Action Comedy: the definitive fine line between the breathtaking experiences of movement and sarcastic humour. A hybrid style genre that fuses two of the most notable film genres to cross our screens and forms into a new type. However, having been one of the oldest hybrid genres, it also stays one of the more memorable genres of film itself-and The Quest will prove that point with relative ease...
Two Tennesseans: Brandene (Charlotte Pell) and Charlene (Charlotte Cooper)-on vacation to the wide wilderness of Sherwood Forest, home to the once legendary Robin Hood, and the glorious land of England. Everything seems beautiful, by way of nature. However, how many laughs can a Camping Trip bring? None? Wrong. What shall surprise most budding Film experts is these Tennesseans inability to get out of even the simplest of situations. Yes, even when they already have a prepared tent with them, it unexpectedly (or as it so sullenly seems to Brandene and Charlene) collapses on them. It’s England. It’s autumn. It starts raining. You get the picture.
The ‘exciting’ trip continues throughout the morning, when Brandene and Charlene (having finally put the tent up) wake up to an alien figure, a hunter of the forests and a searcher of ‘groovy’ expectations. Oh, it can only be a hippie from England. Yes, and as all hippies do, they fret about the ‘consummation of the planet’ and ‘how the world will end’, if people ‘don’t do something (dude)’.Ah yes, she has a name-‘Moon drop’. The Tennesseans are in a state of shock, about to fall backwards due to such a frightening awakening. Then in comes everyone’s favourite (or most hated for that matter) Action comedy character, a forest warden from Germany who hates the environment and is slightly confused as to why he has been given this job (he’s only German after all), comes into the scene and brushes Moon Drop away, using only the harshest swear words from the German dictionary and quite literally insulting the ‘helpful’ hippie. It will have you flying off your seat, and by the end you will bear no voice as you will laugh that much. It’s Stark-raving bonkers. It’s verbally abusive. It’s amazing.
The tension begins again. This time, in an abandoned (?) house, made from only the dirtiest materials, threatening the forest with it’s ‘architecture’. And guess who’s stumbled upon this disgusting discovery? It can only be young Brandene and Charlene, who, after finally figuring out what Moon Drop was waking them for, find someone’s plans to sell the trees and build them self a lovely, wide house. And then, that ‘someone’ comes in, and discovers them. Oh dear, it seems that this ‘someone’ appears to be of male substance, a dark-coloured uniform, and grumbling with a strange accent. Now, we all know that Brandene and Charlene aren’t very good at remembering particular faces (neither are they good at anything for that matter), but even the most forgetful person couldn’t dismiss this man’s face from their own minds. It is Hans, the forest warden, the German who hates his work, but loves his native language.
Like any other action comedy film, the main characters (Brandene and Charlene) decide to dismiss themselves from the situation, eventually losing them in the mist of the forest. And guess who’s there to save them from this perilous adventure? Why, it’s innocent Hippie Moon Drop! The one who is there to say that famous line ‘I told you so’, and hopefully rescue them from being arrested. Aha. And therein lays the satirical twist. The evil one, Hans, is eventually arrested, cursing underneath his breath with his own native language, and now, the forest remains as it was at the start, beautiful and full of wonderful pleasures.
This is a film that will silence the doubters, prove the haters wrong, and impress the willing audience. A new generation will begin.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Detailed film treatment of The Quest
By way of introduction, I would like to say that our trailer took timing,effort and precision in order to be the best they could naturally be, and therefore, i feel that our genre could not be more equivalently matched with the theories and footage of our filming.
One of the interior shots at the beginning introduced the two main characters(Brandene and Charlene) and through the use of a two-shot, portrayed their bubbly, excited characteristics and personalities. A freeze frame of this scene, displaying the two main characters' names, had been frozen deliberately to show their excitement inside, via the footage of them jumping in mid-air gleefully and with a warm atmosphere. As explained earlier, the representations of these two tennessean youths could not be any clearer to the public eye, as the audience will automatically deduce they really are happy about something. Therefore,this is where the audio has been particularly useful, as two seconds before the freeze frame took place, Brandene quite obviously expresses her excitement through the speech 'Charlene, we're going to england!' , in her natural Tennessean accent. However what, is not as obvious is the relevance to the actualy hybrid genre,known as action-comedy. We wanted to keep a sense of mystery throughout the trailer,not giving too much away, in the process maintaining the thoughtful guesses of the audience. Meanwhile, there was very little that was given away to the public eye, since the image of a globe may have suggested that the two Tennesseans were travelling somewhere, therefore combining the action genre with the idea of travel and adventure, and fusing the comedy genre via the Tennesseans' bubbly personalities.
