Jordan Komeh

How do we Analyse Film?

Genre is defined as the type/style that film fits into as there is different categories like horror, action and

comedy. However, the term ‘Genre Theory’ is also a meaning of a set of expectations that the audience

identify consistently in that type of film. One of the genre theorist named Nick Lacey’s “repertoire of

elements” includes five criteria’s that he follows in order to break down and come to a conclusion f what genre

the film belongs in.

methods of analysing areas of a film to fit into a specific genre. The way he had done this was by analysing the: Visual imagery/iconography

Style (technical/audio codes) Character/ Stars Setting Narrative development

Therefore, Nick Lacey has an idea of where the film is set. For example, if the film began with a pan shot on an

isolated house, he would have gained information about the setting also he would acknowledge that the film is

expected to be a horror. However, there is also another Genre Theorist named Daniel Chandler who also has a

similar genre theory in comparison to Nick Lacey’s. One of Daniel Chandler’s famous quote was ‘Defining genre

may be problematic, but even if theorists were to abandon the concept, in everyday life people would

continue to categorise movies.’ I strongly agree with this statement because us as humans we automatically

analyse films whilst spectating and we know how certain films are set and what to expect from that type of

movie as it includes similar conventions consistently. For example, if a film has high key lighting we instantly

have an idea that the film is a comedy as it creates an upbeat atmosphere.

Genre Example of film Genre Example of film

Horror

Thriller

Romance

Comedy

The Conjuring

The Purge

Romeo and Juliet

22 Jump Street

Jordan Komeh

Comparing films James Bond and Leon

The film Leon is based on a professional assassin who gets missions set by his boss to execute his target and he

earns money each time he succeeds. He witnesses a young teenage girl called Mathilda (the protagonist), as

her family gets murdered by the corrupt police officers. What Leon’s goal to achieve is to help the young girl

Mathilda as she lost her family by getting payback and killing the people who were involved in the murder of

her family members. This film falls into the category of an action/thriller genre, however it’s different in

comparison to the other films that are related to this genre like James Bond have the conventions of a female

that’s an adult as an antagonist/protagonist. On the other hand, in the film Leon the actress Natalie Portman is

playing in a role of a young girl named Mathilda. Furthermore, Luc Besson included his own unique convention

of an action/thriller, as in another action/thriller film such as James Bond the female characters are usually

older women that are in need of help from the male protagonist James Bond. Whereas in the film Leon

Mathilda is aged 13 years old but who seeks support form a professional assassin (Leon). In addition, in James

Bond the women are being represented negatively almost like sexual objects for the men’s pleasure. But in the

film Leo the women have avoided being represented as vulnerable/less dominant

as Mathilda desired to get the corrupt police officers killed as revenge on the death

of her family. Steve Neale ‘s theory can be referred to this

as he quoted “Genres are instances of repetition and

difference.” This means that movies that fit into the same

category have conventions that the audience constantly

know what to expect just by acknowledging the front

cover of the film.

Jordan Komeh

Comparison on Mean Girls and Napoleon Dynamite

The films Mean Girls and Napoleon Dynamite are both teen comedies that has settings in the region of high school. Mean girls directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey was released in June 18,2004. The narrative of the film is about a teenage girl named Cady heron who was previously in education at home. In the present time she has now been put into a public school which she will need to adapt. Candy eventually joins a friendship group that requires only girls but turn out to not be trustworthy. As the movie progresses Candy starts to be involved in mischief with ‘fake’ friends and converts from being a kind person into a sly female character. Therefore, Candy becomes popular in this film with the action happening all around her which is why it’s evident that she is the protagonist. In comparison Napoleon Dynamite depicts what it’s like to be lonely through the narrative and the characterisation. The narrative throughout conveys what it’s like to be isolated and portrays the topic of loneliness, his appearance as unorganised which means he doesn’t put any effort as he doesn’t care about life and what’s around him. In addition, this film clarifies loneliness through the communications that the main character as they are continuously awkward. Moreover, the two films have similarities, these are that they’re both based on a school lifestyle and about their social status. But the difference is that the characters have contrasting personalities as one has a big friendship group Cady and one of them isn’t good in social situations (Napoleon Dynamite). This is where Steve Neale’s theory comes in as he states ‘there are no pleasure without differences.’

What is mean by the term ‘auteur director?’’

An auteur is when a film director who utilises a variety of his own ideas for the films that they’re producing that it results in them becoming the author.

