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?