Mis-en-Scene of Action Films

Mis-En-Scene of the genre

The mis-en-scene of a film is the recognisable attributes of a film. These are the things you would expect to see. The mis-en-scene can refer to many aspects to a film like the props, makeup, the content and the location.

In terms of the content in action films there is a lot of similar things in the many action films made.

In action films you would expect to see lots of combat between characters.

You would expect the film to be slow to start but pick up in the middle and then calm down at the end again .

A typical action film would have many scenes where the action in the film is minimal, not much happening just conversation and some background music, then you would expect it to suddenly pick up and lots of action to start being shown to you.

Action films have lots of short shots that flash on the screen to give the film a fast flow.

A typical action film would be something like the new James Bond film Skyfall

Skyfall involves a lot of fist fighting and gun fighting between characters it has a lot of short fast paced shots when the action is in full flow but when it isn’t the content is just generally conversation.

In action films props are used lots. All films should use props such as costume and general setting in the location to make the film more believable. But action films use more things like weapons and transport. These are generally used throughout action film. These props are used to make the film more realistic and to add to the suspense and anticipation. In a Western action film like a Fist Full Of Dollars a shotgun or revolver weapon and a horse would be used to make the film look more realistic. But in an action crime you would probably expect things like handguns and AK-47’s to be used as well as cars. The Star Wars films use props like lightsabers and laser blasters throughout. These films are sci fi action films set in the future, so modern weapons like these would be expected to be used and therefore make the film more believable and enjoyable to watch.

 

Makeup is used extensively through many film especially action films. Makeup is used in films to make injuries like bullet wounds, scars and bruises look real. This makes an action film look better as there is lots of combat in action films and the use of makeup will make the combat look more realistic. This is the main use of makeup but it could also simply be used to change the complexion of someone skin. For example you could make a character skin paler which would make them look like they are dead/dying or just different which could say something about a character.

 

Locations are a big part of films. Locations help make the film more realistic.In terms of locations within the action genre it depends on the sub genre. In action films in general you would expect lots of combat and car chases so you would expect a location where all this could be possible. An ideal location for an action film would be a city like New York and London.

The Sweeney is set in London as it is a action film about police. In the film you would expect to see gun fighting and car chases, London is a big city with many roads places for a gun fight,this makes it a good place for the film to be located as it would seem realistic to the viewers.

However if the film has a sub genre the ideal location would be different. If the film was a action crime film you would set the film in place in which there is massive amounts of crime like the Favelas of Brazil. This is because these are places in which you would expect to see crime happening so the film becomes more realistic. The main part of Fast and Furious 5 is set in favelas in Brazil.Dom and his gang are hiding away until the steal the safe from Brazilian drug lord. While escaping we see a scene in which a shootout happens in the open in the favelas of Rio De Janeiro

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lighting

In terms of lighting there is not much you would expect from an action film other than the standard lighting. In action scenes you would expect the lighting to be darker. Actions scenes generally involve fighting and etc. So darker lighting would help make this look better as darkness connotes danger which you would expect action scenes to be. Also darkness helps hide things this will keep the audience guessing and and build suspence which is what an action film tries to do.

If the film was a action crime film you would expect the lifting to be darker because in a crime film you would expect someone to be hiding from something and darkness helps people hide also you could say darkness connotes danger which is a main theme in action crime films.

Where as of the film was a action comedy film like Tropic Thunder you would expect the lighting to be fairly bright most of the time because it is a comedy film and a lot of comedy is done visually so you need bright lighting to be able to see what is happening on screen.