This document discusses film analysis through genre analysis and auteur theory. It provides examples of how to analyze a film's genre based on common elements like characters, settings, and codes/conventions. Moulin Rouge is used to demonstrate how it follows the codes of a musical genre through lavish costumes, settings in different eras, a love story between main characters, and more. Auteur theory is also summarized as examining a director's unique style and themes across their body of work.

1. Nicole Melia
There are various ways that you can analyse a film, within my essay I will show how genre
analysis/theory and auteur theory impact on film analysis.
Genre is a French word meaning ‘type’ and film genres have existed since the early days of cinema.
Nowadays most cultural production, be it television, magazines, music, painting or literature, ends
up being assigned to one genre or another. In all cases what makes a genre possible is the
existence of common elements across a range of productions. In other words, it is the identification
of repetition across a series of productions that results in them being described as a particular type.
An example of this is when watching a romance genre it’s stereotypically a love story between a
male and female and you can usually see this by the props within the film whether it be flowers,
engagement rings or children. Where as if it was an action film it would contain lots of men as
usually they stereotype the men to be the dominant characters and the women’s to just be there
for a sex appeal, it would also involve police and usually a villain. If you look at The Martian (2015)
which is a science-fiction film, the main character is a male, Matt Damon he is shown to be an
intelligent, dominant male who can survive on his own without any females help. Whereas Silence
of the Lambs a Thriller from 1991 is focused on a female main character who is the protagonist.
She shows that females can do what males can do and is shown as the hero within the film.
By looking at a film you can usually see what genre the film is going to be straight away. The
way that directors and producers do this is by using codes and conventions. For example a
horror film would usually include a haunted house or forest and include blood, weapons and
other iconography that you would tend to see in a horror genre, an example of a horror film
that shows these codes and conventions is The Exorcist.
Also by looking at the main characters you can usually see what type of genre the film will
be. An example of actors that show the typical genre of the film would be Adam Sandler and
Ben Stiller, they are associated with the comedy genre. Whereas Arnold Schwarzenegger is
associated with action, you wouldn’t see him in a chick flick or romance genre film.
By looking at the setting and actors you know what genre the film is going to be and
whether you want to watch it. The two main ways that you can analyse the film’s genre and
also the application of auteurs theory, an example of a film genre that shows auteurs theory
is Tim Burton films, they all have the same style and theme throughout the film.
Auteur theory is when the director, who oversees all audio and visual elements of the motion
picture, is more to be considered the “author” of the movie. They will help with not just directing
the film but the soundtrack, visual editing and the theme. The auteur theory, which was derived
largely from Astruc’s elucidation of the concept of caméra-stylo(“camera-pen”), holds that the
director, who oversees all audio and visual elements of the motion picture, is more to be
considered the “author” of the movie than is the writer of the screenplay. In other words, such
fundamental visual elements as camera placement, blocking, lighting, and scene length, rather than
plot line, convey the message of the film. In film criticism, auteur theory holds that a film reflects
the director's personal creative vision; it is also the French word for author. There are many

2. Nicole Melia
different types of auteurs including Tarantino, Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese. By looking at the
type of style of Tim Burton’s work you can see similar themes, gothic imagery and a contrast
between light and dark. Spielberg’s work usually contains a spilt family, due to his parents
separating when he was a child, a lot of Auteurs work revolves around their life whether it’s their
childhood or family matters. Tarantino’s films usually have a retro feel and his cinematography is
usually the same throughout his films whereas James Cameron concentrates more on his special
effects, he is most known for his films Terminator, Titanic and Avatar, which he used the 3D
technology. Two other popular auteurs are Luc Benson and Martian Scorsese. Benson has an art
look towards his work such as films like The Fifth Element where as Martian Scorsese concentrates
a lot on anti-hero and crime films such as GoodFellas. All of these Auteurs either demonstrate a
particular style, innovation, artist merit over commercial success or makes a film with similar
themes.
I am now using genre analysis to look at Moulin Rouge to show how the genres of Musicals
all have similarities within the codes and conventions.
The first setting you see when watching Moulin Rouge is the Eiffel Tower, this straight away
sets the scene in France, Paris and creates the romantic setting and the feeling of love. By the
name of the film you obviously expect the film or setting to be focused around the Moulin
Rouge, which it is. By showing the over the top cabaret dancing and singing straight away
you know that this film is in the genre of a musical. In the film the Moulin Rouge isn’t just
known for its brilliant shows and performances its represented as a brothel, where rich men
will go to find a young attractive women to hire for the night (Satine and The Duke). This
brings out the fantasy element of the film. The film shows all the codes and conventions of a
musical, usually the codes and conventions of a musical revolves around the characteristics,
songs sung by the character to advance the plot or development to the films characters or
theme. The narrative and themes, over all musicals tend to be utopic and happy where good
rules over evil or where the protagonist prevails. The narrative often involves a romance or a
love story. Usually the setting will be set in many different times and places and are
embedded in many other genres, typically big, lavish and colourful that is more dreamlike.
And lastly the characters usually consist of a male lead who is the protagonist, a female lead
who is also a protagonist and often the love interest of the male lead, the villain usually an
adult male and then sidekicks, who support the protagonists. It revolving around love and
romance, showing dreamlike scenes such as Satine and Christian stood on the clouds singing
to one another, it shows the reflexivity that the film is a film. The over the top costumes and
bold bright colours especially when on stage and the unrealistic scenes such as Kylie
Minogue dancing dressed as a fairy after the main characters have been drinking absinthe
and start to hallucinate. The film shows different settings of years such as a changing of
century’s from 1899 to the 1900, which typical musicals are set in lots of different places and
eras. The more modern musicals such as High School Musical (Kenny Ortega, 2006) still
follow the musical codes and conventions. The two main characters Troy and Gabriella are

