Action Films

History of Action Films

The early Action films include The Mask of Zorro and mostly Western films. The first Action films of the 40's and 50's included a lot of war and cowboy orientated narratives. Many of which inspired producers such as Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to create a new form of Action film, the spy-adventure films, based upon novels from Ian Fleming. The 1960's was the introduction of James Bond films, this was pivotal to what we know now as an 'Action film'. It was the birth of the 'modern-day Action film'. This includes fast paced car chases and quick cutting between shots. In the 70's Bond had more competition in the Action genre. The 70's saw detective films and urban crime dramas  delve into the Action scene. Films such as: The French Connection and Dirty Harry. Asian Martial Arts also broke out into the Western cinema with the introduction of actors such as Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. Moving on to the 80's we saw actors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone dominating the Action genre. Also, the combination of two forms of Action film was becoming more and more popular in an Action hybrid. For example, science fiction (The Terminator) and Horror-Action (Aliens and Predator). Penultimately, the 90's saw a lot more CGI in films such as Terminator 2 and one of the most successful films of all time Jurassic Park. Terminator 2 was also an example of the beginning of the film franchises, with producers starting to make sequels to films in order to generate more revenue from the newly formed 'franchise'. Finally, the 2000's and onwards have seen much more technology, not only within the films but also within the production also. For example, 3D has become very popular in recent years and with an increase in budgets for most high end movie studios, due to the increase in popularity in the film industry; the introduction of these things becomes much more popular and the advancements are much more realistic.

Conventions

• Most action films have a viewing certificate ranging from 12-15, this is because most Action films have a high budget and therefore need to make more money in the Box Office to succeed. In order to make more money in the Box Office, the film must be available to the majority of people. I believe our film would be rated 15 because their is often a bias for micro budget indie films to receive a higher viewing certificate than larger productions. Also, there is potential for violence in our film and the use of weapons.
• Can be hybridised with Sci-Fi/Advernture/Romance. The hybrid with another genre allows the film to targeted at a secondary target audience. In our film, there is a possibility that our film we become an Action Romance, the protagonist and his sidekick may form a relationship as the film progresses.
• Major Hollywood producers and distributers usually are involve in the production of Action films, this is where we challenge conventions, our film does not have the Hollywood budget and therefore does not have Hollywood producers and distributers. Our film is a micro budget indie film which is unusual for Action films as they usually use a lot of special affects and famous locations.
• Action films are often editing with a fast paced and our film conforms with this because our target audience is young adults and therefore we need to make sure to attract their attention towards our film.
• A common convention in Action films is the use of dramatic non-diegetic sound such as music. Though out our film opening we have fast paced music that builds to a crescendo to create suspense.
• The majority of Action films are set in famous locations such as London, New York and some European locations (especially in James Bond) such as Vienna. However, our location was less well known, this was down to our budget. Our location was a small, relatively unknown town in the North of England. This is unconventional because an Action film being set in a stereotypically working class area such as the North of England is rare as they usually portray middle class British actors.