Tanner Otto
Professor Lee Gullickson
English 120
13 September 2013
Genre Awareness
Abstract
To find out what characteristics define an action movie and whether or not they hold true for all action movies, I decided to do some research using the internet. After looking at multiple movie posters I noted the similar characteristics between them all. When confronted with the similarities I further analyzed the posters and tried to determine what the reasoning behind the similarities was. Finally, I deciphered the reason behind them and made a decision on whether or not certain characteristics are present in all action movies.
Introduction
Action movies have been around since movies were first created. The visual effects and the actors have changed, but the feel is the same. When describing an action movie the average person thinks of guns, cars, explosions, violence and big action-star names such as Jason Statham. These are stereotypes of the action movie genre. These same stereotypical aspects, among others, are showcased in the posters. My aim for this report is to look at different movie posters of the same genre and look for common themes and elements between them and decipher the meanings and purpose.
Methodology
To find examples of movie posters I began my research by using google to search for images of known action movies. The first search was for the Expendables 2 poster. When looking at the results I saw that one poster was more frequent than the others and had a movie release date. I then cross-checked that movie poster with trusted sites such as imdb.com or fandango.com. These websites have credibility because they have expansive archives of movies and all submissions to the website are reviewed by professionals before being posted. The second poster I google searched was for the Avengers. With the Avengers I used the same process as the Expendables 2, after seeing the most common poster for the movie I checked imdb.com. The posters matched from the search and the website. After checking imdb.com I found another online database at themoviedb.org. The same poster was listed for Avengers. Themoviedb.org is credible because its web address ends with “.org” which means that it is a website for an official organization. For my third poster I used google to find images of the Resident Evil poster I believed was an official poster. After choosing one, I did further research using imdb.com and widescreenwarrior.com. They both confirmed the same poster as an official poster of the movie. Both of these websites are credible because they have vast movie databases and have multiple movie reviews from fans and experts.
Results
Avengers The Avengers poster consists of the six heroes and Nick Fury in the foreground. Iron Man is the character most prominent in the poster. He is wearing his red and gold Iron Man suit without the helmet. He is in an action pose with his left hand extended. Thor is the second most prominent and to the right of Iron man. He is standing, looking off to the right. He is wearing a grey suit, wearing his red cape, and holding his hammer in his left hand. Hawkeye is the third and he is to the left of the centered Iron Man. He is standing looking up in an alert position. He is wearing all black pants with a black vest. He is also holding his drawn bow. Black Widow is next, she is to the right of Iron Man and to the left of Thor. She is wearing an all-black jumpsuit with her red hair flowing. She is holding her pistol in her left hand. Captain America follows Black Widow and is located between Black Widow and Thor. He is wearing his traditional blue jump suit with an American flag mid-section. He is holding his shield in his left hand. The shield has a blue and red circle and a white star in the center. Captain America is a little more elevated than the other three. Nick Fury is next and is in between Iron Man and Black Widow. He is wearing a black trench coat and has a black eye patch on his right eye. He has his gun drawn in front of him. Last is The Hulk who is straight behind Hawkeye. The Hulk is in a fighting position and is wearing purple shorts. The text in all of the posters are written in either white or light blue. All the text except for the words, “Avengers”, and “May 4”, is small. At the top of the poster all the first and last names of the actors are listed. In the bottom sixth of the poster all the other names of people who contributed to the film are listed. The poster is also advertising for 3D, 3D realD, and 3D IMAX here. The word, “Marvel”, is the only word not in white, it’s in red. The entire background of the poster is covered in a dark bluish-grayish coating except the explosions. The explosions are a vibrant red and orange. The background picture is of the destroyed New York City. The destroyed back ground has the Avengers standing in the middle of a street and sky scrapers on both sides. In the very back toward the top of the poster there is a beam of light coming from STARK industries tower. Also in the sky is a smoking plane that has flames coming from its right wing. There is an explosion in the middle of the right sky scraper. There are smoke trails leading to the explosions. Lastly, there are sparks throughout the entire poster.

