1. How Do We Analyse Film?
TITLE: How Do We Analyse Film?
When it comes to analysing films there are a few different ways to do
so, such as genre analysis and auteur theory, which are two
contrasting examples that I will be writing about. Each genre has
codes and conventions, which make them different from each other,
for example, the horror genre’s codes and conventions are very
different to the western codes and conventions.
Genre analysis is when you analyse a genre by
the seven key areas such as codes and
conventions, setting, characters, themes
narrative, iconography and ideological
messages. Auteur theory means that a director’s work reflects his/her
personality and it has their individual style to the film, example Edward
Scissorhands by Tim Burton, there is no other film like it it’s different
and unique.
In genre analysis we analyse 7 key areas, which are codes and conventions, setting,
characters, themes, narrative, iconography and ideological message. When you are
analysing a genre each one of these key areas are important because each genre is
different. The 7 key areas help you to recognise the difference between them. For example
the thriller genre, the setting is always a dark, corrupt and mysterious place or in the
underbelly of a large city, where as a western genre, the setting is in the Wild
West, the frontier town, the isolated fort, the
desert/wilderness, the saloon bar, the stables, the general
store, the Native American settlement or the Ranch.
The type of characters that you would expect to see in a
thrillers would be criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent
victims, psychotic individuals, terrorists, escaped convicts
and people involved in a twisted relationship, a good
example of this would be Leon (Directed by Luc Besson
1994), Leon and Matilda have a strange twisted relationship because Matilda who is a 13
year old girl is sort of in love with Leon, who is old enough to be her dad which I thought was
quite uncomfortable to watch. The kind of characters you will expect to see in a western
would be predominantly males that have strong roles such as ranch owners, sheriff and
deputy, Americans, a lone gun slinger Whereas females are portrayed
as prostitutes, for example ‘The Magnificent Seven’.
In each genre there are different themes, in the western genre the
themes are, revenge, life, death, codes of honour, conquest of the
wilderness, triumph over nature and private justice. In the Thriller
genre the themes are, wealth, power, death, corruption, sex revenge
and conspiracy theories, example Reservoir dogs. Codes and

2. conventions for westerns are things such as rifles, revolvers, holsters, bows and arrows,
knives, cowboy hats, boots, spurs, pocket watches, waistcoats, horses, the stagecoach, the
wagon, the steam train, tumbleweeds, cactus, wolves and coyotes. The codes and
conventions of a crime genre would be guns, getaway cars, sharp suits, wealthy victims, the
police, a wealthy boss, a team of professionals are always brought together, always uses
explosives and computers, it also involves a plot or a dubblecross, one guys always dies
heroically and saves the others, the location is always urban, in the city with rich exotic
lifestyles portrayed. For example, Silence of The Lambs and Ocean’s 11.
The narrative in the crime genre starts with the expositions which is the beginning of the
narrative and it usually involves the preparation for the heist which is the boss gathering all
the criminals together just like the first scene in Reservoir dogs (directed by Quentin
Tarantino 1994) the big boss has gathered a group of professionals at a café to discuses the
job. The inciting incident, which is where the plot is set up and one of the team, is a mole or
an informer. Rising action is learning about the layout of the location about to be robbed
which means learning the alarm system, technologies to be used. Climax is where the twist
or plot is shown which is usually at the end of the film or act, and the denouement is what
sets the sequel up.
The narrative in thriller stars off with the hero or protagonist uncovering a plot or a crime that
leads them into battle to defeat the enemy or antagonist. It is then followed with the crime
involving terrorist attacks or plots or police and government being corrupt example ‘Leon’ the
psychotic policeman Stansfield he’s the corrupt officer and a psychotic individual. Then the
narrative is followed with the action taking place throughout a number of battles where the
protagonist chases and defeats the antagonist. The climax with the thriller genre usually has
the death of the antagonist and lives of innocent people are saved or sometimes the
protagonist gives their life to save others, such as Leon in the film Leon he gives his life and
kills Stansfield as well as him self. The narrative of a western genre is usually a goal of the
law maintaining law and order in the frontier town. It always consists of good vs. evil, black
hat vs. white hat, Native Americans vs. new comers. For example Hang ‘em High,
Stagecoach, Rio Grande and High noon. In the early days of the western genre the natives
where portrayed as ‘savages’ but as time went on the genre started having anti racism in the
films that John Ford directed.
Following the narrative the hero of the western genre meets up with his complete opposite
which is a mirror of his evil side so he has to destroy it. In the crime genre the iconography is
guns, muscularity and suits. In the western genre the iconography is always the same, its
always set in the desert or the frontier town, the transport doesn’t change its always a horse,
stagecoach and train, its very masculine and the law is always corrupt or its always
challenged by bandits. The ideological messages that western genres have are things such
as anti war messages, the American dream, pro America and in the latest films anti racism.
Ideological message in crime genre is crime doesn’t pay.
The word auteur is French for author and in film studies it is when a director has his/her own
film style, for example Tim Burton, who has to be my best director, has a very different and
not like many other directors that are around. His style is very gothic and to me his films
have a sense of escaping the reality world. The word auteur is director that creates meaning/

3. ideological messages to his/her films, director who demonstrates technical excellence,
director who makes his/her films of artistic merit rather than commercial value, a director
who creates films with an individual style and theme that is often used in a number of
different films and genres by the same director, for example Quentin Tarantino.
Is Jon Favreau, the director of Cowboys and Aliens an auteur or not?
Personally I don’t think he is an auteur because it wasn’t his original
idea, since there was a book called ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ Jon
Favreau is the only director that has made a film with cowboys and
aliens but it’s based on a book. So therefore he isn’t the main creator
of a cowboys and aliens. The style of the film is very individual
because there is no other film like it with it being a Sci Fi/Western film.
Some other films that Jon Favreau has directed do not use the same style, so therefore I
don’t think he’s an auteur.