Mise-En-Scene In Action Films Opening Sequences
One main aspect of mise-en-scene in action films is that it is mainly about cars. This is how these types of films gain their pre-sold audience because they use cars that people like and want to see and they use these cars to draw in these people's attention to try to make them watch the film. Usually, the car ends up exploding, which draws in more pre-sold audience because of the excitement gained from these explosions.
Another main aspect is that they usually also involve guns, which cause more drama, which then draws in more pre-sold audience because they will enjoy the action caused by the guns because it causes two possible outcomes; the main character could get injured or die, or normally the main character gets injured and then kills everyone. All this is caused from the weapons that are selected in production and filming. Also the choice of weapon can change the genre of the action film for instance, if ninja stars are used it makes the film more of a kung-fu film and if machine guns are used it implies a more war type setting.
In action films the location of the footage plays a major part. If the film is set all in a countryside it will be quite boring but nowadays they are set in 2 different locations; a hot country and then a main city. This is evident in 'Transformers' where it is set in Sam Witwicky's home town Los Angeles and the exotic country Cambodia.
The clothing worn by the characters implies the amount of action that has occurred during the film, also it allows the audience to relate to how much damage has occurred when people are wearing ripped shirts. The clothing also sets the time period of when the film is set for instance; if they are wearing canvas doublet, breeches, knitted caps, cotton waistcoats, stockings and linen shirts it would obviously be around 1485 like 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.
The lighting used can suggest the characters role such as a villain would be heavily shadowed or veiled, by using silhouette. Whereas, the hero or main character would have under-lighting, which would make them look less evil because they wouldn't have a large shadow or they would have a spotlight behind them to make it look like the light was shining from them, which makes them look more heroic and angelic, so therefore less evil.