Expendables 2 The poster is a picture of Sylvester Stallone in the middle surrounded by the other Expendables. To his right, in order of left to right, is Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Jean Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, and Bruce Willis. To his left, in order of right to left, is Terry Crews, Liam Hemsworth, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, and Jet Li. They are engulfed in flames and explosions. Sylvester Stallone is dressed for combat holding two pistols. Dolph Lundgren is holding a large knife. Bruce Willis, Jean Claude Van Damme, Terry Crews and Jet Li are holding assault rifles. The color of the background is red and orange from the explosions, flames, and debris. The words “Expendables 2”, (fig. 2) and “BACK FOR WAR” (fig. 2), are in white and are in the military letters that are spray painted on. They are small and located at the bottom-center of the poster.
Resident Evil Mila Jovovich is in the foreground of the poster. She is the main focus of the poster. Her clothes are all black and made of leather. She is holding a white pistol in her right hand and a SMG in her left hand. The text in the poster consists of the title of the movie, Mila Jovovich’s name, and the phrase “The Ultimate Battle Begins” (fig 1.). The phrase is located at the top center of the poster. It is written in black. Mila’s name is at the bottom center of the poster written in black as well. The Title of the film is written below Mila’s name in red. 3D is advertised at the bottom of the poster in black bold print. The background of the poster is of a major sea battle. She is in the middle of what seems to be a river separating two cities. There is land on the left and right and a bridge raised in between. The entire background is coated in a dull grey except for the explosions. There is an explosion on a sinking boat to the left of Mila. There is also a church on fire and an aircraft firing a round on the left. In the dull, grey sky there are many aircrafts. They look like a regular airplane except they have rotors on top of the left and right wings and do not have a tail end. Lastly, there is a glow all around Mila in the middle of the poster.
Discussion
Overall, the action genre is pretty predictable. The events and outcomes of action movies are almost always exactly what you expect. The movie posters details are no exception, almost all posters contain similar details. They contain traditional action elements such as weapons, explosions and violence. Another common theme among action movie posters is the focus of the poster. In all the movie posters I have picked the protagonist(s) or main character(s) are the main focus. The characters are the first thing your eye is drawn to. They stick out because all of the backgrounds in the posters are dull, solid colors. In addition to these action movies are also more likely to be shown in 3D than other genres of film. The 3D gives viewers a more intense experience by involving them more in the film. The 3D gives viewers a greater adrenaline rush and makes the experience seem more extreme which is exactly what the film is intended to accomplish. Expendables 2 is a typical action poster. It has a solid-orange colored background. All of the main characters are featured in the center of the poster. They are what the eye supposed to see first. All of the characters on the front also have weapons in their hands. The entire background is made of flames. All of these characteristics are common among action posters and movies. Expendables 2 is the definition of an action movie. Avengers also has multiple common characteristics of an action movie poster. There are explosions on the buildings, there are weapons being used by multiple heroes, and they all are about to fight. Avengers has the big three features of an action movie. The positioning of the avengers and the focus of the poster are the same as Expendables 2. Resident Evil has all the same attributes as the other two. She is holding a pistol and a SMG in the center of the poster. When you first look at it, the eye is drawn to her. Behind her there are boats and planes on fire or exploding. Basically, anything that would cause an adrenaline rush is on the cover of the poster. The text of each movie is also similar. I have noticed that all of the posters have small print and it is very discrete. The names of the actors on every movie are displayed in small, plain print toward the top or the bottom of the posters. This is to force the eye to focus on the character. Another common element is the use of a catch phrase. On Resident Evil the poster reads, “The Ultimate Battle Begins” (fig.1), this is a catch phrase that alludes to action and makes the viewer want to watch the movie and see the “Ultimate Battle”. Expendables 2 also has a catch phrase. The phrase, “BACK FOR WAR” (fig. 2), is displayed at the bottom of the poster. This hints at the movie has a war. A war is the most action-filled event that can occur. Viewers want to see the new war. As a final point, all of these movies can be considered to be of the genre action. They may all be action movies, but they also have sub-genres. An example would be that Resident Evil is also part horror. There is a lot of blood and scary images. Avengers is also action, but can be considered an adventure movie too. Expendables 2 is the exception, it is essentially only an action movie. Two posters have different sub-genres, but both of their posters have the same elements and are constructed the same way. They all have the same stereotypical characteristics I listed before.
Conclusion
In the end, I discovered that action movies are very stereotypical and don’t change very much from film to film. I made this discovery using google images to compare multiple different action posters. I started to notice similar characteristics that all the posters had in common. They had components like guns, explosions, violence, small lettering, plain background and the main characters were the focus of the posters. The question I wanted to know is what characteristics define an action movie and do they hold true for all action movies? My research shows that every action movie has to have specific aspects and it doesn’t vary from film to film. They can have many different sub-genres, but they still have to contain the same aspects that make them action movies.

Works Cited Screen Gems. Movie Poster. Resident Evil Retribution. 2012. Print. Lionsgate. Movie Poster. Expendables 2. 2012. Print. Walt Disney Studios. Movie Poster. Avengers. 2012. Print.

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