Introduction - Action Genre
I will talk about:
Section 1 - John Wick
I will talk about:
Section 2 - Influence behind John Wick
I will talk about:
“Gunfights? Check. Fighting? Check. Fighting and guns at the same time with gun kung-fu? Big check.”
Section 3 - Action genre conventions
I will talk about:
Section 4 - Historical Text - Bruce Lee Enter the Dragon
What i will talk about
“Anderson, a former soldier begins by describing a sense from his own” basic training where trainees were shown Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon (1973) the night before a physical training examination. The purpose of the screening was not merely to motivate the trainees psychologically, but to stimulate them physically – to trigger their trained bodies to emulate what they has seen and to generate sensation from viewing the representation of movement and trigger a desire to move.”
“The main action centers around a male action hero or protagonist - portrayed by these most prominent actors: Bruce Lee, Steven Seagal, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Bruce Lee, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Chuck Norris, and Jean Claude Van Damme. Women in action-films usually play the roles of accomplices or romantic interests of the hero, although modern action films have featured strong female characters to broaden demographic appeal.”
Section 5 - Conclusion, Answering the question
What i will talk about:
I will talk about:
- The definition of genre
- how the action genre came about
- Genre theories
Genre Theory: Action
HISTORY
“Away from Hollywood, Akira
Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) is possibly the most influential movie of all
time, spawning some key action and narrative practices all in a single film;
such as the slow-motion battle sequence, the reluctant hero, and recruiting
heroes to accomplish a goal.”
“James Bond (1960s – present)
series has since had a significant change in tone in the Daniel Craig era to
fall more in line with grittier counterpart Jason Bourne but played a huge role
in establishing its own conventions born out of classical storytelling. Q and
M, the gadgets, the Bond girls, the evil genius bad guy, the henchmen sharing a
name with a famous cinematic shark (no, not -nado)… Bond is also famed for some
of the more memorable and wry action set-pieces”
THEMES
“Universal themes under the
bigger premises naturally see action movies fall into the realms of sci-fi, and
giving us some of both genre’s most notable works.”
ACTION CODES AND CONVENTIONS
“John McClane, John Rambo, John
Matrix, John Wick, John Spartan (there’s a lot of Johns); the action hero is an
everyman thrown into an extraordinary situation. Of course, they’re rarely your
average guy. Typically ex-Special Forces, assassins, NYPD, post-apocalyptic
Road Warrior (a Max) or has a very particular set of skills. ie. finding you
and killing you, to paraphrase a non-John. Often reluctant to take that ‘one
last job’, it’s when those closest to them are targeted that the springboard
for our hero to make a decision becomes primed…”
“The action movie does tend to
have an unfair reputation as ‘mindless entertainment’ – merely tapping into
primal needs of survival and protection of loved ones with a “Yippee Kay Yay”
or an “I’ll be back” just to remind us all the killing is all in good fun.”
“The antagonists can typically be
intellectually superior but no match for the hero physically. Henchmen can
provide the hero with their most challenging battle”
“Action movies don’t typically
concern themselves with any great philosophical or political message. Though
often set against contemporary political backdrops, shooting the bad guy of the
day is often as far as the message extends. After, of course, we have listened
to their diabolical plan in full.”
Section 1 - John Wick
I will talk about:
- The Narrative and plot of the the two John Wick movies
- The institutional information
- Keanu Reeves as an actor
- Reviews and criticism
- Audiences response
“From the opening set-piece involving massive amounts of gunplay, vehicular combat, and hand-to-hand, everyone involved strives and succeeds to make “John Wick: Chapter 2” even more bonkers than the first.”
“In a way, the world of “John Wick” feels very comic book-y, and that comes complete with the badass protagonist and visual panache to match.”
“Cinematographer, Dan Lautsen, supplements Reeves’s central performance with a stylized look that feels unique from most other action films. The neon-colored camerawork gives an abstract surrealism that reinforces the awesomely bizarre world of the flick.”
“Yes, even crazier than “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
“IT’S A SIMPLE STORY, DONE REALLY WELL”
“Action movies these days are suffering from a terrible affliction. Filmmakers these days seem to be hell bent on shooting action as if the cameraman is constantly sneezing, and then editing everything so quickly that you not only can’t see anything, you feel like you might go into epileptic shock.”
“You get to gloriously see its action in all its deserved glory. How refreshing.”
Section 2 - Influence behind John Wick
I will talk about:
- Hong Kong Cinema
- Other texts similar to John Wick
- Conventions of Hong Kong cinema films
- Gun Fu Stunts
- Textual analysis of specific scene
“Gunfights? Check. Fighting? Check. Fighting and guns at the same time with gun kung-fu? Big check.”
“Gun Fu, Car Fu, Kung Fu, all up
to 11! Minimal BS Shakey cam, great coreography, compelling world building,
cathartic violence, gloriously escalating stakes (OMG THE ENDING) and More
building of a Badass main character.”
“John Wick: Chapter 2 is the
sequel to the surprise 2014 sleeper hit John Wick, which impressed many viewers
with its “gun-fu” action sequences and sense of world-building reminiscent of
comic book universes.”
“Like the best Cantonese Gun Fu,
every exchange of lead in John Wick is painstakingly mapped out and executed
with silky smooth precision. Reeves glides through moves with practiced ease,
rolling, ducking and grappling like a bearded ninja, only throwing bullet rain
instead of punches.”
GUN FU
“Another element that made John Wick stand out from other action
thrillers was its unique action sequences featuring intense, stylistic
violence. And perhaps the most memorable and inventive element in said scenes
was the gun-play, which the filmmakers described as “gun fu.”"
