Thursday 13 April 2023
Codes and Conventions
LOs:• To consolidate knowledge of
codes and conventions of the Action Adventure genre
• To analyse the opening of an archetypal text
Re-cap
How do we define action adventure?
What are the differences that each word represents?
A film that features set pieces focusing on action (car chases, explosions, stunts) which follow an
adventure narrative (a hero undertaking a quest)
How many of these films have you seen?
In pairs, see if you can decide which are Action Adventure films.
Narrative – Tzvetan Todorov
Equilibrium - A sense of
normality, the calm before the
storm. Disruption - The point where the story changes: a death, an event,
a situation.
Recognition of Disruption
Attempt to repair
Restoration of a New Equilibrium
- Where normality is
restored.
Vladimir Propp’s seven spheres of action:
Hero: Individual(s) who's quest is to restore the equilibrium.
Villain: Individual(s) who's task is to disrupt the equilibrium.
Donor: Individual(s) who gives the hero(s) something, advice, information or an object.
Helper: Individual(s) who aids the hero(s) with their set task.
Princess (Prince): Individual(s) which need help, protecting and saving.
Dispatcher: Individual(s) who send the hero(s) on their quest.
False Hero: Individual(s) who set out to undermine the hero's quest by pretending to aid them. Often unmasked at the end of the film
Activity • Pick a well-known fairy tale from the list:
– Snow White– Sleeping Beauty– Jack and the Beanstalk– Cinderella
• Apply Todorov’s narrative theory:– Equilibrium – Disruption – Restoration
• Apply Propp’s character types and comment on their traits.
Watch the Following Clip
• Fill in the work sheet.
• Commenting on the narrative structure of the clip – apply Todorov’s theory.
• Commenting on the different character types that you can see. Are they stereotypes? Apply Propp’s theory.
• Are these conventional of the genre?