Jordan Komeh

Quentin Tarantino

Analysts apply whether a filmmaker is the principle creator of the film by identifying the amount of different roles he/she controls. Quentin Tarantino who was born March 27,1963 is an example of a principle creator of the film. This is because he takes up roles such as being an American filmmaker, writer and actor. Therefore, Quentin Tarantino is able to take responsibility of the majority of the areas during the process of making the film.

Tim Burton

Tim Burton is also labelled as an auteur director because he adapts his films to his own unique style consistently. Tim Burton is known for creating animation type movies that have a fantasy twist to convince the audience as they are commonly visually pleasing. The fantasy films are also combined with a dark gothic theme, for example Edward Scissorhands that was released in 1990 represents the character as being an outlet as it’s impossible for humans to possess scissors as hands.

James Cameron

James Cameron born in August 16th,1954 is a filmmaker, director and innovator based in Canada. He is also an auteur director as he loves make dramatic alterations to films, therefore the film can be enhanced for it to encourage people to spectate them as his films are incoming with new ideas. The film ‘The Terminator’ was his first successful film that was realised in 1984. It was a sci-fi action film that had the famous actor Arnold Schwarzenegger as the protagonist. The narrative is about Arnold Schwarzenegger being a cyborg assassin that is sent back in time to 1984 to slaughter his enemy Sarah Conner. James Cameron’s took 10 years to produce the film Avatar that came out in 2009. It’s evident that the films he creates are usually set in a realm to give it an unrealistic but it’s appealing for the audience as they won’t witness it elsewhere.

Luc Besson

Luc Besson a French film director alongside with other duties such as screenwriter and producer who is also classed as auteur director primarily because of the success he’s had with the unexpected elements included in his film production. Leon The Profession was a film that was a commercial success had unusual characters that the audience wouldn’t expect the people to take the role in. Furthermore, during the action/thriller film Leon when Natalie Portman was aged 14 but 12 years old in the film had an unusual relationship with the Leon the assassin. It was this unpredictability that was part of his achievements as the audience weren’t put off by it but supported it instead as the film was an amazing piece of art.

Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese who was born in 1942 who’s a director and currently still is. Martin Scorsese produced films such as After hours and Goodfellas, a majority of Martin’s films fit into the crime/drama category consistently. He ensures this by the techniques he uses through cinematography and sound effects. For example, in the film After Hours (1985) during the opening scene there are usually non-diegetic soundtracks to foreshadow immediate action/catastrophe

Jordan Komeh

already happening. In addition, this instantly hooks the audience to his films already as the sounds and moving images build tension at an unexpected time in the film. It’s evident that Martin usually depicts the protagonist so that the audience gain knowledge on who the films about.

The two directors that I have decided to choose are:

Tim Burton James Cameron

Tim Burton is very interested in creating fantasy films that makes them convince for the audience as the art of his films are unique in comparison to others. Edward Scissorhands (July 26 1991) is an example of Tim Burton’s type of films, the protagonist is usually a strange character that’s an outlier to the other characters even though the story is based on them. Tim burton connotes his type of film usually conveyed by the appearance of characters. For example, Edward Scissorhands comes across as dark and gothic as his costume is similar to what members of a rock band would wear. Furthermore, the character’s human hands have been substituted with scissors to depict the genre as being a fantasy as it’s artificial because you will never witness such scenes in real life.

Depicted in one of the screenshots is a location that’s included in the films visuals. The bushes are shaped into a variety of animals which already informs the audience that the film is set in an imaginary place almost like a realm. The interior of the is shown as being dark to reinforce gothic theme that Tim Burton consistently utilises in his film productions. This could foreshadow something unusual in the future of the film, therefore this will build tension for the audience as dark settings suggests unpredictability so the audience don’t know what’s going to happen within the next scenes.

Jordan Komeh

James Cameron is another example of an auteur theorist, who was born in Canada in August 16 1954. He covers up a several number of roles during the process of the film making, these roles are director, producer, screenwriter, inventor and engineer. His films are based around the sci-fi genre as he has reasonable skills in using special effects to make the moving images look interesting for the audience. For example, in Terminator 2 the protagonist that is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger destroys his enemy and the body of the character splits in half revealing a terrifying creature underneath. This enhances the film as James Cameron always adjusts moving images with different types of techniques that over exaggerated but convincing for the audience as the artificial effects not really shown elsewhere which is why he is named as one of the auteur theorists. Another example of a film that James Cameron had success with is the film Avatar that was released in 2009. The narrative of the film is about aliens called avatars in a realm called Pandora. The graphics are at a high standard in this film to make the audience feel like they are in the atmosphere even though the film is fiction.