Codes and Conventions of an Action Trailer

The Expendables 3 

The Expendables 3 - Theatrical Trailer from Finch on Vimeo.

There are many codes and conventions found in action films. This is because there are many things that make up a classic action film and the director/creator of the trailer wants to showcase as many of these things to action film fans to show to prove that they should see the film. They put in as many explosions, guns and adrenaline as they possibly can, therefore meaning that they get the audience to want to see the movie and giving the audience a taste for what is to come in the actual film.

The film itself has a rating of 12 where as the previous two films have been a 15, this is probably trying to increase the youth ratings of the film, but the fact that the rating has gone down could imply to fans of the trilogy that there is less action and violence than there was previously, therefore making them not want to go and see it. This is shown to be true by the fact that the 3rd movie made $206 million globally compared to $305 million (Expendables 2) and $274 million (Expendables). This has blamed on the lowering of the age rating but there is a Blu-Ray and DVD extended cut available which has been rated a 15.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sylvester-Stallone-Finally-Admits-Expendables-Made-Huge-Mistake-68375.html 

There is also a clear chain of events that the trailer and, most likely the film, follow the classic 3 part Hollywood narrative structure. There is a beginning middle and end. There is also a predictable change of events. This makes sure that the story is easy to follow so that there is more room for explosions and fighting.

Another convention that this trailer follows is that there is a romantic sub-plot. Sylvester Stallone's character is attracted to the girl that he sees beat someone up in a club (pictured). This is included to make sure that there is a "Damsel in Distress" or the "Princess" as said by Propp, this makes for a more dramatic story-line.
There are also lots of humorous one liners such as "How hard is it to kill 10 men?" which is ironic as then there are explosions and everyone knows that it will end up being very hard to kill 10 men. This means that there is not just explosion after explosion. Most of the one-liners could be classed as "Classic guy humor" which appeals to that audience.


There is also a lot of CGI effects such as the helicopter, this is another convention of an action film trailer. The use of CGI effects have made action films more spectacular and has increased the production value of the film.

There is also dramatic non-digetic music in the background. This adds tension and makes the whole trailer a lot more dramatic, this implies to the audience that there will be a lot of drama and loud noise. This is another convention of an action movie.

There is also Star marketing, naming all of the big stars that are going to be featured in the film, this is to lure fans of actors to watch the film. Also the audience could think that as there are lots of big Hollywood action star names that the movie is going to be good.


The title of the film isn't shown to the audience to keep them them guessing what the film is throughout the trailer. It also makes sure that it is one of the last things that the audience sees making it stick in their brain. In The Expendables III the title of the film isn't shown until 1.59 minutes leaving only a couple of clips after it.

Furthermore in the trailer the audience are shown a lot of different action sequences such as people jumping on to helicopters to buildings blowing up. This is because the director wants to showcase as much of the explosions and action as possible to entice action fans to see the film.

The music for the trailer is very upbeat and adrenaline filled. The fact that the song is a rock songs implies the audience that the target audience is not the people who also like rock music. The use of the upbeat song also add to the intense nature of the trailer.

The trailer is very faced paced this is probably due to the fact that the film is also. The film has lots of short shots edited together quickly in order to make the action sequence more extraordinary. This is an example of one of the many fight scenes in the film. It is edited in a very similar way to the trailer.
. The voice over of the trailer is that of the actors. This means that the audience get a better idea of the story-line and they get to hear some of the "one-liners" and get a better idea of who the characters are.

The information that the last frame of the trailer tells the audience the website, the hashtag and the directors, story-writers, directors and the social networking links for the movie. This is so that if the audience can know where to find the more information about the movie.

This trailer would most likely be shown before other action movies of the same or higher age rating as this would be the target audience. It would also probably be shown in advert breaks of TV shows such as Arrow or Empire as these are from some sort of action genre meaning that they would have the same audience, also as they are shown after 9 the trailer would be able to be shown as it isn't suitable for young audiences.