasiing the importance of suvival in such a situation.
Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler are both paleontogists, so the audience knows that they have at least some experience with dinosaurs, which automatically sets them up as the heroes, and Dr. Sattler could be described as the story's princess. Malcolm is the helper, as he helps other characters to survive, as well as Robert Muldoon, who gives his life to save Dr. Sattler. John Hammond could be described as the donor because he gives the gift of an invitation to his park to the other characters. The villain is Dennis, who is trying to steal from Jurassic Park and, in doing so, allows all the dinosaurs to escpe. This classic set of characters is common in action adventure films.
Settings
Setting the story mostly in the jungle strongly connotes the adventure genre, as it is easy to get lost in the jungle, and anything could be hidden there. The far away island connotes isolation, adding to the adventure and also showing how hard it is going to be for the characters to escape the island. The control room and labs are full of technology which add to the science-fiction genre in the film, which is a common part of action adventure. There is a scene where Dr. Grant, Lex and Tim are hiding from the T-Rex in a tree, the connotations here being safety, especially when they meet the harmless Brachiosaurus. Another scene depicts Dr. Sattler escaping a velociraptor down a dark, underground, metal corridor; this gives a feeling of being trapped, and there is no way of escaping the dinosaur, which connotes action and also gives Jurassic Park a thriller theme. Therefore, the settings in Jurassic Park connote action and adventure, as well as some elements of the sci-fi and thriller genres.
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
GET SMART: Genre Analysis
Get Smart is an action/adventure/comedy film; it achieves all of these by being a blatant spoof of typical spy movies such as James Bond, including the action adenture elements of such films and creating comedy by making a joke of it. The fight scenes, car/plane chases and the explosions all make Get Smart an action film, and the common blunders of the characters in addition the unconventional hero of Max make Get Smart a comedy. The idea of Max working in a spying agency instantly sets up the action and adventure genre, and the settings are often in heavily secured enemy headquaters, which strongly connotes espionage and therefore action and adventure.
GET SMART: Character Analysis
The Hero: Maxwell Smart
Max is the hero of the film, as he eventually stops a terrorist attack by KAOS and the audience follows him in his quest to become a field agent. Max Smart is, however, an unconventional hero, as he often makes silly and humorous mistakes, adding to the comedy value and creating an unstereotypical character.
The Princess: Agent 99
Max admires Agent 99, and he saves her on several occasions. Agent 99 is a stereotypical princess, which contrasts humorously with Max's unconventional, accident-prone character.
The Villain: Siegfried, Leader of KAOS
Siegfried is the leader of an international terrorist organisation called KAOS, and is the obvious villain as he steals nuclear weapons and attempts to destroy Los Angeles and the president with one of them. He is a very stereotypical villain, with a 'posh' english accent, as seen often in the likes of James Bond, and he is quite ruthless and undisturbed by the deaths of thousands of people at his hand. He also has an evil sidekick, fitting in well with the stereotypes.
The False Hero: Agent 23
Agent 23 is the most popular and successful agent in CONTROL. He is admired by his colleagues and is friendly towards Max, and is seen as the real hero. As the story unfolds, however, he turns out to be a double agent working for KAOS, and tries to frame Max as the traitor instead. This double agent theme commonly creates false heros, and Agent 23 is a classic example of one.
The Helper: Dalip
Dalip is a russian who originally worked for KAOS, but Max manages to make him understand that he is being exploited by Siegfried. Dalip then sends a coded message to Max warning him of the impending terrorist attack, and eventually throwing Siegfried out of a car from a bridge. He is an unconventional helper, as he originally tries to kill Max and Agent 99 several times, and he is exceptionally strong but shown to be very emotionally sensitive, the irony here creating comedy.
The Donor(s): Bruce and Lloyd
Bruce and Lloyd develop technology for CONTROL and are great friends with Max, and they give him a lot of technology and help throughout the film. The two are very funny, which adds comedy value to the film; there aren't really stereotypes for the donor, but the two are stereotypical 'nerds' which also creates humour.
