Explain two ways the characters and/or events in the extract fit the action adventure genre. (Master and Commander)

In this scene an intense action sequence unfolds between two opposing ships,  there is a battle taking part in the clip. The theme of war and fighting is a common theme found in the action adventure genre. There is also a significant use of weapons during the sequence, the key weapon used in this scene is cannons, this shows that they are willing to cause harm to other people as they are using a deadly weapon or as a defence to protect themselves. All of the characters in this scene are pirates, known for their fighting and battles with each other, this is a convention of classic action-adventure films and books. The underlying theme of this film has a slightly more historical context than other action adventure films, e.g. The Amazing Spiderman, that have more fantasy themes displayed throughout. This again is another classic convention of action-adventure films and books from years ago when there was a focus and interest in books about pirates set in the classic fictional world of storybook adventures. The protagonist is the pirate shown at the beginning of the clip, he is positioned higher than the others and watching over them as the chaos plays out, this communicates to the audience that he is of a high position, maybe the person in charge, and different from the rest of the pirates because if he was like them then he would be amongst the chaos and taking part just like them from the beginning of the clip. A common convention of action-adventure films is the use of a protagonist, they have the qualities that allow them to take charge in difficult situations while remaining calm, they are normally intelligent and have a high level of tolerance when in tough situations or in danger. The other pirates in the clip are also a key convention of the genre as although they may not have a key part in the storyline they are helping the protagonist to achieve his goal of defeating the opposition, in this clip the other pirates are helping by firing the cannons at the enemy in order to win the battle.

3) Discuss the ways in which people are represented in the extract. (Hurt Locker)

In this clip there are a series of different stereotypes used when representing the different characters. The first key stereotype is the gender of the soldiers, all of the soldiers are male. Gender stereotypes have become a big issue in recent years and there is a push for females to be accepted in roles that were previously considered to be a 'man's job'. Despite the changes in reality there is still the issue of sexism and the media tends to follow the idea of stereotypes in different forms. In this clip there isn't a female soldier present, this is promoting the stereotype that soldiers are male. Also another use of the gender stereotype is the use of a male protagonist. For years the protagonist in films was always a male that held strong, confident and boastful qualities, this is a classic use of gender stereotypes. Recently, a number of films have created a female protagonist or in some cases a strong female sidekick. However, in this film the sidekick is male as well and the only females present in this clip are extras with no spoken dialogue. Another stereotype in this clip is the terrorist stereotype. This has developed over many years but key events in recent history have linked particular people to the terrorist label. The suicide bomber in this clip is of a different race and speaks a foreign language to the soldiers, this is a part of the criteria that comes with this stereotype. Terrorist stereotypes are upsetting and offensive as the media places the label on a certain group of people that is unfair and not necessarily true. Stereotypes can be dangerous but it is something that the media chooses to emphasise in different forms.