Codes and Conventions

1. More narrative action codes - enigma codes - puzzles
2. Clear binary oppositions – good versus evil, hero versus villain
3. Star Marketing: Audience identification/expectations (Cruise/Pitt/Willis/Thurman/Jolie/Stallone/Craig/
4.     SchwarzeneggeDi Caprio…).
5. Romantic sub-plot, humorous dialogue
6. Relationships with new technology (youth audiences)
7. Use of close up of the villains face, which is often masked. Establishing shot of the setting where the action will take place.
8. Fast paced editing
9. Sound - diegetic sound of gunshots and explosins. Dialogue has a foreign accent. Non-diegetic sound - tense music to match the action.
10. Setting- usually takes place in a busy city where the public could get hurt.

Typical cliches in the action genre are: A psycho with an eye patch is good, especially if he's a one-eyed giant with a machete. Nobody drives a car in action films: off-road vehicles only.