SHEP Analysis

Social:

Historical:

Economical:
The economical issue of poverty amongst the poorer is raised also the issue of the economical gap between the rich and poor and how it is increasing.
Political:
The political issue of freedom and human rights in raised in Apocalypto. Mayan Kingdom taking Jaguar Paw's village as slaves replicates the doings of the Slave Trade where the Whites took the Blacks from their native land(Africa) and forced them to work as slaves.

Media Representation

There are many different representations in Apocalypto. Starting off with the most obvious representation the hero, Jaguar Paw. He is represented as the hero due to the frequent shots of him battling to save the village. In one particular scene he puts his family in a hole and says "I will be back to save you" That one scene alone set him up as the hero. Jaguar Paw is also set up as the hero because the story follows his troubles more than anyone elses. It focuses on his escape from the rivals and also focuses on his family.

The Mayan Kingdom are set up as the evil from the start when they invade the village and brutally batter the Jaguar Paw's peaceful village. The long shots of the Mayan Kingdom dragging women from their loved ones whilst they are crying also set them up as the villians. One scene in particular where they slit Jaguar Paw's father throat infront of him and laugh show also sets them up.

Jaguar Paw's villagers are represented as the innocent people. This is set up by the scene where they are taken across the jungle tied up against wood and beaten along the way. This represents them as harmless and innocent.

BBC Review of Apocalypto

Apocalypto, Mel Gibson's follow up to the astonishingly successful Passion Of The Christ, is much in the same vein, complete with obscure subtitled language (Yucatec replacing Aramiac) and lashings of ultraviolence. Set in the dying days of the Mayan civilisation, the film follows a young village warrior (Rudy Youngblood) on a frantic jungle chase, pursued by grumpy hunters bent on a spot of human sacrifice.

While the ancient dialects and weighty quotations suggest an arthouse epic, Apocalypto is basically a really good period popcorn flick: Last of The Mohicans meets First Blood, or maybe Passion of the Christ II: The Mayan Adventure. Gibson might consider himself an auteur, but Apocalypto shows us his true nature: he is a hack to his fingertips, and this is hackwork of the very highest order, full of pleasantly familiar cliches (waterfall jump, quicksand, poison darts) and delightfully unnecessary sadism. Violence, it seems, is the only thing that gets Gibson's creative motor running; his epic vistas are squandered with dull framing, and the most original shot in the film is a point-of-view from a freshly severed head (this is not a movie for the squeamish).

"OUTRAGEOUSLY ENTERTAINING"

The first hour, with its emphasis on suffering and high production values, is a bit of a trudge because Gibson - a master of overstatement - is never content to tickle your senses when he can boot you in the crotch. However, once the actual chase gets going, Apocalypto is outrageously entertaininng and thrillingly kinetic. The camera barely stops for breath and the actors, all indigenous Americans, are universally first-class. It makes you wonder how good Passion would have been if Christ had escaped from the cross and led the Romans on a wacky race around Jerusalem, dropping miraculous oil puddles and spike nets into their path.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/01/01/apocalypto_2006_review.shtml

Apocalypto Sales Information

Theatrical Performance
Total US Gross
$50,866,635
International Gross
$66,918,416
Worldwide Gross
$117,785,051

Home Market Performance
US DVD Sales:
$48,983,977

Narrative

Apocalypto is a linear narrative text as it is chronological order. The linear narrative is there to set up heroes and villians. This done in various ways for example, the order in which the events happen set up the heroes and villians from when the residents are taken from the area within the jungle and are represented as innocent people. The frequent shots of Jaguar Paw insist that he is the hero. Whereas, the brutal beating that is given by the opposing clan represent them as evil. Therefore, there is a clear line between good and evil in this movie and that scene alone represented who is represented as what.

Within the movie the constant use of dramatic sound's add to the entertainment keeping the primary audience on the edge. For example, when Jaguar Paw is running through the jungle the constant stop and starts of loud action music adds to the entertainment. This is similar to the editing. In the same scene the constant quick cuts add to the anticipation of whether he will get to the other side.

Media Audiences

The age for the primary target audience of Apocalypto would be 18-40. The reason as to why I said that age bracket is firstly due to the age rating of the text which is 18. That instantly tells us that the movie is for anyone above 18. The social class of the primary target audience would be all social classes from C2 - E. The reason for this social class bracket is because they can relate to the struggle the people within the text are having to withstand. Although they do not live under the same circumstances they can still relate to movie. For example, estates are targeted in Britain as the slums, this is the same with Jaguar Paw's area as they are targeted by the higher class people and their area is seen as the slums therefore, it is taken over.

Media Audiences

Media Institutions

The institutions for Apocalypto are:

• Icon Productions
• Touchstone

Apocalypto was produced by Icon Productions which is owned by Mel Gibson. Icon Productions is renowned for its Action and Drama texts such as, 187, Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ. This lead to Apocalypto being shaped into a stereotypical Action/Drama text. Although there were new conventions which were implemented into the text, majority of the text used generic conventions from its predecessors.

Apocalypto was distributed by 3 different institutions. Icon Productions distributed the movie internationally whereas, Touchstone Pictures distributed the movie within the USA and 20th Century Fox distributed the movie within Argentina.

Independent Study

Title:
To what extent does Apocalypto follow the generic conventions of its predecessors in the Action genre?

Hypothesis:
The use of generic conventions in the Action genre has changed over time although, some movies such as 300 use similar generic conventions to those of its predecessors. The main reason for this investigation is to find whether Apocalypto has followed the generic conventions of its predecessors.

MIGRAIN Analysis of Apocalypto Trailer:
M-1- At the beginning the shot of the little girl helps the audience to acknowledge the lifestyle of the people within the movie.
2- The quick cuts and dark like music instantly help the audience to figure that the genre of Apocalypto is Action.
3- The shot of the man looking down on hundreds of people portrays him as the leader once again bringing up the idea of a patriarchy society.

I- 1- Touchstone Pictures
2 - Icon

G - 1- Action
2- Adventure
3- Drama

R - 1 - Males are represented as the leaders, for example, the birds eye view shot of the man looking over hundreds of people.
2- Women are represented as the carers and portrayed as weak and defenceless.

A - 1 - The primary audience of Apocalypto is seen to be Elder Teens around 18 to middle aged adults,40.

I- 1 - Patriarchy
2 - Feminism

N - Non-Linear narrative

Other Texts which would be relevant:
I will be relating Apocalypto to other texts that are similar. One of the texts that I will be relating it to is 300 other texts will be , 10,000 B.C.

Theories/Theorists:
A theory that I will be making a reference to is the Propp's Theory. I will be looking further for more theoriest and theories to include in my research that are relevant to help me along the way.

Where to and what to research:
To help me with my research I will be looking at websites and books about the action genre to understand the basic generic conventions used so that I can compare it to Apocalypto to help make my final judgement. The Internet will be best resource as many websites will contain the data needed.