3. Nicole Melia
telling a love story between each other, singing, dancing and end up finishing with a show at
the end just like Moulin Rouge.
The two main characters throughout Moulin Rouge are Satine (Nicole Kidman) and Christian
(Ewan McGregor). Satine is represented as a beautiful, seductive, young women who is very
materialistic and will sell her own body for money and diamonds where as Christian is a
down to earth, well educated, inspiring writer who believes in true love. Throughout the film
the whole theme of love and romance is set around both of them and gives us the idea of
‘Opposites attracting’. The names of the characters try to reflect their personality’s, Satine
sounds similar to Satan and this makes you think of a devilish character compare to when
you think of the name Christian you think of religious conventions and goodness. The male
and female leads are obviously Christian and Satine and if you compare them to Propp’s
theory Christian is the Hero and Satine is the Princess. You then have characters such as The
Duke (Richard Roxburgh) who is the Villain; He’s trying to kill Christian so that he can be with
Satine and at many points of the film becomes a jealous, control freak who thinks he can
have his own way because he is wealthy. He attempts to rape Satine and also shoot Christian,
along with help from his henchman sidekick. Toulouse-Lautrec (John Lequizamo) is the
helper and the donor, he’s the one that tells The Duke that Christian has written this story
and helps save Christian in the end when the henchman fires the gun at him. He is also
Christian’s sidekick as he is always there for Christian. Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent), the
owner of Moulin Rouge plays the part of the False Hero and the Father, as he lies to The
Duke to delay him from having sex with Satine as he knows she loves Christian. But also the
father figures as you see his emotion and upset when he finds out she is dying. There are the
similar types of characters in Grease, The Hero who is the male lead Danny, who falls in love
with the leading female role Sandy (another typical code and convention for a musical). You
then have the Villain’s The Scorpions, who dislike the T-Birds and want to ruin their
reputation. The Helper Frenchie, who is Sandys best friend and does what is best for Sandy
and always is by her side even when the rest of the Pink Ladies aren’t, she is also the donor
as she helps prepare Sandy to go and see Danny to make the finale ending at the fair
ground. The Princess would be Sandy, as she is the main focus that everyone is looking after
who Danny ends up in love with. You can see how the same characters within the musicals
are similar to one another.
Throughout the film the music matches the theme of Moulin Rouge. They all revolve around
love and romance and follows the theme of the good ruling over the evil. Even though
Satine’s death is something to be hurt by, it brings out the best as she tells Christian to “write
a story” which turns out to be Moulin Rouge. Most musicals involve a love story and through
the music and dancing shows this whether it’s Troy and Gabriella in High School Musical or
Danny and Sandy in Grease. The dancing and singing makes the characters feel better for
example when The Duke is annoyed because Satine will not spend the night with him Harold
sings ‘Like A Virgin’ which causes humour because Satine works in a brothel. The Duke then
feels better within himself because he just thinks Satine wants the first time between them to

