1. Conventions of the genre action
Conventions Connotations Examples
Characters -Hard looking man with big muscles, -strong,
quite stocky with a mean look about brave,
him. The hero is a likeable character protective
and can make funny or witty
comments giving the film some Bruce Willis in Die Hard
humour
- a pretty woman playing a damsel in -vulnerable,
distress beautiful Kate Bosworth as Lois
Lane, in Superman
Returns
- A villain is usually similar build to
the hero. The villain is meant to be -Evil, devious,
disliked by the audience, so through nasty Heath Ledger as the
his/her comments and body Joker in The Dark Knight
language make him/her have ‘that
look’ about them. Also they may
have quite menacing make up.
Mise-en- Costume- in action films usually the Wealth,
scene ‘damsel in distress’ wears fairly nice authority.
clothing. The hero has a range of
costumes, sometimes they could be
dressed in a smart suit and other Jason Statham
times they could be in quite rugged in Transporter
rough clothes possibly after a fight.
The villain usually wears similar
clothing to the hero but maybe
darker.
Lighting-In an action film the lighting
is mostly natural as the setting is Drama, fast
mostly outside. But possibly if the paced action
audience is shown the villain in
his/her inside it may be quite low Top Gun
key lighting.
Actors- The hero’s facial expressions
will be quite stern at times. Their
body language will be powerful and
dominating, they will be able to
communicate with others in
sometimes a calm and captivating
way and other times may be quite
aggressive. The damsel will be very
pretty and her facial expressions can

2. range from a sexy seductive look to
possibly very worried and scared,
her body language will be quite posh
and ‘lady like’, she will communicate
with others in a polite and sensible
way. The villain’s facial expressions
will have an evil, menacing look.
He/she will communicate with
others in a violent way unless he/she
needs to pretend to get what he
wants. Le Chiffre in
Make-up – The hero will have quite Casino Royale
natural make up, but when he
experiences a fight or a car chase,
his make-up will make him look
bruised and bloody.
The damsel will have quite innocent Vulnerable,
natural pretty make-up innocence
The villain may have quite dark eyes Evilness
Props- Guns, knives, fast cars,
‘blingy’ jewellery.
Settings-Big, busy cities for the car
chases or a posh boating dock if
there is a boat chase. If there is a Fast and Furious
fight it may be in a dark alley way.
Hancock
Iconography Guns, speed, drama, fast expensive
cars, big cities, wealth,
I Am Legend
Narrative Usually the hero experiences
threats, challenges, gun fights, car
chases etc. The villain tries to make

3. the hero’s life hard, usually the
‘damsel in distress’ is kidnapped or
gets caught in the middle of the hero
and villain. There may be a murder,
or somebody getting seriously
injured.
Themes Violence, quick scenes, fast editing,
big gun fights, car chases,
Sounds Gunshots, skidding cars, screams, Anger,
explosions, loud bangs, sirens. violence