Following on from this, a brief screenshot of one seemingly beautiful sky, on a leaflet and the other representing a dull, natural view of a forest, are both displayed interchangebaly. However, what instantly catches the human eye is the transition of both images, exchanging from a bright,blue sky to a dull atmosphere, to emphasise the difference between the two. This also represents and portrays both the main characters'(Brandene and Charlene) perspective of the two shots; both characters feel that there is 'more than meets the eye' to their destination,once they pull the seemingly beautiful picture down, only to reveal a visually destructive envronment,complete with visions of the natural world, which seems drastically interchangeable to the human eye. However, to the audience, once again, the element of comedy has been portrayed in this scene, as, now having discovered the obvious personalities and features of Brandene and Charlene, the leaflet picture would seem apparent to the audience that it was there purely to distress the radical feelings of both main characters even more, and so as there is two completely different themes between the two images, it furthermore portrays a critical situation in the film, particularly of the two tennessean girls' arrival.
Naturally, the aftermath of the preceding shot would lower the two characters' hopes, as they discovered something that would exclaim a feeling of disappointment. Their expressions to one another are also in a very morbid and uninteresting fashion, appearing as a moody approach to their first impressions of the arrival. The scene also captures them looking around in wonder, as if they are confused as to why they ended up here. Of course,it would seem to the audience that their moody expressions only help to furthermore portray the comedic feeling of the whole film, whilst creating a sense of suspension, as, in the natural world, they would be worried that they were being watched, therefore emphasising the action genre, and also perfectly capturing the whole sense of the hybrid genre,action-comedy.
What helps to make the trailer seem more professional and genuinely produced, is the constant use of a narrator, giving out speech throughout the trailer so that they can obtain the gist of what the trailer is trying to say. One shot in particular, wherein the narrator(Nathan Staples) expresses the situation by saying "The two friends embark upon their journey, facing many obstacles", is deliberatley emphasised by the current situation conjoined with the diagetic dialogue.
The shot itself commemorates a situation in which the two Tennesseans are putting a tent up, and having listened to the narrative as well, the audience would realize that this was purely used to emphasise the comedy genre. Holding the tent up, the two girls release their grip and watch,in sheer disappointment, the tent fall down in front of their very eyes, as the audience can clearly see. This connotes both a hilariously depressive moment for the two main characters and a prime example of the fusion of the action and comedy genre, as, conjoined with the narrative viewpoint of the word 'obstacles', this further challenges the idea of the action genre. To further represent a very muddled situation, but also to state the obvious to the audience, Charlene expresses her feelings via saying 'Brandene, I think we did it wrong', which,in turn, also contrasts the immediate opposite of the current situation, therefore bringing in the element of ironic comedy.
With due respect, the subject audience would now expect the two Tennessean girls, having analysed their personalities and actions respectively, to move on from the troublesome situation of not putting a tent up properly. However, this is truly correct,via the immediate next shot of Brandene and Charlene, having finally put the tent up, 'cooped up' under the covers, and saying 'Night' to each other. This connotes a relaxed feeling and the theme of comfort and calmness, because, as they have been through a series of unfortunate events, they are now resting in peace. However, to the audience, this would show them the extreme opposites that the aforementioned shots reflect on each other through connotations of several different themes, and so they would also praise this film for doing just that.
As a deliberate improvisation of the general effect created by the shooting features, the very next shot connotes the binary opposition of the weather; the previous shot shows a dull-timbred weather,involving dark colouring and an overall cold atmosphere, whereas the very next shot emphasises a bright coloured setting,connoting a general sense of warmness and calm. however, what immediately grabs the reader's attention is the transition effect in between the two aforementioned shots that have been contrasted, in which a shot with central focus on a moon is accompanied by the natural voice of an owl, in order to contain that natural feeling of the wilderness,as whoever from the audience who had had a previous experience would instantly recognise and follow on with their past experiences as a result of watching this film trailer. However,the latter shot emphasises yet again, a unique continuation of frustation within the personalities of both Brandene and Charlene,so that this further pushes the boundaries of the hybrid genre,action comedy. This is constructed through Charlene saying 'Brandene, what is that noise?', in which the reply from brandene is 'I don't know!'. This is a natural consequence as the overall impression by the audience is indeed not as surprising, since they would already know the general feelings of these two main characters, via the aforementioned shots.
This,in turn,leads into a transition effect that introduces two of the other characters in the film, the first shot,of a female bearing light mise-en-scene and a seemingly flowery headband, of course connoting the stereotypical representation of an environmental supporter, known to the common public so often as a 'hippie'. However, this is deliberately contrasted when the transition effect quickly exchanges into a close-up of the other character,bearing dull, seemingly smart mise-en-scene, as well as the obvious fact that he is german,as appointed to by the clear german language of his clothing. the dialogue of both characters further emphasise their own characters and interests, as well as connoting the common contrast between the two, whereas one is merely singing gracefully, the other is giving a command in a rather angered mood. However,from the audience's point of view, it furthermore elongates the excitement and amusement within the film, due to the addition of two new characters within the trailer's footage, and this also perpetuates the ideology of the both Brandene and Charlene characters, as more often than not this would normally be brought up had the director wanted there to be a whole story to the actual trailer,without giving away too much to the audience.
