Codes & Conventions Table

Conventional Element	How is it used in Action/Adventure films?
Protagonist	Protagonist (good guy) is usually good looking, athletic and fights for good. Against the odd, the protagonist saves the day by defeating villains, Saving the leading lady and making the world a better place.
Antagonist	The antagonist (villain) is often rich, powerful and a criminal. The villain is often ugly compared to the action Adventure hero and physically less impressive, needing henchmen to do most of their evil deed for them. The villain is more commonly from a non-western country (Russia, Middle Eastern and Chinese are favourites).  The antagonist usually wants to do something evil, taking over the world, stealing large amount of money, hurting and even killing innocent people and appears almost impossible to defeat.
Other characters	The leading ladies: Is usually beautiful and falls in love with the Action Adventure hero. For a long time the leading lady was in the film to look good, be rescued by the hero and provide him with somebody to seduce through the film. The Sidekick: The sidekick usually is a more humorous character who is less athletic and handsome than the protagonist. Sidekick are more likely to be foreign, children, female or even a robot than the male Action Adventure hero. The sidekick is often in the film to make the audience laugh. They usually bumble their way through the film, only helping the hero by accident.
Plot	Action Adventure stories are usually the hero (protagonist) is usually on a journey or quest in search of something or someone. He has to complete a range of tasks / challenges before the end and usually appears victorious.
Locations	Action Adventure films shoot scenes in some exotic or far away locations that most people would have never visited. This makes the films more attractive as the audiences can see countries that they will never probably see in real life.
Soundtrack	In Action Adventure film, a mixture of digestic sound and non-digestic sound is used to accompany or emphasise the action. During action scene, music is usually played throughout, which tends to be fast paced if in a chase scene. Music can also change to emphasise any big stunts that are just happened to make them look greater than they already are… Sound that sound diegetic may actually have been added later or amplified to sound greater. For example, gun shots that you hear in the scene may be added later as it is very rare that real loaded guns are used whilst filming.
Camera	The way the camera is used in an action/adventure usually compliments what you’re seeing and also helps to create the atmosphere that the director wants at the same time.  For example, in a chase scene, a wide range of different camera angles and positions along with movements are used to put you into the action  Below are the different types of camera angles and movements and when they will be tend to be used. Read more? Go to camera shots.
Mise-en-Scene	Mise-en-scene is anything you can see in the camera shot, wherever the scene is shot. This can help the audience know who is who in the film. Mise-en-scene helps the audience by showing what the characters look like, where the setting of the film is placed, and any props that the film has used.  Read more? Go to Mise en Scene.
Editing	Editing in Action/Adventure movies doesn't tend to use any fancy effects. Instead they tend to use straight cut editing, so the viewer doesn't get distracted by any special editing effects, and instead should focus on the actual action that is taking place. The editing also tends to be quite fast if a big scene is taking place, most likely a chase scene. This makes the audience feel more involved with the chase as the editing makes use of the different camera angles that are made available. Read more? Go to Editing techniques.
Other?	Special effects and graphics are used in nearly all movies, even if it isn't an important part of the movie. All movies at least display the cast using graphics at the start and end of the movie. Over the years, action/adventure movies have relied more on great stunts to please cinema-goers who expect more from their movies these days. Film companies try to outdo their rivals by creating even bigger stunts or special effects to make their movies better.