1. Olivia Berry
Analysing Film
There are two types of analysis when studying films. The different ways are Genre analysis and
Auteur Theory. Genre analysis looks at things such as Codes and Conventions, Themes,
Characters, Settings, Narrative, Iconography and Ideological Messages.
Codes and Conventions create meaning. They can be separated into two categories; these are
Technical and Symbolic.
The technical codes are all the ways in which the equipment is used to tell a story in the text, an
example of this would be the camera work or the lighting.
Then symbolic codes show the way the actor is feeling, this can be done through actions etc.
There are however things which fit into both categories, music can be both technical and
symbolic.
Conventions are the general way that something is done, they are genre specific.
Different types of media can be said to be different ‘genres’ which means type, or class. They
can be recognised by the features they use (codes and conventions). Audiences recognise
these features and therefore know what to expect, this is done because a niche audience has
already been set and then the producers just market the text accordingly.
A genre film is one that breaks no conventions and contains everything you would expect, for
example in a horror film such as REC you would most likely see blood, gore and violence of
some description, whereas in a Teen Comedy like Mean Girls, if this was seen it would be
unusual.
Another form of analysis is Auteur Theory (Auteur is French
for Author). This means that the director is the creator of
the film and they will create an ideological message and
demonstrate technical excellence. They make films of
artistic merit, rather than commercial value, also filming
with an individual style or theme which can be seen across
a number of films by the same director. This combined
basically means a filmmaker who challenges an accepted
genre and has unconventional ideas such as Stanley
Kubrick and Quentin Tarantino. Examples of films like this
are Napoleon Dynamite and Leon.
The Teen Comedy Napoleon Dynamite breaks convention
as it does not conform to what would usually be seen in a
film of this genre, the main character is not stereotypical at
all – he’s an outcast and doesn’t fit in with society. Then in
Leon, the main female character is a teenage girl who is
almost seen to be in love with Leon, the main character
which is unusual because it steps out of the boundaries for
what is “acceptable.”
The setting in a film is always important and is considered
one of the fundamental components in fiction; it includes both location and time. It can help
convey the theme of the film and create atmosphere.
The film REC is set in an apartment in Barcelona, Spain. This type of setting is good for a horror
film as there is that feeling of entrapment. The characters cannot get out of the small
environment they have been quarantined in and obviously this causes panic and people to turn

2. Olivia Berry
against each other which is a convention of a horror film. Everything is dark and mysterious
which adds to the suspense of the film as you know anything could potentially appear and scare
you.
In contrast to this, Napoleon Dynamite is in a completely different type of environment - set in
Preston, South-eastern Idaho there is a contrast to the confinement in REC. The main setting of
this Teen Comedy is in a high school, which is expected from this genre. Everything in this film
is quite natural and bright, again differing from REC.
The Narrative of a film is the way in which the story is told. It is linked to the audience and
purpose of the text - it can be shown through various production techniques.
A film with an interesting narrative is Pulp Fiction; it is fragmented and not presented in a linear
sequence. It is divided into five sections...
-Prologue,
-Vincent Vega and Marcellus Wallace’s Wife
-The Gold Watch
-The Bonnie Situation
-Epilogue
The order however does become clear towards the end. The film is actually said to start on a
Monday, at 7am, and then carry on for roughly four days.
This is much different to a film like Mean Girls, which has a very clear narrative and an easy to
follow story (New girl comes, makes friends and enemies, falls in/out of love, happy ending).
The time line for this stays in order and any flash backs to previous times (for example
characters when they were younger) are easy to understand. The difference in the films is
because we apple auteur theory to Pulp Fiction, whereas with Mean Girls we don’t.
Ideology is an important concept to understand as it is related to things such as representation.
Media texts always show certain values, even though we may not always be aware of this. For
example, in the films Leon and Quantum of Solace, solving issues with violence and then films
like Napoleon Dynamite and Mean Girls, having social groups and often bullying is seen as
acceptable, this reflects a certain ideology. Usually in the media, women and girls are seen as
sex symbols, something to be desired and not respected. They
will have to have a certain look to be cast. This happens a lot in
Bond movies – the women are in the story line, purely for Bond
to form relationships with.
Characters play a huge part in the films we watch; from the
moment we see a person on screen, we are forming opinions of
them. They each have a role to play to make the film work,
whether this be the protagonist, antagonist, the donor, the
‘princess’ or the false hero etc., the part the possess is important
to the film. Without relevant characters, the production would not
make sense and would most likely be extremely boring.