A key scene that represents the otherwise similar personalities of the two main characters, Brandene and Charlene, is the two-shot of Brandene and Charlene, -scene,complete with a microphone, for excessive use of typical mise-en scene, which may be used for a typical type of scene. The dialogue of '...and here we meet our foreign heroes...', though obviously diagetic, still does not seem to appear from any of the characters in the actual shot, and this may deem wondrous to the audience, as it prepares for them an enveloping plot that will only become more and more obvious to the audience, if they watch the film,which is entirely what the director of this film would have wanted, to be in secret to a degree within the viewing of the film trailer, so that viewers would want to watch it more and more.
In order to complete a trailer in unsuspected and surprising fashion, there have been a number of film trailers that have imported a key scene at the end, not necessarily to connote the beginning or ending of the film,as it could be at any time of the film. Having took important notice of this fact, we would have wanted to leave a degree of surprise and excitement within the audience's expectations for the film,so that in turn, it would persuade them to go and watch the whole film,just to find out more about the plot.
The scene in question includes four characters, two being the frequently aforementioned main characters, 'Brandene' and 'Charlene', and the other two merely performing cameo roles, of which they seem to the audience as being relatives or friends, due to the comforting actions purveyed by hugging and waving goodbye, in which this connotes an overall sense of adventure due to the constant use of sympathetic emotions used by the actors of Brandene and Charlene. However, the element of comedy has not necessarily been ignored, since the very last shot of Charlene turning away envelopes into a shot of her just falling down, which is a frequently used idea within films categorzed in the comedy genre, and so these two particular representations tie in together, in order to establish the action-comedy hybrid genre. This also leaves an element of suspiscion and surprise unto the audience, as the shot does not cover thoroughly the movement of Charlene falling down, as this would persuade the audience to find out more through watching the film.
By way of conclusion, i would like to say that, throughout the constant effective use of different representations, both element of action and comedy have been balanced through various feelings between the two main characters of Brandene and Charlene, and so this would only consider the audience's expectations as unexpected,due to the constant elements of surprise used in the aforementioned scenes.
One of the interior shots at the beginning introduced the two main characters(Brandene and Charlene) and through the use of a two-shot, portrayed their bubbly, excited characteristics and personalities. A freeze frame of this scene, displaying the two main characters' names, had been frozen deliberately to show their excitement inside, via the footage of them jumping in mid-air gleefully and with a warm atmosphere. As explained earlier, the representations of these two tennessean youths could not be any clearer to the public eye, as the audience will automatically deduce they really are happy about something. Therefore,this is where the audio has been particularly useful, as two seconds before the freeze frame took place, Brandene quite obviously expresses her excitement through the speech 'Charlene, we're going to england!' , in her natural Tennessean accent. However what, is not as obvious is the relevance to the actualy hybrid genre,known as action-comedy. We wanted to keep a sense of mystery throughout the trailer,not giving too much away, in the process maintaining the thoughtful guesses of the audience. Meanwhile, there was very little that was given away to the public eye, since the image of a globe may have suggested that the two Tennesseans were travelling somewhere, therefore combining the action genre with the idea of travel and adventure, and fusing the comedy genre via the Tennesseans' bubbly personalities.
Following on from this, a brief screenshot of one seemingly beautiful sky, on a leaflet and the other representing a dull, natural view of a forest, are both displayed interchangebaly. However, what instantly catches the human eye is the transition of both images, exchanging from a bright,blue sky to a dull atmosphere, to emphasise the difference between the two. This also represents and portrays both the main characters'(Brandene and Charlene) perspective of the two shots; both characters feel that there is 'more than meets the eye' to their destination,once they pull the seemingly beautiful picture down, only to reveal a visually destructive envronment,complete with visions of the natural world, which seems drastically interchangeable to the human eye. However, to the audience, once again, the element of comedy has been portrayed in this scene, as, now having discovered the obvious personalities and features of Brandene and Charlene, the leaflet picture would seem apparent to the audience that it was there purely to distress the radical feelings of both main characters even more, and so as there is two completely different themes between the two images, it furthermore portrays a critical situation in the film, particularly of the two tennessean girls' arrival.
Naturally, the aftermath of the preceding shot would lower the two characters' hopes, as they discovered something that would exclaim a feeling of disappointment. Their expressions to one another are also in a very morbid and uninteresting fashion, appearing as a moody approach to their first impressions of the arrival. The scene also captures them looking around in wonder, as if they are confused as to why they ended up here. Of course,it would seem to the audience that their moody expressions only help to furthermore portray the comedic feeling of the whole film, whilst creating a sense of suspension, as, in the natural world, they would be worried that they were being watched, therefore emphasising the action genre, and also perfectly capturing the whole sense of the hybrid genre,action-comedy.
What helps to make the trailer seem more professional and genuinely produced, is the constant use of a narrator, giving out speech throughout the trailer so that they can obtain the gist of what the trailer is trying to say. One shot in particular, wherein the narrator(Nathan Staples) expresses the situation by saying "The two friends embark upon their journey, facing many obstacles", is deliberatley emphasised by the current situation conjoined with the diagetic dialogue.
