1. Introduction:
There are 2 main waysto analyse amovie.Youcan use Genre analysistheoryorAuteurtheory.
These are verydifferentfromeachotherbutare still usedtoanalyse filmsand theircreators.
WhenusingGenre analysisyoureferto Lacey’sRepertoire of Elements.Thisissomethingyouuse
whenanalysingamovie.Itgivesyouthe setbase foryour writtenoverview.Thisgivesyouthe
Setting,Character,Narrative events,Iconographyandstyle:Technical andAudiocodes. While
watchingthe movie,youtake notesinthese features soatthe endof the movie youcanuse this
informationtowrite aconclusionof the movie andyouroverall analysis.E.G.whenwe watchedthe
movie cowboysandaliens,we noticedthatthe iconographyinthe movie was: The cowboyoutfits,
and the horsesandthe gunsand the salon,justthe general thingsthatwill be seeninnearlyall
westernmovies.Alsoyouwillnotice the locationsare verycliché fora western.Withthe mise en
scene beinginthe desertwiththe salonandthe cacti.
Withauteurtheoryyou can see clearlyinthe movie inception.Thisisbecause the waythe movie is
setout ina non-linearnarrative andotherkeyelementsthatshow the directorsdistinctive movie
style.Thismakeshisworkverynoticeable.
Main part 1
In deeperdetailfrommyintroductionIwill be lookingintothe use of Lacey’sRepertoire of
Elements.InthisIwill be lookingatone of the text’sIhave previouslystudied.Thiswill be Pulp
Fiction.WhenIwrote aboutthis movie andwhenIstudieditImade keynoticesthatmade my
overall writtenworkgood.Suchasthe use of iconography,andlocationsandsoon.
For example:Walkamongthe tombstones. (Dir. ScottFrank – 2014) [Genre – ActionThriller]
Withinthe trailerwe spottedseveralconventionsinthe Mise En Scene.Thisallowedustomake a
small draftof where the movie couldbe basedandwhatsortof areaswe couldbe.These were:
Washington,InA Bar, On the Streetand In Car’s.
Character:Liam Neeson(protagonist) –Isthe detective inthe movie.He isplayingthispart
because we sawhimin ‘taken`and‘taken2` and he fittedthe role verywell.Thismeansif theyput
himin a movie,itwill attractmajorattention.The victim(The man’swife) we know verylittle todo
withthischaracter,thisgivesus a sense of mysteryandmakesuscurious.Victim2 (the girl inthe
redcoat) we have seenthischaracter butyetagain we still know veryverylittleabouther.This
createsa narrative enigma
NarrativeEvents: Withinthe trailer,there were certainelementsthatwere leftout.Like,the
wayhe talks aboutthe person’swifebeingtaken.Itthenonlyshowsyoua small clipandthat small
clipgivesyoua little bitof the action,butnot enoughsoit enticesyoutocome and watch the
movie.Alsothe waythe speakertalksaboutthe movie andwhat’shappenedandwhat’sgoingon
makesyouwant to see itbecause youcan’tsee the full picture
Iconography:Empire state building,The New YorkSkyLine,Bar,The coloursshow itsgoingto be
actionbecause at the beginningthere isn’tmuchcolourbuttheyare slowlygettingbrighter
Setting: NewYork – Most goodaction moviesare setinbigcities.Suchas New York,Washington
DC, London.Thisisbecause itis a vast areaand a lotof thingscan happen.

2. Style: Technical and Audio Codes:
 Camerause:Tracking.
 Editing:Fades,colourfadesandcolourenhancement.Quickshot.
 Nondiegetic:SoundFromthe verystartis usedto buildsuspense.
Thisgenre of this movie isactionthriller. Thismakesthismovie veryconventional andgeneric.This
meansitis verysimilartoa lot of moviesof thisgenre.Unlike Pulpfiction.Thismovie isalsoan
actionthrillerbutit’sa non-genericmovie.Andissetoutin a non-linearstructure.Thismakesthe
author of pulpfictionanauteur.The directorof pulpfictionwasQuentinTarantino.
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Main Part 2:
Mean girls(Dir.Mark Walters – 2004) [Genre - Teen comedy/Romance]
Genre elements Conventions
Setting- mise enscene/
location
HighSchool. House Party’s – These are conventionstodowithnormal
highschool movies.These containscenesthatnearlyall teenmovies
have inthem, mostmoviesbuildaroundthe lifestyle of ateenagerhave
House partiesinthembuttheyalso containa lotof scenes thoughout
school.
Characters –
representations,
stereotypes,behaviour,
bodylanguage,specific
actors/stars
The way that differentcharactersare seeninthismovie isveryiconic.
Theyhave the populargirls – Usuallythe bitchyones.The un popular
girlswhoare normallythe weirdo’sandoutcasts – you have the popular
ladswhofall for the populargirlsandare nobsand full of themselves. –
thenyouhave the unpopularguyswho are withthe unpopulargirlsand
alsooutcasts.
These are verystereotypical of ateenmovie withhighschool studentsin.
Narrative events–how
isthe narrative ordered
and structured?
Is itelliptical/enigmatic
(elementsleftoutto
The way the movie islaidoutis verylinier,ithasa set beginningset
middle andsetend.Thiscontainsa sortof revenge plotthatistakenway
too far andthenis sort of forgottenandthenat the endcomestogether
and everyone getsalongwithone anotheranditall getssorted.

3. Thisall explainsgenerabecause if showsalotof iconiccodesand conventions.Suchasthe teenage
love,teenagerishighschool.The hierarchy betweenstudents.Andmanyotherthingsthatwouldbe
usedinthistype of generateencomedy.Thisestablishesthe movie asgenera.Alsothe feud
betweenthe unpopulargroupandthe populargroupis veryiconic.
Main Part 3:
NapoleonDynamite:(Dir.JeradHess –2004) [Genre – Teen Romance/Comedy]
Thismovie wasveryNon-generic.Thismeansitwasnotlike everyotherteencomedyandromance.
Thismade it an auteur.Thisis because the directorof the movie focusedmore onartisticmeritover
commercial success.Thisgivesthe movie adistinctivelook.
In comparisontomeangirlsthere isa major difference inthe movies.There bothgotthe same
genre butthe movie itself isstyledcompletelydifferent.Thisisbecause meangirlsisagenericand
Napoleondynamite isaNon-generic.AlsoMarkWalters(Dir.of Mean Girls) directedthismoviefor
Commercial successwhereasNapoleonDynamite waswrittenforArtisticmerit.
You can see thisfromthe very start withthe postersthat they have:
intrigue/entice the
audience)
Iconography –Well
knownor recognisable
people/objects/buildings
mise enscene/props,
costume,setting,
symboliccodes
There are several thingsinthismovie thatmake iticonic.The use of
jockeycoats,the use of stylishclothing,the use of differentgroupsof
people (emo’s,jocks,plasticse.c.t.).Alsothe house partyisalsovery
iconic.
STYLE: Technical and
audio codes– camera
use,editing,
diegetic/nondiegetic
sound,sfx.Mise en
scene/lighting,colour
Camerause:panningshots.Wide shots.
Mise en scene:The HighSchool,The Party’s,The Café
Summarise how the above helpsto define genre inthe text

4. In the meangirlsposterthe imageryusedisveryappealing.Thismeaningthe pinkclothes.The hot
girls.Veryfamousactors.The girlsare posinglooking‘sexy’.Whereasinthe NapoleonDynamite
posterthere isa weirdlookingpersoninthe middle.Withbadfashionsense,looksfunny,andisn’t
well knownorattractive.