“The technique didn’t actually originate in John Wick. Gun Fu was
popularized by filmmaker John Woo in his 1986 cult classic Hong Kong thriller,
A Better Tomorrow, which would go on to influence American films like The
Matrix trilogy, where future directors Stahleski and Lietch first incorporated
the technique in their stunt coordination. And John Wick is perhaps the most
dynamic use of the fighting style, with the filmmakers stepping up their game
in a major way.”
“So what exactly is gun fu? It’s basically close-quarters shooting
incorporated with martial arts, with all the grace and agility of a ballet
performance. It’s safe to say that Keanu Reeves pulled off the technique with
remarkable accuracy and aplomb, so expect even more gun fu in Chapter 2”
Section 3 - Action genre conventions
I will talk about:
- Key theorists
- Evolution of the Action Genre
- How John Wick use the conventions
- Mise-en-scene
- Textual analysis of specific scene
Transcript of Action- Codes and
Conventions
“Sound affects/ music: High drum
beat/ intense music, explosions, gun shots, running,screaming, car engines.”
“Use of colour/ Lighting:
Lighting is mostly scene lighting such as daylight, searchlights, and street
lamps. Often dark colours like brown and black are worn to make the characters
more suspicious but the main protagonist and heroes are often wearing white to
make them stand out from the others.”
“Setting: These movies usually
take place in cities, built up urban areas. specific locations can be something
like skyscrapers to underground tunnels, flats, warehouses, roads, police
stations, cars, casinos, the sky and banks.”
Transcript of Action Movie
Conventions
“Themes: Good vs Bad, Family
Issues, Vigilantes vs Cops, Revenge, Getting the girl, Death, Black vs White,
Car chase, Gun Fights, Threatening”
“Visual Style: often dark colours
like brown and black to make the characters more suspicious, but the main
protagonist and heroes are often wearing white to make them stand out from the
others”
“All camera shots are fast paced
and there tends to be a lot of close up shots to show the expression on the
characters faces”
“Action movies are generally set
in cities and other built up urban areas. This generally done as when rushing
past building you get a better sense of speed and action than you would if you
were rushing through the countryside”
Section 4 - Historical Text - Bruce Lee Enter the Dragon
What i will talk about
- How it links to John Wick
- What conventions of Hong Kong cinema does it contain
- The movement of martial arts films in Hollywood
- Binary oppisites
- Why is it important to the Genre
ACTION MOVIES – THE CINEMA OF STRIKING BACK, HARVEY O’BRIEN, 2012
“Anderson, a former soldier begins by describing a sense from his own” basic training where trainees were shown Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon (1973) the night before a physical training examination. The purpose of the screening was not merely to motivate the trainees psychologically, but to stimulate them physically – to trigger their trained bodies to emulate what they has seen and to generate sensation from viewing the representation of movement and trigger a desire to move.”
“The main action centers around a male action hero or protagonist - portrayed by these most prominent actors: Bruce Lee, Steven Seagal, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Bruce Lee, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Chuck Norris, and Jean Claude Van Damme. Women in action-films usually play the roles of accomplices or romantic interests of the hero, although modern action films have featured strong female characters to broaden demographic appeal.”
Foreign
Shore Influences on the Action Film: Martial Arts
“The popular, Hong Kong kung fu genre was catapulted to world-wide
prominence in the 1970s with Bruce Lee's four martial-arts films, with
spectacularly intense fight scenes. Unfortunately, many of them were dubbed and
had poorly-contrived plots containing copy-cat James Bond elements. Lee's best
films were his last two - they were released post-humously after he died at the
young age of 32”
- The
Way of the Dragon (1972), billed as Enter the Dragon's 'sequel' Return
of the Dragon (1974) when it was released in the US in 1974; it
was Lee's writing and directorial debut film; it co-starred Chuck Norris
(a former karate champion) in a rare villainous role as Colt who fought
against Lee in a climactic Roman Coliseum scene; Lee played the part of
Tang Lung, a country bumpkin type sent from his family in Hong Kong to
Rome to help out a relative whose Chinese restaurant was targeted by a
crime mob; the film was the first Hong Kong action movie ever to be shot
in the West
- the fast-paced Enter
the Dragon (1973) with Lee in his first (and last)
English-language (and Hollywood-produced) film; it was the first kung fu
film produced by a major Hollywood studio; in the film, Lee (who
choreographed the action) portrayed a martial arts expert seeking revenge
on a gang that killed his sister, by entering a martial arts competition
hosted by the kingpin (John Saxon)
Section 5 - Conclusion, Answering the question
What i will talk about:
- Sum up my argumet
- Give another point about how John Wick inflkuences the action genre
- Talk about audiences in terms of pleasures
Film genre
“Films that are difficult to
categorize into a genre are often less successful. As such, film genres are
also useful in the areas of marketing, film criticism and the analysis of
consumption.”
“Many genres have built-in
audiences and corresponding publications that support them, such as magazines
and websites.”
“A film genre is a motion picture
category based on similarities in either the narrative elements or the
emotional response to the film (namely, serious, comic, etc.).”
THEMES
“Universal themes under the
bigger premises naturally see action movies fall into the realms of sci-fi, and
giving us some of both genre’s most notable works.”
“John Wick is a masterclass in visual storytelling and effectively uses
both objects and color palettes to enhance their narrative and identify their
unique characters.”
“It is a flawless action movie that avoids shaky-cam and instead goes
for wide shots to give the audience a solid spatial relationship to the sets.
As an art film, it is an excellent one that creatively uses the tropes of
action movies on sets filled with character to introduce fully-realized people
reacting to their own tragic destinies.”
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