The shot itself commemorates a situation in which the two Tennesseans are putting a tent up, and having listened to the narrative as well, the audience would realize that this was purely used to emphasise the comedy genre. Holding the tent up, the two girls release their grip and watch,in sheer disappointment, the tent fall down in front of their very eyes, as the audience can clearly see. This connotes both a hilariously depressive moment for the two main characters and a prime example of the fusion of the action and comedy genre, as, conjoined with the narrative viewpoint of the word 'obstacles', this further challenges the idea of the action genre. To further represent a very muddled situation, but also to state the obvious to the audience, Charlene expresses her feelings via saying 'Brandene, I think we did it wrong', which,in turn, also contrasts the immediate opposite of the current situation, therefore bringing in the element of ironic comedy.
With due respect, the subject audience would now expect the two Tennessean girls, having analysed their personalities and actions respectively, to move on from the troublesome situation of not putting a tent up properly. However, this is truly correct,via the immediate next shot of Brandene and Charlene, having finally put the tent up, 'cooped up' under the covers, and saying 'Night' to each other. This connotes a relaxed feeling and the theme of comfort and calmness, because, as they have been through a series of unfortunate events, they are now resting in peace. However, to the audience, this would show them the extreme opposites that the aforementioned shots reflect on each other through connotations of several different themes, and so they would also praise this film for doing just that.
As a deliberate improvisation of the general effect created by the shooting features, the very next shot connotes the binary opposition of the weather; the previous shot shows a dull-timbred weather,involving dark colouring and an overall cold atmosphere, whereas the very next shot emphasises a bright coloured setting,connoting a general sense of warmness and calm. however, what immediately grabs the reader's attention is the transition effect in between the two aforementioned shots that have been contrasted, in which a shot with central focus on a moon is accompanied by the natural voice of an owl, in order to contain that natural feeling of the wilderness,as whoever from the audience who had had a previous experience would instantly recognise and follow on with their past experiences as a result of watching this film trailer. However,the latter shot emphasises yet again, a unique continuation of frustation within the personalities of both Brandene and Charlene,so that this further pushes the boundaries of the hybrid genre,action comedy. This is constructed through Charlene saying 'Brandene, what is that noise?', in which the reply from brandene is 'I don't know!'. This is a natural consequence as the overall impression by the audience is indeed not as surprising, since they would already know the general feelings of these two main characters, via the aforementioned shots.
This,in turn,leads into a transition effect that introduces two of the other characters in the film, the first shot,of a female bearing light mise-en-scene and a seemingly flowery headband, of course connoting the stereotypical representation of an environmental supporter, known to the common public so often as a 'hippie'. However, this is deliberately contrasted when the transition effect quickly exchanges into a close-up of the other character,bearing dull, seemingly smart mise-en-scene, as well as the obvious fact that he is german,as appointed to by the clear german language of his clothing. the dialogue of both characters further emphasise their own characters and interests, as well as connoting the common contrast between the two, whereas one is merely singing gracefully, the other is giving a command in a rather angered mood. However,from the audience's point of view, it furthermore elongates the excitement and amusement within the film, due to the addition of two new characters within the trailer's footage, and this also perpetuates the ideology of the both Brandene and Charlene characters, as more often than not this would normally be brought up had the director wanted there to be a whole story to the actual trailer,without giving away too much to the audience.
A key scene that represents the otherwise similar personalities of the two main characters, Brandene and Charlene, is the two-shot of Brandene and Charlene, -scene,complete with a microphone, for excessive use of typical mise-en scene, which may be used for a typical type of scene. The dialogue of '...and here we meet our foreign heroes...', though obviously diagetic, still does not seem to appear from any of the characters in the actual shot, and this may deem wondrous to the audience, as it prepares for them an enveloping plot that will only become more and more obvious to the audience, if they watch the film,which is entirely what the director of this film would have wanted, to be in secret to a degree within the viewing of the film trailer, so that viewers would want to watch it more and more.
In order to complete a trailer in unsuspected and surprising fashion, there have been a number of film trailers that have imported a key scene at the end, not necessarily to connote the beginning or ending of the film,as it could be at any time of the film. Having took important notice of this fact, we would have wanted to leave a degree of surprise and excitement within the audience's expectations for the film,so that in turn, it would persuade them to go and watch the whole film,just to find out more about the plot.
The scene in question includes four characters, two being the frequently aforementioned main characters, 'Brandene' and 'Charlene', and the other two merely performing cameo roles, of which they seem to the audience as being relatives or friends, due to the comforting actions purveyed by hugging and waving goodbye, in which this connotes an overall sense of adventure due to the constant use of sympathetic emotions used by the actors of Brandene and Charlene. However, the element of comedy has not necessarily been ignored, since the very last shot of Charlene turning away envelopes into a shot of her just falling down, which is a frequently used idea within films categorzed in the comedy genre, and so these two particular representations tie in together, in order to establish the action-comedy hybrid genre. This also leaves an element of suspiscion and surprise unto the audience, as the shot does not cover thoroughly the movement of Charlene falling down, as this would persuade the audience to find out more through watching the film.
