Enter: Site Read - Ryan Mok

Things that I have found out/Differences between my films of study:

• ​In modern day action films today, they mostly seem to attentively focus or rely mainly on the main characters or protagonists' actions and the special effects (with the increase in technology) to convey dramatic or emotional effects or intensity.  (Protagonist vs. Antagonist)

• Also, we concentrate on how the protagonists are fighting, so much, as the camera and editing allows us to focus on every single one of their moves against their opponents, that we never pay attention to if they have actually succeeded, as in whether the protagonists have reached their target of killing or wounding or hurting their opponents are never fully shown, the consequence of their actions are never fully shown, as their opponents are never touched or focused upon by the camera or editing, nor do we care about them in this case, since we are all focused on the protagonists' actions.  (Protagonist vs. Antagonist)

• Because of this, we barely care what the outcome of the antagonist, villain or protagonist's opponents is, because these aren't conveyed as people who we should sympathize or empathize with, because once the protagonist hits his opponent, the camera easily and immediately moves away from the opponent so that we can never see him again, we can easily forget about him, nor do we see the actual consequence of the protagonist's actions if they have actually succeeded in fully defeating their opponent.  (Protagonist vs. Antagonist)

• Modern action day films portray the protagonist's opponents like, as long as they get hurt, we can assume that they are easily defeated in that fashion, showing how modern day action films portray the protagonist's opponents as very weak and forgettable (Binary Oppositions).  (Protagonist vs. Antagonist)

• Both the protagonist and antagonist in olden day action films have a fair share of amount of their action shown on screen, neither of them are more focused than the other.  (Protagonist vs. Antagonist)

• In olden day films, what makes them so significant, even to this day, is that they are action films that actually show the full consequence or at least show the audience more clearly what has happened to the protagonists' opponents, therefore audiences will know if the protagonists' have actually succeeded in their target against their opponents.

• In olden day films during around the mid 20th century, action films didn't have any special effects at that time (obviously).  (Special Effects and Technology and the use of visual and sound)

• The use of the slow-motion cinematic technique is a very common technique in action films, and this technique started being used even during the mid 20th century:  However, what is so different between modern day and olden day action films in terms of the use of slow-motion, is that modern day films mostly use slow-motion to portray awesomeness or just to basically make something look very cool and exaggerative.  In olden day films, they use slow-motion more for creating dramatic effects and conveying emotional intensity in the audience.  However, even some modern day films today use the slow-motion cinematic technique for this purpose too.  (Slow-Motion)

• Comparing between modern day action films and olden day action films, olden day films were kept simple but powerful enough to create meaning and effect in the audience, as they had a limited and minimal amount of technology available at that time so of course they wouldn't have special effects.  Whilst in modern day action films, again they are heavily dependent on the use of advanced editing to create meaning and effect in the audience, as they include a lot of special effects in the films.  (Special Effects and Technology and the use of visual and sound)

• All of these films are able to establish the nature, climate, weather and environment around them.  Not only do these films' major fight sequences (The conflict between the two factions of the local village in Yojimbo;  The Big Battles between the samurais and the bandits in Seven Samurai;  The Rooftop Fight Sequence between Neo and the machines;  The Civil War between the Pro-Registration and Anti-Registration Factions of Marvel Superheroes) establish the scene and expresse chaos and madness, but also shows the full scale of these battles and it shows how the directors of these film are looking for lots of scale and long depths-of-field in their shots.  Longer cuts of the shots (more present in Yojimbo and Seven Samurai), to really engage and make the audience feel as though they are a part of the battlefield itself, to allow the audience to emerge themselves into this new violent world, as though they are a part of it.  (Nature and Weather)

• The nature, climate, weather and environment helps to convey a sense of realism, to allow audiences to enter a new world, to amplify the environment and climate itself, to add to the tone and mood of the whole action sequences of the films, to create visions of horror, violence and expressive, hellish chaos.  Nature and the weather can also physically lend suppport to identifying, expressing and amplifying a character's emotions and feelings and actions by creating a physical after effect of the climate.  (Nature and Weather)

• Akira Kurosawa uses a variety of other editing techniques of his own style and creation such as cutting in motion, axial cut and image-sound counterpoint (in which this particular technique is also present in some other contemporary action films today).