Analyse the iconography, conventions and audience expectations (Grant, Essay - 2

Analyse the iconography, conventions and audience expectations (Grant, 2007) of one film genre & assess how (and if) they have changed over time - Essay Example Generally, the film ends with the hero who is the embodiment of goodness and morality triumphing over the villain and more often than not â€Å"getting the girl†. The action film genre undoubtedly consists of some of the most popular and universally watched films and most people irrespective of their age have an action film or hero they admire. The older generation is likely to associate and relate to retrospective stars such as John Wayne and Chuck Norris while the youths may find action to be synonymous with contemporary actors such as The Rock and the recently deceased Paul Walker. Given the complex and fantastic plots involved, most action films are high budget and often require a great deal of CGI effects, which are gradually replacing, although not entirely the highly skilled actors and stuntmen from earlier films. The objective of this paper is to discuss the nature of action films today paying particular attention to the convections, iconography and audience expectatio ns, all which play a major role in defining and differentiation of the genre (Grant, 2007). In the west, popularly portrayed as the â€Å"wild west† by most artistic work of the time, the 20s and 30s were the foundational years for the action and adventure genre. These films were popularized by actors like Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn but the setting predominantly appeared to be a period ones (Marin, 1993). However, with time modern day action films such as the James Bond franchise gradually popularized acting in the present and in the 60s and 70s, although there were still many popular period films majority of the mainstream action were based on present day. The bond films that were among the most popular were characterized with fast action quick cutting vehicle chases hand-to-hand combat and comparatively complex action scenes and sequences. The James bond franchise set the trend for future action and thriller films and