By way of conclusion, i would like to say that, throughout the constant effective use of different representations, both element of action and comedy have been balanced through various feelings between the two main characters of Brandene and Charlene, and so this would only consider the audience's expectations as unexpected,due to the constant elements of surprise used in the aforementioned scenes.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Camera map
Charlotte Cooper was the creator of the camera map,and, alike the storyboard, it worked perfectly to our advantage, making it easy to understand and follow when shooting on the day.
storyboard
Our Storyboard was thus drawn, written and laid out beautifully by Charlotte Cooper, so that we could follow it easily when it came to the day of shooting.
shooting schedule
The original shooting schedule was hand-written by Charlotte Cooper, though instinct told us that it should have a better appearance when typed us,so i performed this action straight away.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Filming
On the 22nd of november we began shooting, having easily found the house of Charlotte Cooper. Having acquired everything we needed(camera, microphone,tape, costume, suitable accessories and paperwork), we began to film for the day.
Fortunately, it was the right weather for each scene-as for being set in england, and in november, it would have been compulsory to shoot our idea at this designated time.We had finished most of the shooting at around 2:15pm,having spent 90 minutes in the forested area nearby.
The script suggests a few place names that appear obvious in the narrative,such as Bell Buckle,which was thoroughly researched in order to make sure that it was the ideal place name for this particular trailer. The town in question had the smallest population in the state of Tenessee, which was also compulsory for our two characters-Brandene and Charlene.
Although the original character for Brandene could not be available, we improvised as a team and one of the other female members took the place instead, changing into clothes that would portray the character of Brandene excellently. I remained the character of Hans, due to the fact that i was the only one in the group that could speak good german, and that I could carry it out with a strong german accent.
We commenced filming the first few scenes ast the interior of the house, which was very fortunate, as it rained heavily during this time. However,when we had finished shooting at the interior of the house, it was still raining with visceral brutality, so, as an ever-improvising group, we decided to practice putting up the tent,so that in the coming minutes,we would be prepared to shoot with simplistic skills, and so we did get round to shooting fairly quickly after.
One of the scenes in particular could not be filmed exactly as posted in the script, as the original character of Brandene could not be available, so we improvised again and decided to film seperate shots of Moon drop and the two tenesseans, two characters of which were played by Charlotte Pell simultaneously.
The last main problem with the overall product was that the microphone did not appear to function on all scenes, but whether it was because it was plugged in the wrong port we did not know, so therefore we have decided to re-record the sounds that were supposed to have been played in the original scenes at another place and time. At a later date(16th December 2009 to be exact), with the assistance of a camera, we started re-recording the audio tracks of the scenes thought necessary to do so, and fortunately,this process worked fully to our advantage,and I am pleased to say that our product is almost complete, with only a narrator to follow.
Generally speaking, these few problems could have reduced the power and excitement of our filming, but improvising as a team we struggled right through to the end, and I think that it was still a successfull shooting nonetheless.
Fortunately, it was the right weather for each scene-as for being set in england, and in november, it would have been compulsory to shoot our idea at this designated time.We had finished most of the shooting at around 2:15pm,having spent 90 minutes in the forested area nearby.
The script suggests a few place names that appear obvious in the narrative,such as Bell Buckle,which was thoroughly researched in order to make sure that it was the ideal place name for this particular trailer. The town in question had the smallest population in the state of Tenessee, which was also compulsory for our two characters-Brandene and Charlene.
Although the original character for Brandene could not be available, we improvised as a team and one of the other female members took the place instead, changing into clothes that would portray the character of Brandene excellently. I remained the character of Hans, due to the fact that i was the only one in the group that could speak good german, and that I could carry it out with a strong german accent.
We commenced filming the first few scenes ast the interior of the house, which was very fortunate, as it rained heavily during this time. However,when we had finished shooting at the interior of the house, it was still raining with visceral brutality, so, as an ever-improvising group, we decided to practice putting up the tent,so that in the coming minutes,we would be prepared to shoot with simplistic skills, and so we did get round to shooting fairly quickly after.
One of the scenes in particular could not be filmed exactly as posted in the script, as the original character of Brandene could not be available, so we improvised again and decided to film seperate shots of Moon drop and the two tenesseans, two characters of which were played by Charlotte Pell simultaneously.
The last main problem with the overall product was that the microphone did not appear to function on all scenes, but whether it was because it was plugged in the wrong port we did not know, so therefore we have decided to re-record the sounds that were supposed to have been played in the original scenes at another place and time. At a later date(16th December 2009 to be exact), with the assistance of a camera, we started re-recording the audio tracks of the scenes thought necessary to do so, and fortunately,this process worked fully to our advantage,and I am pleased to say that our product is almost complete, with only a narrator to follow.
