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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Research Paper on Jackie Chan

Research Paper on Jackie Chan

I am analysing is a martial arts film called 'Jackie Chan's First Strike' starring Jackie Chan who plays himself. The plot of this film involves Chan who is a Hong Kong police officer who contracted by the CIA and Russian intelligence organisation to reclaim a stolen nuclear warhead, which is held by a rogue CIA agent. But is then framed for a murder he didn't committed and is forced to go on the run to clear his name and to complete his mission.

The sequence I have chosen to analyse is when Chan sneaks into an old theatre to plead to the family of the murder person of his innocence and the situation turns hostile.

The denotation of the chosen sequence in 'Jackie Chan's First Strike'

- Police car drives to the old theatre to drop of the family and a person is in a black car is observing
- Chan is also watching from a roof and sneaks into the theatre
- Chan pleads to the family and the family turns hostile and fight
- Once Chan sees he can't win he sits down
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The sequence starts off with an establishing shot of the theatre; this is done to introduce the audience to the next scene of the film. This shot lasts for a couple for a seconds and then there is a panning shot following a police car showing the presence of police around the area, who are after Chan. The camera then stops to show a medium close up of a person, showing the back of his head in a black car. This also shows the presence of CIA agents who are also after Chan and presents CIA agents as secretive. Then there is a low angle shot of Chan on a rooftop looking over the family of the murdered person. This camera shot portrays Chan as a strong person and the fact that he is on higher ground (a roof) emphasises he's strength. Chan is then seen sliding down the building using a tree; the camera uses a tracking movement on Chan from high angle camera shot to a medium long shot. This scene just suggests he is trying to sneak in the old theatre.

When Chan walks into the old theatre, the audience sees a point of view shot of him looking at the theatre sign and Chan walking towards the family. In this shot, there is a hand-held camera movement to show that Chan feels wary about confronting the family. When one member of the family recognises there is a close up of her distressed face. Throughout the conversation there are close ups switching from the one family member and Chan, this is done to see the facial expression of the characters and to create tension. Once the family turns hostile and the fighting sequence starts there is quick editing and also the film is speeded up to emphasis action. There are also zip pan camera movements following Chan and the objects he uses as weapons (mop, stick, ladder etc.) this also gives of the impression that to film is action packed. During the fighting sequence, Chan jumps for a ledge on a higher level of the theatre. Here there is a high angle camera shot of he hanging on the ledge, this makes Chan look vulnerable and in danger. At the end of the sequence, there is a medium close up on Chan' face to show that he this is a losing battle and seems to give up. The whole fighting sequence is speeded up emphases the action taking place.

The background music at the beginning of the sequence uses drums and percussion sounds at a low tempo, this creates tension for the events to come. When the fighting sequence begins the tempo of the background music increases also the volume of the music. This is done to make the sequence seem more dramatic and provokes the audience to watch the sequence.

The sound effects of the sequence are mostly used in the fighting sequence, the punching sounds and the contact in made is exaggerated. This makes the sequence more dramatic. Also the exaggerated breathing makes the sequence more dramatic. The dialogue of this sequence is short and straight to the point like the film in general. The dialogue in this film doesn't play an important role in action films only the fighting sequences; the dialogue is used to continue the film's plot.

Jackie Chan's Character in 'Jackie Chan's First Strike' doesn't follow the stereotypical character codes of an action hero, although he does follow some of the character codes of an action hero. There are a variety of different areas, which show that Jackie Chan is not the typical action hero.

Chan is cautious, honourable and only uses violence whenever necessary but complies with the stereotypical action hero by being cool-headed.

Chan wears a yellow and black skiing gear, the clothing wore here is bright and is unordinary to wear at this in Australia. The clothes Chan wears in this sequence suggests Chan is a vibrant person and a bit of a miss fit.

Chan's movement in this film is cautious and anxious. This shows Chan to be a reasonable person. Chan's movement differs from stereotypical character codes of an action hero because typical action heroes' movement promotes them to be strong and fearless unlike like Chan.

Chan's tone of voice is moderate; by Chan holding his hands up in peace towards the family shows this. Chan's tone of voice challenges the stereotypical character codes of an Action hero because most action heroes have deep, strong voices which emphasises their strength as a hero, Chan does the opposite.

The technical codes and the character codes in any film determine the representational codes of the film. From the technical codes and the character codes I can comprehend certain character codes form the film:

- Chan is the protagonist, framed for murder
- The plot involves the police and CIA
- It is a martial arts action film
- Involves a conflict between Police/CIA and chan

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