There are many different ways of analysing films and two of the main methods for analysing films are auteur theory and genre analysis, these are both contrasting examples. Genre analysis is basically looking at the individual elements of a film, setting, character, codes and conventions, themes etc. Looking at whether or not the elements are generally the same as most other films of that particular genre and whether or not the individual elements break the convention. For example, the main character in an action film is usually a strong man who is considered handsome and is usually muscly, but in the film Leon, the main character is quite old and would not be considered handsome, this breaks convention of the action genre. Auteur theory basically means a director is an ‘author’. It means the director is generally the creator of the film, they create the meaning/ideological message, they generally make a film to look good and original rather than make it just for the commercial value. Auteurs are known for their individual style and the way they use originality and make a film their own. Directors such as Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now) and Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street) are considered to be auteurs for their originality in their films. Not many of those films were particularly success in terms of commercial value but are all well known for their individual style and gave those particular directors the reputation of auteur.

Genre analysis looks at seven individual aspects of a film which are probably the most important aspects in terms of analysing films. The first one is codes and conventions which are things in a film which are a vital part of any genre, they let you know what genre it is because they are specific to that genre. For example in an the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, an action film, it usually involves police, uniforms, guns, cars etc. These are all conventions of an action film and at least one would be seen in the majority of action films. The second aspect is the setting, very important for genre analysis which is basically just where the film takes place. Each genre has a typical setting, for example an action film such as Quantum of Solace would take big place in a big city, usually in America but London in this case, things such as large buildings, busy streets, shady back alleys would be used in a typical action movie. Character is analysing the main characters, the protagonist, sidekick, antagonist, love interest, father figure etc. Character analysis is looking at aspects of a character and seeing if they fit the characters you would generally see in the specific genre. For example in an action film such as Quantum of Solace, you would expect the main character (protagonist) to be quite muscly, attractive to women, possibly rich and usually a bit older than the kind of character you would see in a comedy movie. In a comedy film you would expect the character to be a teenager and quite often they are seen as an outcast so would have a distinctive feature which causes them to be outcasted. Themes in genre analysis include elements such as love, friendship, hate etc. Typically in an action film, the main theme would be hate because the antagonist has a hatred of something causing them to be evil. Also it could be friendship in films where the protagonist has a sidekick. In a comedy film it could be love because a lot of comedy films involve a love interest and also friendship because there is always a group of friends involved. Narrative is a basic outline of the story and other narratives within a story. For example in a comedy film, typically the

narrative would involve a road trip, or someone moving to a new school or trying to win back a girl, not all comedy films have this narrative but they are very common for comedy films. In an action film, quite often the plot is straightforward, it usually involves a villain taking something away from a protagonist or doing something he disagrees with him which causes him to track him down. Iconography analysis is things in a film that are well known for being in a certain film or film series. For example in James Bond films, everyone recognizes the expensive suits, the Aston Martin cars and generally the smart male protagonist theme. In a film such as Back to the Future, everyone would recognize the Delorean and would think of the film if they were to see one. Ideological message is basically messages that a film gives out, a lot of the time they depend on when the film is set, in movies set in the past there is sometimes a lot of racism because it was common back in that day. In Quantum of Solace and other Bond films an ideological message is something such as British army dominance, they show James Bond as being the best at what he does and beating enemies of other nationalities, which represents the British army as being the best and beating other nations at war. Also there is the objectifying of women, there is usually a different woman in each James Bond film and they are known as ‘Bond Girls’. They are often seen to be interested in James Bond but in a lot of films he sleeps with them then ignores him; it is very common in James Bond films as they are known for being quite sexist. It is quite common for action films to objectify women, particularly when the protagonist is rich and good looking, in some action films however the actual plot revolves around a woman and usually involves the protagonist rescuing that woman so in these type of films, women aren’t objectified.

Another very iconic action film is Leon The Professional, directed by Luc Besson, but it is directed in a very different style to Quantum of Solace and in terms of genre analysis, it breaks a lot of conventions of the action genre. For example in Leon, the protagonist (Leon) wouldn’t be considered attractive, he has quite a big nose and is very muscular either, unlike James Bond who has all of those traits which we would typically see in the protagonist of an action movie. Also Leon lives in a small apartment and doesn’t appear to have a lot of money whereas Bond usually lives in a mansion and is very rich. There are similarities such as the setting, takes place in a large city which is a typical action film setting, although some Bond films take place in different places but typically in large cities. Also the narrative is relatively similar, it involves a highly skilled professional killing criminals in order to achieve something, except in James Bond films it’s usually because he’s been ordered to whereas in Leon he does it to protect the girl Mathilda. One thing that has made Leon very unique is the way women are represented, the main female character is an eleven year old girl who Leon rescues after her family is murdered and although you would think it’s just Leon protecting her, in the end she falls in love with him and it becomes quite bizarre. Also he develops a strong bond with Mathilda where in Bond films, he usually just throws women aside after a while. The opening scenes of the two films are quite different, the establishing shots show the difference in setting, Leon’s is in New York and it looks quite gloomy and dark whereas Quantum of Solace’s takes place on an island where it is very sunny and we