Generally speaking, these few problems could have reduced the power and excitement of our filming, but improvising as a team we struggled right through to the end, and I think that it was still a successfull shooting nonetheless.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Action - comedy film trailers
Introduction
As an audience, we would naturally expect an action - comedy film trailer to thrillus with unexpectedscenes of violence whilst also fulfilling the comedy prospect with ironic and slapstick humour. The main conventions used in action - comedy trailers usually create a restrained atmosphere,so as to not reveal the true plot and storyline, but also regenerates the comedy used throughout the trailer, persuading the audience to watch the selected movie.
They also connote representations of public forces,including the police and undercover spies, often ridiculing their skills through intelligent or violent humour, infused with stunning action sequences performed by some of the world's most notorious actors, including Mel Gibson and Eddie Murphy, both of which have starred in some of the most famous action - comedy movies to date.
Lethal Weapon 1 trailer
The trailer begins immediately with up-tempo rhythmic beats , and as an audience we would automatically assume that the film really is being serious, also connoting a violent and tiring atmosphere around us. This deliberate use of mise-en-scene flows rapidly into some quickfire scenes of what appears to be two characters at their own work respectively, and the sustained images of violence and detective work only emphasise the idea that this movie really is full-on violence at it's best.
However, an unexpected twist has been hardwired into the trailer to make sure that 'everything is not as it seems', since one of the seemingly main characters wears rough, ragged clothing whereas the other is smartly-dressed,resembling the idea of being a serious but respectful individual, distancing him/herself ridiculously from the other main character,who resembles that of a criminally insane rebel.
To further connote a sequence of violent images, credits such as the main characters' names have been faded from blue colours to red colours respectively, which also distance themselves from each other,since blue is a warm,refreshing colour, whereas red can be read as a violent, bloody colour, and as these are ever so different from each other, we can automatically match the colours up with the fore-mentioned main characters of the film, emphasising the twist of the movie's plot.
As an audience, we would naturally expect an action - comedy film trailer to thrillus with unexpectedscenes of violence whilst also fulfilling the comedy prospect with ironic and slapstick humour. The main conventions used in action - comedy trailers usually create a restrained atmosphere,so as to not reveal the true plot and storyline, but also regenerates the comedy used throughout the trailer, persuading the audience to watch the selected movie.
They also connote representations of public forces,including the police and undercover spies, often ridiculing their skills through intelligent or violent humour, infused with stunning action sequences performed by some of the world's most notorious actors, including Mel Gibson and Eddie Murphy, both of which have starred in some of the most famous action - comedy movies to date.
Lethal Weapon 1 trailer
The trailer begins immediately with up-tempo rhythmic beats , and as an audience we would automatically assume that the film really is being serious, also connoting a violent and tiring atmosphere around us. This deliberate use of mise-en-scene flows rapidly into some quickfire scenes of what appears to be two characters at their own work respectively, and the sustained images of violence and detective work only emphasise the idea that this movie really is full-on violence at it's best.
However, an unexpected twist has been hardwired into the trailer to make sure that 'everything is not as it seems', since one of the seemingly main characters wears rough, ragged clothing whereas the other is smartly-dressed,resembling the idea of being a serious but respectful individual, distancing him/herself ridiculously from the other main character,who resembles that of a criminally insane rebel.
To further connote a sequence of violent images, credits such as the main characters' names have been faded from blue colours to red colours respectively, which also distance themselves from each other,since blue is a warm,refreshing colour, whereas red can be read as a violent, bloody colour, and as these are ever so different from each other, we can automatically match the colours up with the fore-mentioned main characters of the film, emphasising the twist of the movie's plot.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Action comedy research
Robert Davis-PEA1/MS
Action comedy is a sub-genre of both action and comedy,fusing together violent scenes and consequences with slapstick,ironic and other types of comedy.
This hybrid genre became vastly popular in the 1980's, when well-known actors such as Eddie Murphy and Mel Gibson decided to incorporate their humorous backgrounds into such violent films and stunts, such as Beverly hills cop(1984) and Lethal weapon(1987),both of which had a well-rounded sense of humour whilst still showing some of the most stylistic features within action movies.These cleverly used tactics earned both films over three-hundred million dollars respectively, also helping them to become much more successful in later years.
This style has since been followed and developed to the present day, with movies such as Without a paddle(2004),which earned over sixty-nine million dollars, and although this figure doesn't suggest it has been as successful as past action-comedy movies such as Lethal weapon and Beverly hills cop, it still has been hailked as one of the more modernized action comedy movies of today.It also features some of the world's best renowned modern comedy actors(Seth Green, Matthew Lillard,Dax Shepard), and naturally importing violent ideas into their acting skills.
However, whilst this hybrid genre has been hailed as an idea to attract global audiences,there have also been movies that didn't get to the stage of being nominated for grammy awards, movie awards,etc.; E.g. Epic movie was widely regarded as a box office flop for its deliberate use of amateur comedic skills and commonly used action scenes that had been frequently thought of by hundreds of directors decades before, and whilst the slapstick humour in this movie was regarded by a few to be hilarious to some degree, it still didn't seem to silence critics in a global fashion. However, it has received more than eighty million dollars worldwide, and whilst critics have rarely appeared to like this film, it still managed to reach the top position in the charts, making it more successful than more consistent movies of the same sub-genre such as Without a paddle and Lethal weapon.
