Representation of Taken 

The representation of gender in Taken reinforces traditional gender stereotypes. Liam Neeson plays the stereotypical male American action hero. He is robust, brave and intelligent in trying to figure out where his daughter is kept hostage. From his incredible skills he manages to rescue his innocent daughter and is able to put an end to the group that took his daughter. These are typical qualities associated with men in action films. The female character in the trailer lacks strength and intelligence; this supports stereotypes. From this it shows that in terrible and dangerous situations, females are useless and vulnerable when it comes to surviving or saving someone. This is quite sexist and shows a bad representation of women but is very common in Hollywood action movies. The representation of Eastern- Europeans in Taken reinforces stereotypes. Albanian people are the human-traffickers in Taken also known as Eastern-Europeans. Stereotypes would think that Albanian people are heinous and vile because they acted as the antagonists and did bad things. In Hollywood films foreigners are also the villains to show that Americans are allows the protagonists and this movie clearly exhibits this by putting a bad example on Albanians and a good example on Americans. Stereotypes will comment on that by saying all Albanians are bad. This shows a bad representation towards Eastern-European but is typical in a Hollywood movie.

The central image dominates the whole film poster and relates to the narrative plot. I have noticed that most posters use the central image to link with their audience interests. I have focused on my hero and villain which is shown in the poster. The central image also includes of weapons to attract the people that are compelled in crime. the characters are back to back to show whose more superior. The Title in this poster is prominent and is placed underneath the waist of both characters, this makes the face and weapons visible to the audience showing their conflict and hatred. Beneath the title lays the tagline which is ' Would you seek revenge for your father '. This would question the audience and engage them to watch it and find the answer to it. The tagline will leave the audience speechless and excited to find the answer. Another key convention is the release date. The release date is situated below the tagline. The audience will immediately respond to the release date as that is the most effective convention in a poster which allows the audience to look forward to that day.       

My genre of my film is crime thriller but there is an element of the horror genre because the background looks dark and eerie. I have signified my genre using dark colours and weapons as they are commonly used in crime thriller films. The dark colours of the background portrays to my audience that this is a crime thriller because most crime films are set in dull places. looking at the poster, the audience will figure out who the protagonist (hero) and the antagonist(in this case its the murderer). Mostly every crime thriller film has a killer therefore, the target audience will know the genre by seeing the two characters. the formal and informal clothes suggests that one of them is a killer and the other is a hero. This is included in other films of the same genre.   

' The producers of Sin City ' is located at the top of the poster. This will draw more audiences that are interested in seeing a similar film as Sin City. The reviews will attract more audience as it has good positive views. one of the reviews was said by a well known actor named Liam Neeson. The audience will be encouraged to watch the film by Liam Neeson as he is amazing him self therefore, the reviews will sell the film much quicker from the positive audience towards this movie. The production company Dimension Films, is well known for its good crime movies so the audience can tell that this will be an amazing crime film following its production company's footsteps. 

There is synergy between my storyboard and the poster for example the main character in the central image is included in my storyboard. Another example is that the institutional logo is introduced first in my storyboard which shows it's very important during the trailer. I have also mentioned the tagline both in poster and storyboard. i have used it in two parts of the storyboard to create tension and suspense for the audience.It was vital for the release date to be both included in poster and storyboard because the audience would not know when to look forward too. The title is another synergy and is equally important to the release date because the audience would not be able to spread the word without knowing the name.

 BBC Bitesize page on the key concept of Representation 

I have left one of the characters face exposed to show the audience that the protagonist is Asian. This will come as surprise to the audience as they are not familiar with Asians being in a Hollywood film so people may expect something different than usual movies. The characters  are 18 or over which will attract more audience that 18 or over because they are more keened in watching movies that are the same age as them or older. The characters in this movie are equally matched between the genders therefore, the movie may attract the audience that both male and female.

Key Conventions

Title/Tagline/Stars-The Title is in a bold capital font. This catches the readers attention immediately because it is shown in a  different colour than the other conventions therefore, stands out to the reader when observed. The Tagline fills most of the film poster, this suggests that the reader should mainly focus on the tagline because it is bigger than the others. This shows that it's important in the poster and must be read. The main star is situated at the top of the poster. This exhibits that the audience will be intrigued by seeing his name in film poster. If the actor is well known, the audience will be more engaged in seeing the  movie. In this case 'Liam Neeson' is an amazing actor which show that having him in the poster will increase the number of audiences. Also would be great for the audience to watch a movie that includes Liam Neeson.
Central Image-The main character Liam Neeson is shown as the central image. This is useful as it will immediately attract the audience that are fond of this character. Liam Neeson is a well known actor and has played in other movies therefore, this will effect the audience by making them watch another movie of his because if one was good, the next movie will be even better. 




Iconography- The iconography that is shown in this movie is guns, car chases, fight scenes. Theses iconography might intrigue the audience by catching their interest in guns and fighting.

Stars- Liam Neeson is a well known actor and surprises his audiences with his amazing dialogues. The audience will be more excited for this movie seeing a very good actor.

Director- Pierre Morel is introduced at the end of the trailer. This will effect the audience by making them more interested in this movie because a brilliant director has directed this movie.
Pierre Morel has made successful film before. The audience will love to see another successful by him.

Setting- Taken is set in America. Most successful movies are set in america such as day after tomorrow. The audience will love to see a movie that his set in the same place they currently live in.