3. Olivia Berry
An auteur director will usually make his characters break conformity, surprising viewers of the
niche market.
A film which shows this very well is Leon. The character development in this film is very good
and that’s what the whole story is based around. For an action film, there isn’t actually that
much action. Their relationship with each other is what is truly special.
The main character, Leon, a hit man, is nothing like the usual stereotypical hero. He keeps
himself to himself, hides his appearance with a hat and sunglasses throughout the majority of
the film and befriends a teenage girl, and then shockingly at the end, we see him die for her.
This leads me onto the main female role, Mathilda, a young girl who has just witnessed the
horrific scene of her brutally murdered family. She soon becomes interested in Leon’s hit-man
profession or ‘cleaning’ as they call it, and he teaches her how to do it, becoming close friends
as they do so. She learns to clean so she can get revenge for her innocent brother that was
killed.
This compared with a film like James Bond, Quantum of Solace, where the main character
(protagonist) is played by Daniel Craig, a good looking, fit and well-dressed male. You can tell
he’s powerful and confident, and he also attracts a lot of female attention. The females in James
Bond films are also much different to the likes of Mathilda - for a start they are women, and not
girls. They will always be beautiful, have good bodies and men will be attracted to them.
James Bond always has a love interest that he will try and protect, and she will usually help him
in some way too. This is similar to Leon; however that is done in a much more artistic and
thought provoking way, rather than just sticking to conformity.
Iconography is an aspect of the genre. For
example, in a Western film we expect to see dusty,
empty roads, cowboy hats, guns and horses.
These indicate the genre and are called the
iconography of the Mise-en-scene or genre. In an
action film like you would expect to see fast cars,
big cities, guns and expensive designer items,
James Bond, of course has all of these. In
Quantum of Solace you see Bond driving an Aston
Martin, this representing the sleek and fast nature
of himself. Only a couple of minutes into the film
you see someone pull out a gun and fire it during a
classic car chase through a tunnel.
Other things which we see in the film which are
iconic of the series are the Omega watch that all
the bonds have worn, and of course the expensive
looking suit he wears.
Another film which shows a lot of iconography is
Mean Girls. It has all the stereotypical teenage
lifestyle items such as mobile phones, cars the
“Burn Book”, shopping mall, house parties, the
family home and finally a school prom. These are

4. Olivia Berry
what you would expect to see in a teen-comedy of this type and they are used well.
In Napoleon Dynamite, even though there are some of the same iconographies, they’re used
very differently. In Mean Girls, the items seen show wealth and popularity, however in Napoleon
Dynamite they don’t. A lack of money with a desire to fit in is shown.
Themes are used in film to show the “underlying idea of a work” however there can sometimes
be more than one theme/idea. In Leon, the main theme is revenge. Mathilda wants to get back
at those who killed her innocent little brother, and Leon helps her to do this. During this time
other themes such as love and family are created as the two bond and share things with each
other. In Napoleon Dynamite, the main theme is belonging. He wants to fit in, have friends and
be popular. On the quest for this, other themes such as friendship and betrayal are shown. In
REC, the theme is survival.
Overall Codes and Conventions, Themes, Characters, Settings, Narrative, Iconography and
Ideological Messages are the techniques used to analyze films. They work together to make it
work and more interesting for the viewers to watch.