In comparison to ridiculously filmed action comedy movies such as Epic movie and Without a paddle, there have been a few films such as Alien resurrection(1997),which,whilst displaying the action comedy genre at it's strongest,also took the necessary risks of incorporating black humour into its violent scenes, and so escaped the consequence of becoming a box-office flop by cleverly fusing common genres together.
To summarise, the diachronic variation of the action-comedy sub-genre has changed dramatically from pure slapstick humour in the 1980's(Lethal weapon,Beverly hills cop), through amateur acting performances in the modern age(Epic movie,Without a paddle) ,to incorporating fresh ideas into commonly used graphics(Alien resurrection).If these cleverly used genres continue to envelope into each other's scenes,then this hybrid genre may very well become its own film status.
Audience
The action comedy-sub-genre has attracted audiences of all ages and sexes, some films even causing conflicts between fans of different genres,through the sheer and deliberate use of Black Comedy. Dr.Strangelove(1964), directed by Stanley Kubrick, focussed on the sudden movement of war between the U.S.A and other countries containing nuclear bombs,and as this appeared to the audience as a serious matter,black comedy was used throughout the movie when discussing the situation of war, but also at the same time consecutively using satirical jokes, to represent a concrete fusion of the action and comedy genres respectively. Naturally,this would cause conflicting opinions between the common audience, critics especially, and although it did cause editors and fans alike to argue amongst themselves,it still succeeded in becoming an all-time great for the action comedy sub-genre.
Whilst there have been conflicting views between fans and critics alike, concerns amongst two different genders(male and female) have risen dramatically since most action comedy movies regard the male gender as the main character, though there have been films where this situation has been corrupted. Charlie's angels(2000) was a prime example of deliberately using the other gender, and portraying them as strong,eager,powerful characters,also taking part as the main characters of the film. To emphasise this fact,no guns were involved within the three female actors(Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu,Drew Barrymore), which is why they were used as martial artists instead,to prove that in an action comedy sub-genre,no weapons are needed by the main characters. This supposedly helped the film to increase it's gross revenue worldwide, making it one of the most famous action comedy films to date.
Directors
Although there have been directors of action-comedy style movies who have delved into other common genres in later years, there have been cases where some directors have decided that the films which do contain the action-comedy sub-genre to a degree are still naturally their tour de force. A prime example of this would be writer and director of Beverly hills cop, Martin Brest, in which he has,over the past two decades, been involved in over 20 different movies, most of which contain the elements of the action and comedy genres respectively to an unlimited degree. His most successfull and respected involvements particularly revolve around Beverly hills cop(1984), Midnight run(1988) and Going in style(1979),which is respectively, one of the oldest prime examples of the action and comedy genres fusing together into one to create a new sub-genre.
His activity within these action-comedy style films have proved to be trustworthy, and in other action-comedy style movies he has even opted for cameo roles, making a name for not only himself, but the casts around him. These include Beverly hills cop and Hot dogs for Ganguin, both of which portray his theatrical skills as well as playwrighting involvements. All these qualities have naturally retained his status as a professional actor/screenwrite/director, but only in the action comedy sub-genre has he been at his best performance.
Even though he has directed movies involving various types of genres, most notably action/comedy, none of Richard donner's films have contained the action-comedy sub-genre to any extent, but in an overall sense, all of his works have maintained a varied product of different styles, most notably action (Lethal weapon) and comedy(Salt and pepper), in which his most famous performances have come from these two genres respectively. As a whole,he has received over a hundred million dollars for his inclusion with action and comedy related films respectively, whilst also gaining positive reviews worldwide.
His sudden involvement with some of the most successful action movies, such as Superman(1978), which received a well-rounded bonus of over three hundred million dollars worldwide, have been particularly useful over time, as they have only increased their importance to the action genre, also cementing Richard Donner's position in the world of cinema.
Likewise, his involvement with comedy related films has been slightly less successful, directing movies such as The toy(1982) and The goonies(1985),both earning over fifty million dollars from the box office alone, and also creating his position as a well-balanced director of several different genres,most notably the action-comedy sub-genre, of which he has made the most money and earned the most success.
Action comedy is a sub-genre of both action and comedy,fusing together violent scenes and consequences with slapstick,ironic and other types of comedy.
This hybrid genre became vastly popular in the 1980's, when well-known actors such as Eddie Murphy and Mel Gibson decided to incorporate their humorous backgrounds into such violent films and stunts, such as Beverly hills cop(1984) and Lethal weapon(1987),both of which had a well-rounded sense of humour whilst still showing some of the most stylistic features within action movies.These cleverly used tactics earned both films over three-hundred million dollars respectively, also helping them to become much more successful in later years.
This style has since been followed and developed to the present day, with movies such as Without a paddle(2004),which earned over sixty-nine million dollars, and although this figure doesn't suggest it has been as successful as past action-comedy movies such as Lethal weapon and Beverly hills cop, it still has been hailked as one of the more modernized action comedy movies of today.It also features some of the world's best renowned modern comedy actors(Seth Green, Matthew Lillard,Dax Shepard), and naturally importing violent ideas into their acting skills.