Max is the hero of the film, as he eventually stops a terrorist attack by KAOS and the audience follows him in his quest to become a field agent. Max Smart is, however, an unconventional hero, as he often makes silly and humorous mistakes, adding to the comedy value and creating an unstereotypical character.
The Princess: Agent 99
Max admires Agent 99, and he saves her on several occasions. Agent 99 is a stereotypical princess, which contrasts humorously with Max's unconventional, accident-prone character.
The Villain: Siegfried, Leader of KAOS
Siegfried is the leader of an international terrorist organisation called KAOS, and is the obvious villain as he steals nuclear weapons and attempts to destroy Los Angeles and the president with one of them. He is a very stereotypical villain, with a 'posh' english accent, as seen often in the likes of James Bond, and he is quite ruthless and undisturbed by the deaths of thousands of people at his hand. He also has an evil sidekick, fitting in well with the stereotypes.
The False Hero: Agent 23
Agent 23 is the most popular and successful agent in CONTROL. He is admired by his colleagues and is friendly towards Max, and is seen as the real hero. As the story unfolds, however, he turns out to be a double agent working for KAOS, and tries to frame Max as the traitor instead. This double agent theme commonly creates false heros, and Agent 23 is a classic example of one.
The Helper: Dalip
Dalip is a russian who originally worked for KAOS, but Max manages to make him understand that he is being exploited by Siegfried. Dalip then sends a coded message to Max warning him of the impending terrorist attack, and eventually throwing Siegfried out of a car from a bridge. He is an unconventional helper, as he originally tries to kill Max and Agent 99 several times, and he is exceptionally strong but shown to be very emotionally sensitive, the irony here creating comedy.
The Donor(s): Bruce and Lloyd
Bruce and Lloyd develop technology for CONTROL and are great friends with Max, and they give him a lot of technology and help throughout the film. The two are very funny, which adds comedy value to the film; there aren't really stereotypes for the donor, but the two are stereotypical 'nerds' which also creates humour.
GET SMART: Narrative Analysis
Get Smart has 3 clear sections of the narrative, which follow Todorov's principle extremely well, showing an equilibrium, a disruption and a final restoration.
- Equilibrium: Get Smart begins with the morning life of Maxwell Smart, preparing for a normal day as an analyst for a spying agency called CONTROL. He likes his job of intercepting, translating and analysing Russian chatter, and does it very well, but he has always dreamed of becoming a field agent for CONTROL. He never, however, gets the job; even though he is capable, he is such a good analyst that he would be a great loss.
- Disruption: One day, Max returns to CONTROL headquarters and realises that there has been a break in. This leads to every agent in CONTROL having their identities compromised, except for Agent 99, who has recently had a change in appearance. Max is then promoted to an agent, and can finally live his dream, but must stop KAOS, a terrorist group threatening the world with nuclear force.
- Restoration: Max makes it to the performance for the president of the United States in time to prevent a nuclear bomb fro KAOS being detonated, and not only saves many innocent lives and the city of Los Angeles from destruction, he proves his worth as a competent (yet clumsy and accident-prone) field agent for CONTROL
Restoration: Max makes it to the performance for the president of the United States in time to prevent a nuclear bomb being detonated, and not only saves many innocent lives and the city of Los Angeles from destruction, he proves his worth as a competent (yet clumsy and accident-prone) field agent for CONTROL
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Welcome to the Action Adventure Blog
Welcome to the Action Adventure Blog, where every day is an action-packed adventure.
This blog is all about analysing the Action Adventure genre, so we can understand why we all love it so much, from the ear-splitting explosions to the heart-pounding tension.
Action Adventure is awesome.
This blog is all about analysing the Action Adventure genre, so we can understand why we all love it so much, from the ear-splitting explosions to the heart-pounding tension.
Action Adventure is awesome.
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