  

Taken

Genre: Action/Thriller 

Director: Pierre Morel

Main Character: Liam Neeson




Your chosen movie
I have chosen Taken 2.
I really liked the story line and the setting that takes place in the movie. 

Institutional background
The production company behind Taken are EuropaCorp, M6, Canal+ and RatPac-Dune Entertainment.
The distributor for the theatrical release of Taken was 20th Century Fox.


No brand loyalty
The genre that fits in to the movie Taken is Action Thriller.
Looking at the trailer, i saw explosions, car chases, gun shots, violence and fight scenes. all these Iconography fits perfectly well with the genre Action therefore, Taken fits in to a Action Thriller film.
The director of Taken is Pierre Morel which has done a couple of movies of the genre Action Thriller for an example the transporter. Also, the star Liam Neeson has participated in the movie Non-Stop which is a Action thriller genre.   

It’s all a matter of timing
The UK release date for Taken was 26 September 2008.
The first trailer that appeared on youtube was on March 15th 2009

It’s a social thing
Some of what the audience thought of the movie was: " the dialogue is functional at best", "is the big, dolorous Neeson who makes this movie a keeper" and "bareknuckle punch of an action movie". This shows that from the phenomenal reviews and the sneak peaks- the viewers found it thrilling to watch.  

Risky business
The original budget for the movie taken was $25,000,000 
In the opening weekend the movie earned £1,165,986 in the uk whereas, America earned $9,048 in the
opening weekend. Taken made $149,000,989 as total box-office earnings. (gross)
According to IMDB, Taken was a success as they got an enormous increase in the amount of money, considering the budget was $25,000,000.


Stars in their eyes
The director Pierre Morel has directed Transporter which is a action/thriller genre as well as the sequel transporter 2. From the movie transporter,(action/thriller) suggests he had experience therefore, shows he was a perfect director for taken.
The main star for Taken was Liam Neeson. 
Liam Neeson is an amazing actor and has stared in few movies that shown how brilliant his acting is. A movie that has the same genre of Taken(action/thriller) is Non-stop. A great movie that exhibits great acting from Liam Neeson.  
The main male actor is shown in the trailer and by using his name in the marketing of taken implies that that main male actor Liam Neeson is a well known and a famous person in the film industry.

NCIS Trailer analysis

Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them



Genre
Fantasy and Adventure

Narrative
Watching the trailer, the story line is distinctly shown to be a man that has a quest to defeat these horrible beasts that are terrorizing the world. This is a magical, creative narrative which fits the fantasy genre perfectly.
Character
The characters are a typical Hollywood fantasy. The main hero called Newt is a brave, determined man and is confident that he will collect all the beasts back in to his briefcase with the help of his friend. The friend is a confused, ordinary normal human being that is clueless of whats going on around New York.
Iconography
The disappearing, appearing at of no where,  the flamboyant colours to make magic, the shooting from a wand. All of these are a typical fantasy genre.
Setting 
In the trailer they mention the name Wizardry Community Of America. This tells me that the movie is located somewhere in America. The trailer also shows the men traveling to imaginary world full of
beasts; this links to the fantasy genre.

Avengers Assemble



Genre 
Action and Science-Fiction

Narrative 
The story line is clearly shown to be a group of Heroes that saves the world from evil machines that are destroying the city. The Heroes were trained to prevent that day from coming but unfortunately they did not aspect them to bring a whole army of machines. This is a tense, futuristic and dramatic narrative that fits in with the action genre.

Character 
The characters that are being shown in the trailer are a group of Heroes trying to stop the machines from annihilating the city.  One of the heroes called Captain America  is the team captain because he is robust, powerful, a team player and willing to risk his own life to safe his country. The other heroes in the group are also courageous and fearless. The typical Hollywood action villain are normally stronger and much more trained than the heroes. villains are commanding and authoritative over there people. We aspect the villain and heroes to be like that in a action movie.

Iconography
There are plenty of iconography typical of the action/sci-fi genre: fight scenes, lots of explosions, gunshots, technology, futurism, houses tumbling down, violence and flying aircraft and spaceships. All of these are typical action or sci-fi genres.

Setting 
Although the trailer is 2 minutes long, it has enormous buildings and Skyscrapers. The character Captain America is a super hero that protects America therefore, would be located in America. The off road action scenes suggests that there are different settings where the fighting takes place.

Dark Skies


Genre
Horror, Sci-Fi

Narrative
The story line is clearly shown to be a family that has been targeted by aliens from a different world. This trailer shows suspense, tension which fits into a horror genre very well.  Each family member gets possessed by these mysterious aliens that seek no interest with the parents but still are targeted.

Character
The Characters are a classic Hollywood horror- the main heroes - robust, fearless and willing to do anything to save her and his son. The boy is clueless, vulnerable and terrified; a male character that relies on his father's strength and courage in defeating these aliens. The villains show great fear upon family, another typical aspect  of a Hollywood horror.

Iconography
There is plenty of iconography representative of a Hollywood horror: blood, jump scares, aliens, scary woods, use of dark and light, disappearing and appearing out of now where. All of these are a typical horror or sci-fi genres - in connection with the narrative, we can assuredly this is a horror genre.

Setting 
In a horror genre, you normally see dark places which is correctly shown in this trailer. The main focal area where the most scenes are set in is the house. The house seems to be the most secure area to stay in when being haunted by aliens therefore, the most intense horror scenes were played in the house.

Magazine Cover

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