However, whilst this hybrid genre has been hailed as an idea to attract global audiences,there have also been movies that didn't get to the stage of being nominated for grammy awards, movie awards,etc.; E.g. Epic movie was widely regarded as a box office flop for its deliberate use of amateur comedic skills and commonly used action scenes that had been frequently thought of by hundreds of directors decades before, and whilst the slapstick humour in this movie was regarded by a few to be hilarious to some degree, it still didn't seem to silence critics in a global fashion. However, it has received more than eighty million dollars worldwide, and whilst critics have rarely appeared to like this film, it still managed to reach the top position in the charts, making it more successful than more consistent movies of the same sub-genre such as Without a paddle and Lethal weapon.
In comparison to ridiculously filmed action comedy movies such as Epic movie and Without a paddle, there have been a few films such as Alien resurrection(1997),which,whilst displaying the action comedy genre at it's strongest,also took the necessary risks of incorporating black humour into its violent scenes, and so escaped the consequence of becoming a box-office flop by cleverly fusing common genres together.
To summarise, the diachronic variation of the action-comedy sub-genre has changed dramatically from pure slapstick humour in the 1980's(Lethal weapon,Beverly hills cop), through amateur acting performances in the modern age(Epic movie,Without a paddle) ,to incorporating fresh ideas into commonly used graphics(Alien resurrection).If these cleverly used genres continue to envelope into each other's scenes,then this hybrid genre may very well become its own film status.
Audience
The action comedy-sub-genre has attracted audiences of all ages and sexes, some films even causing conflicts between fans of different genres,through the sheer and deliberate use of Black Comedy. Dr.Strangelove(1964), directed by Stanley Kubrick, focussed on the sudden movement of war between the U.S.A and other countries containing nuclear bombs,and as this appeared to the audience as a serious matter,black comedy was used throughout the movie when discussing the situation of war, but also at the same time consecutively using satirical jokes, to represent a concrete fusion of the action and comedy genres respectively. Naturally,this would cause conflicting opinions between the common audience, critics especially, and although it did cause editors and fans alike to argue amongst themselves,it still succeeded in becoming an all-time great for the action comedy sub-genre.
Whilst there have been conflicting views between fans and critics alike, concerns amongst two different genders(male and female) have risen dramatically since most action comedy movies regard the male gender as the main character, though there have been films where this situation has been corrupted. Charlie's angels(2000) was a prime example of deliberately using the other gender, and portraying them as strong,eager,powerful characters,also taking part as the main characters of the film. To emphasise this fact,no guns were involved within the three female actors(Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu,Drew Barrymore), which is why they were used as martial artists instead,to prove that in an action comedy sub-genre,no weapons are needed by the main characters. This supposedly helped the film to increase it's gross revenue worldwide, making it one of the most famous action comedy films to date.
Directors
Although there have been directors of action-comedy style movies who have delved into other common genres in later years, there have been cases where some directors have decided that the films which do contain the action-comedy sub-genre to a degree are still naturally their tour de force. A prime example of this would be writer and director of Beverly hills cop, Martin Brest, in which he has,over the past two decades, been involved in over 20 different movies, most of which contain the elements of the action and comedy genres respectively to an unlimited degree. His most successfull and respected involvements particularly revolve around Beverly hills cop(1984), Midnight run(1988) and Going in style(1979),which is respectively, one of the oldest prime examples of the action and comedy genres fusing together into one to create a new sub-genre.
His activity within these action-comedy style films have proved to be trustworthy, and in other action-comedy style movies he has even opted for cameo roles, making a name for not only himself, but the casts around him. These include Beverly hills cop and Hot dogs for Ganguin, both of which portray his theatrical skills as well as playwrighting involvements. All these qualities have naturally retained his status as a professional actor/screenwrite/director, but only in the action comedy sub-genre has he been at his best performance.
Even though he has directed movies involving various types of genres, most notably action/comedy, none of Richard donner's films have contained the action-comedy sub-genre to any extent, but in an overall sense, all of his works have maintained a varied product of different styles, most notably action (Lethal weapon) and comedy(Salt and pepper), in which his most famous performances have come from these two genres respectively. As a whole,he has received over a hundred million dollars for his inclusion with action and comedy related films respectively, whilst also gaining positive reviews worldwide.
His sudden involvement with some of the most successful action movies, such as Superman(1978), which received a well-rounded bonus of over three hundred million dollars worldwide, have been particularly useful over time, as they have only increased their importance to the action genre, also cementing Richard Donner's position in the world of cinema.
Likewise, his involvement with comedy related films has been slightly less successful, directing movies such as The toy(1982) and The goonies(1985),both earning over fifty million dollars from the box office alone, and also creating his position as a well-balanced director of several different genres,most notably the action-comedy sub-genre, of which he has made the most money and earned the most success.
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