can see the sea and other things which make it look a lot nicer than Leon’s setting. Quantum of Solace’s opening sequence is very fast paced, it involves things such as car chases, gun shots and fast paced action. The opening sequence in Leon is very dark and a lot slower to start. We see the bad guys but we don’t see Leon and he silently kills them one by one, it is not nearly as fast paced as Quantum of Solace’s opening sequence. I think Luc Besson can be described as an auteur director because Leon is a very unique and individual film which breaks a lot of conventions, it could be compared to films such as Pulp Fiction which are known for breaking conventions and Quentin Tarantino is often thought of an auteur director. Things such as the character, themes and even narrative are very different to that of a normal action film, also we don’t see things such as fast paced action scenes, car chases and a protagonist that sleeps with lots of different women. These are all things that make the film so unique and what I think makes Luc Besson an auteur director. Also, Leon wasn’t a particularly successful film commercially, partially because there were a lot of aspects make people want to see an action film that were missing but he put artistic merit before commercial success with this film and it has been praised highly despite not being all that successful commercially. Also Luc Besson is the main creator of Leon, everything about the way the film is made was down to his decisions, this is another trait of an auteur director.

One of the most famous and well known auteur directors is Quentin Tarantino. Known for films such as Pulp Fiction , Kill Bill 1 + 2, Reservoir Dogs, Django Unchained, Inglorious Basterds and Jackie Brown. He is known for his unique style of directing films which is seen in more or less all of his films. He is known to make films that aren’t in linear order but in the end make sense. He is also well known for the use violence in his films, they are much more violent than a lot of films and they have been seen as being quite controversial. There is a large range of genre in the films he has directed, he has done crime/thriller films such as Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs but has martial arts films (Kill Bill 1 + 2) and war films such as Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained. These are all traits which show why Quentin Tarantino is an auteur director. Generally he is known to be the main creator of all of his work and he has worked with a lot of the same actors in his films (Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi and more have appeared in more than one of his films). His films started off as films with no real commercial success and they were relatively unheard of but they were praised highly by people who had seen them, he generally put artistic merit before the commercial value but some of his more recent films have been very successful commercially, partially because a lot more people know of him and his films so people know what to expect when he releases a new film. I think all of the things above are the reasons why Quentin Tarantino should be considered an auteur director. Other directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sergio Leone, Ridley Scott and Stanley Kubrick are also thought of as being auteur directors and have very similar qualities to Quentin Tarantino in terms of their styles of directing.

A director who people may see as being an auteur is Rian Johnson, best known for directing the Sci-Fi movie Looper. I however do not think he would be considered an auteur, although

there are traits about Looper which would make you think he is, I think most traits of the film and his qualities as a director aren’t that of an auteur. For example the codes and conventions of Looper include things such as time travel, large futuristic guns and telekinetic powers which would be seen in most sci-fi movies. A lot of the movie is set in a large city but there is a portion of it which takes place in a rural area on a farm. Large cities are quite often used as location for sci-fi movies which don’t take place in space or on another planet but a farm is quite rare to be used as setting in a sci-fi movie. Looper is a film which has two main protagonists, Joe and his older self who both have their reasons for killing each other, the director has tried to make it so the audience chooses who to root for, multiple protagonist is something that is often done by auteur directors but the actual traits of the character conform to genre. Young Joe is a young man who is very ambitious to become the best at what he does, Old Joe is the older character who is very powerful and the young character often learns a lot from. The themes of Looper involve love (between Young Joe and the character Sara) and also a strange relationship between Young Joe and his older self, he feels wrong killing his older self but has to do it to save himself, he also wants to know more about his future at the same time. These are generally themes you would typically see in a sci-fi movie. The narrative for Looper is quite original, it involves a ‘Looper’ called Joe who has to find and kill his future self who has escaped, in order to get his life back but his older self wants to find a kill a child who will be know as ‘The Rainmaker’ in the future in order to get his wife back. It isn’t a typical narrative but does involve things such as time travel which is common in sci-fi movies. Over all, I do think Looper is an original film and idea and Rian Johnson has used some features that an auteur director would use but I do not think it is has a very individual style because it has so many traits of a typical traits of a sci-fi movie. Johnson is the main creator of the film, he wrote the script and directed the film and made the idea his own which is another trait of an auteur director. He has also worked with some actors on several of his productions which is something you see directors such as Quentin Tarantino doing. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (the main character of Looper) has also worked with Johnson on the film ‘Brick’ and made a cameo on the ‘Brothers Bloom’. I think he may have put artistic merit before commercial success but the film was quite successful commercially, possibly because of the popular cast. Overall I think Johnson has used many traits of an auteur director in Looper but I think it is too similar to other sci-fi films for him to be considered an auteur. He may be seen as an auteur director in the future when he has released more films.

Genre analysis is basically used for breaking a genre down bit by bit and looking at traits of a specific genre, auteur theory shows whether or not a director has stuck to that and it is the main method of identifying whether or not a director should be considered an auteur.