War Genre - Codes and Conventions

Firstly war films need to have some sort of conflict scenes. An example of this would be in Jarhead when the soldiers are attacking the enemies there is explosions going off everywhere and they get shot at by jet fighters. If the film does not have any real battles scenes then the tradgedies and results of war can be shown in the film instead. An example of this would be MASH where although no fighting is seen, many injured and dead soldiers are seen in the camp. Jarhead is also an example of this when the soldiers are walking in the desert they find a mass of burnt people along a road. Most war films also have a soundtrack to fit in with the film. These peices of music are usually quite slow and meaningful to help the audience connect with the film. Another convention used in war films is the emphasis on masculinity. good examples of this would be both in Jarhead and MASH. In Jarhead the soldiers are frequently talking about girlfriends and wanting to go and fight however this film also shows more of a sensitive side to the soldiers like Fergus who seems quite weak and Troy who tries to look out for the rest of the squad.

Todorov's Narrative Theory

A film which does follow Todorov's narrative theory is Avatar. This movie starts with an equilibrium where the character Jake is arriving on the alien planet. For a while everything seems fine however a distruption to this equilibrium happens when the humans set out to destroy the native species and Jake is left to decide who he will stand with. The recognition of this distruption could be when one of Jake's friends is killed as he has chosen to help the native species of the planet. the attempt to repair this distruption is when both sides have a great battle where in the end Jake and the natives win. This then leads to the reinstatment of equilibrium as Jake and his friends have won the battle where the humans are sent back home.


A film that doesnt follow Todorov's theory is Paranormal activity 2. This does start with an equilibrium where everything is fine in the characters household. The distruption is when the paranormal happenings begin. There is an attempt to solve this distruption when the characters try to cast out the demon but this ends in failure as a few weeks later some of the characters are killed by this demon. There is no reinstatement to equilibrium as the film ends when the possesed sister of the woman in the house kills the two of the characters and walks out with their baby. The film ends with us not knowing what will happen to the woman and baby and we do not get all the answers we want.