Deadpool (2016)

Yes, it is a superhero film, albeit with spoof elements, fully deserving of the hybrid description of superhero/comedy. As officially the 8th film in the X-Men franchise it takes a satirical look at the genre, whilst also following the codes and conventions within a familiar formula – Wade Wilson wears a superhero costume that could be argued is a cross between Iron Man and Superman, he has special powers (a classic convention), the film...

Initially ‘Saturday Movie Serials’ - e.g. Batman (1943) and Captain America (1944) - were successful with young audiences, but fundamentally Superhero Movies went into decline in the 1950s and 1960s, and did not pick up until much later. Occasional films like Batman (1966) with Adam West, borrowing from the success of the TV series, and Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik (1968) were exceptions, offering limited interest at the cinema.

With this in mind, it...

Examples

• Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001-2003)
• Harry Potter (Chris Columbus, 2001-11)
• Chronicles of Narnia (Andrew Adamson, 2005)
• Tron (Kenneth Branagh, 2011)
• Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)

Codes and Conventions

• High production values
• Younger target audience although significant older appeal
• Wide/saturated distribution (normally by an American Studio e.g. Warners or Disney). Mainstreamers and Aspirers
• Dedicated,...

Contemporary Action Adventure Films (including hybrids)

• Your Highness (Adventure/Comedy Hybrid) 2011
• Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981)
• Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides (2011)
• Superman Returns (2006)
• The Italian Job (1969)
• Romancing The Stone (1984)
• Stormbreaker (2006)
• Godzilla (1998)
• King Arthur (2004)
• Back to the Future (1985)
• Chicken Run (2000)
• Star Trek (2009)
• Chronicles of Narnia (2005)
• The Musketeer (2001)
• Blackbeard (2006)...[ read full article ] »
  

Contemporary Examples

• The Rite Mikael Håfström, 2011
• Paranormal Activity 2 Tod Williams, 2010
• Saw (6 films in franchise) James Wan, 2002-2009
• Blair Witch Project Daniel Myrick + Eduardo Sánchez, 1999
• Dog Soldiers Neil Marshall, 2002
• Urban Legend Jamie Blanks, 1998
• I Know What You Did Last Summer Jim Gillespie, 1997
• Hostel Eli Roth, 2005

Codes and Conventions

• Split into sub genres (see below), often hybridised
• Primary target audience –...

Below is a list of conventions applied to Documentary film making – it must be remembered that not all conventions apply to all film texts:

• Hand held Camera -  encoding realism and ‘truth’
• Narrative Voice Over -  leading the audience into a preferred reading
• Vox Pops and Interviews with experts / witnesses / participants
• Often a shorter running time than non-fiction feature films
• Intercutting / Parallel Editing linking key scenes
• Use of Archive...

Realism: The ‘kind’ of reality produced by a media text

Mediation: The process whereby media texts select and construct the world through different techniques

Documentary encodes versions of reality that are mediated into our individual context. Realism is a term that does not always apply to what is actually real, but to degrees of realism and audiences’ expectations of reality.

Documentary Modes of Representation

In “Representing Reality, Issues...