Textual Analysis - Avengers: Age Of Ultron

The film Avengers - Age Of Ultron is when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) jump-starts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go terribly awry, forcing him, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and the rest of the Avengers to reassemble. As the fate of Earth hangs in the balance, the team is put to the ultimate test as they battle Ultron, a technological terror hell-bent on human extinction. Along the way, they encounter two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. It came out April 23rd 2015 and is made by Marvel. It was a success with an opening weekend of $191,271,109 (USA) (1st May 2015.) The film itself is part of a franchise and is the second film in the series.

Right at the start of the opening you have the Marvel logo which is a series of fast paced comic stripes containing classic heroes from the other Marvel comics or films. With the opening credits being fast paced it could protray the pace at which the opening sequence will be at or the action scenes themselves.

In the first scene the audience see what is known as Loki's sceptre, as it appears in the frame a chiming sound is in the background as if to connote it's power. The lighting in the shot itself is very dark, the only light is coming from the core of the sceptre with a bright blue eye catching glow that is almost like a pulse. As it is the first thing we see we can only assume that it is the focus of the quest and whatever is about to happen is because of it. Interrupting the chimes is a loud sirens "we're under attack', digetic sound followed by panicking of people rushing for guns which is a Iconography of an action film. It cut to a point of view shot of someone behind a man in a dark military uniform holding a gun an the camera is shaking as it moves forward, a handheld shot, this makes the scene more dramatic and it makes the audience feel a part of the action. The lighting in the shot is very dark with only little light coming from in front of them makes the setting feel like they're underground and enclosed making it all seem very mysterious and tense. It then jump cuts to an outside scene with explosions (digetic sound.)

This scene definitely portrays the action genre,  a fight scene is a typical event in an action film and in this case the Avengers enter in on a heavily armoured car or in some cases flying into the frame which digetic sound of gun shots, explosions, engines and lasers (digetic sound.) As the fight scene occurs the shots get faster and faster keeping the audience gripped and on to the edge of their seats. There is currently two strands, as we have the Avengers fighting to get to the sceptre but also people trying to secure Loki's spectre, these strands intertwine with each other as the spectre is the reason the Avengers are there fighting. Also, the sirens have faded to the background and the roar of engines have over took followed by an intense orchestral soundtrack that swells up with the mode of the action but also fades out whenever the Avengers speak which shows that what they're saying is important and it makes the audience focus on their dialogue. At the beginning of the fight scene the camera doesn't cut between shot but follows the Avengers in one long continuous take swapping between the characters which is also known as a tracking shot that moves between angles such as high or low angles, medium long shots but doesn't go into a close up as that means that the audience can't see the action thats going on around the character. A tracking shot to go on for this long is rarely done but only done is a film with a large budget and the equipment to do so would be very expensive. Along side the roaring of the vehicles and the shouting you can hear the impacts of Thor landing but also the impact as he hits someone with a plank of wood which would of been added in later as they wouldn't of been able to get that sound when filming also, you can hear a futuristic sound as some villains in flying suits simile to iron man's come into the frame which would be digetic sound however, the sound itself isn't man made as the sound would of had to be made by a computer to make it futuristic.

Thor himself stands out a lot compared to the setting which is dark and grey whereas, Thor is wearing a red cape which is a typical thing for a super hero to wear but also make shim eye catching against the dark setting. Thor would be seen as the stereotypical male figure which is muscle clearing showing which would definitly appeal to the female audience (male gaze), but it also shows his strength and power which is seen as typical for the protagonist/ hero type. thor also has the blonde hair and white skin almost the perfect hero as it's not as common to have a forgien or black protagonist they are ususally seen as the villians in actions films. 
When you first see Captain America he dressed in dark clothing matching the background, driving on his motorbike which dragging someone along and for me if i hadn't of known that the character was a protagonist before hand I would of questioned it as it's seen that people who drive motorbikes are mainly seen as trouble and he was dragging someone along with him which seemed cruel and the hero is meant to show mercy and goodness.



After a massive, continuious tracking shot full of action you get a slow motion shot and it contains all of the Avengers jumping over the barrier in style and still looking amazing and powerful It gives the audience time to admire them and take what has just happen but to  almost have a "wow" moment as the film goes "that's right we're amazing", this is typical of an action film. During this shot the soundtrack isn't as loud and not as intense. In this shot the incredible hulks is the main focus with all the other Avengers in the background. As he comes into the frame with his fist in the air, you hear his mighty roar which starts up the fast pace again going straight back into the fight scene, lighting up the intense soundtrack and explosions once again with Thor's lightening flying past the camera. From the scene it is also clear that they are in a snowy, remote location which is typically the perfect place for some kind of secret base or hiding spot.

Another thing we can see in this scene is Marvel challenging a stereotype. Now women are usually seen as the damsel in distress, always needs saving and is too weak to be in the fight scene but in this scene we have a female, main character called Black Widow, she is part of the Avengers group who doesn't need any powers or suits like most of the men in the Avengers but all she needs is strength, skills and speed on her side.

The target audience for this film is 12A and i feel that is appropriate because there's not much blood within the scenes however, there is some violence and mild language but the film is mainly about the Avengers working as a team to solve the problems at hand and save people which is what heroes do but also the film targets a young audience as it's the young audience that go out and buy the merchandise (a.k.a get their parents to) which is part of the post-production ad the younger audiences look up to these heroes as role models.