4. Nicole Melia
be special, when in fact it’s because she’s in love with Christian. Even though there are
several flashbacks which tell us the woman he loves is dead it follows a linear narrative, it all
follows a chronological order and most musicals followthis order. Even though the film
follows all the typical codes and conventions it also shows darker theme as the death of
Satine, when The Duke tries to rape Satine, Satine using her body for prostitution so she can
have materialistic objects and also the use of alcohol and drugs.
The iconography is all very stereotypical of a musical genre, its set in the location of Paris
known as the city of love, showing the romance theme. Everything is over the top, like the
settings, costume and the way that when they sing they show all their emotion. It is very
theatrical, which follows the costumes as when they are performing in the theatre they are all
wearing big bright over the top clothing. As the Moulin Rouge is a huge cabaret show
everything about it is exaggerated, especially the performances such as at the beginning and
ending of the film when the curtains open and shut it’s very large and extravagant. The
costumes are big and bold and always something that represents the characters. In
comparison to Hairspray (2007), each character has their own style which is always big and
bold. With the film being based in the 1962 the hair is very other top and just by looking at
the characters you can see when the era was.
Moulin Rouge is really un-realistic, people suddenly start singing and dancing in the middle
of the streets or in the middle of a sentence, this is a main convention of a musical especially
when you look at Grease, Hairspray and The Sound of Music they all do this. Everything is
very over the top in a Broadway style; they act very dramatic and emotional to everything
mainly when they are singing a song. In the film there are so many classic songs that
everyone has heard of, Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best friend (Marylyn Monroe) and Like a Virgin
(Madonna). All songs are relatable towards the character singing it. Diamonds Are a Girl’s
Best friend relates to Satines life and how she is very superficial and will do anything for
money and diamonds. When she is singing this she has a huge diamante necklace round her
neck. When ‘Like a Virgin’ is being sung it’s all about Satines and Duke having sex for the first
time and Duke is angry at the fact she wants to wait. Harold then tells Duke it’s because
Satines wants it to be special so she can feel virginal again, which is humorous as Satine is a
prostitute. Satin also sings ‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’, Satine is telling us through the song how
one day she wants to get away from being in the Moulin Rouge and wants to find love and
not have to sell her body for money. At the end of the film they sing ‘The Show Must Go On’.
This is referring to how even though Satine is dying they still need to finish the show to tell
the end of the love story. All these songs are themes of love and romance, which again is a
main code and convention of a musical, like Summer Nights and All together in Grease. All
the music is Bricolage, all the music is from different years for example Nature Boy by Nat
King Cole from 1947, Lady Marmalade by Labelle1974, and Rhythm of the Night by DeBarge
1985 and Smells like teen Spirit by Nirvana 1991. This shows the range of songs from the
40’s to the 90’s.

5. Nicole Melia
Tim Burton is well known as an auteur, all of his work contains the same visual style such as
the dark tones within the costume, makeup and hair, similar narrative structure’s and themes,
including flashbacks, low key lighting and high key lighting. Burton usually uses similar
looking characters and uses collaboration with the actors and actresses. He is a well-known
American film director, producer, artist, writer and animator. He is mostly known for his dark,
gothic and quirky fantasy films such as Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990) and
The Nightmare before Christmas (1993) and for his Horror Fantasy films such as Sleepy
Hallow (1999) and Corpse Bride (2005). Burton has worked repeatedly with Johnny Depp,
who has become a close friend of Burton since their first film together. He has also worked
with musician Danny Elfman. Actress Helena Bonham Carter, Burton's former partner, has
also appeared in many of his films.
‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ straight away it shows you it’s a Tim
Burton film, Sweeney Todd is based on a man Benjamin Baker aka Sweeney Todd, who sets
up a barber shop in London which is located above Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop. Throughout the
film the themes are based on death, Gothic imagery, loss, love, rape and gang rape,
blackmail and cannibalism. Everything to do with Sweeney Todd himself if very dark whether
it’s his costume, all being black with parts of white and his hair being the same, this contrast
against his very pale skin and dark eyes, in fact Mrs. Lovett is exactly the same. When
comparing this to his other films Burton has produced such as Beetlejuice, Edward
Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the main characters are all dressed in
very similar ways. And when comparing the characters they all have a certain look, gothic,
messy dark hair and pale skin.
When looking back Tim Burton’s visual style have many similarities to the ‘The Cabinet to Dr.
Caligari’ (1920), the visual style is much like The German Expression. Sweeney Todd is very
unrealistic, the blood is a very vivid red which shows that obviously it is fake but it’s also so
that it stands out especially again the black, low key lighted basement. Another way of
making the film very unrealistic was the use of pathetic fallacy and also how the setting and
locations were sometimes very dream like. For example when Mrs. Lovett is dreaming about
having a picnic with Todd and it being romantic. At the start of the film there is a tracking
shot all through the streets and alleys of London, it’s a similar opening to Moulin Rouge. This
is to set the scene and show where the film is going to be set. Throughout the movie it is
mainly low key lighting, very dull and dark but as they go back to flashbacks from Todd’s
past, with his wife Lucy and daughter Joanna its high key lighting to show his feeling and

6. Nicole Melia
emotion towards them. The same thing happens in Edwards Scissorhands, It’s based in a
bright high key lighting suburban street and at the end of the street Edwards’s house is the
dark, abandoned looking house. This shows the personality of character who lives there.
Then in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory when its shows us Charlies house its very dull and
low key lighting in comparison to when he finds the golden ticket, it then shows high key
lighting to show how important that ticket is.
As Sweeney Todd is a serial killer who is a barber, who slits people’s throats, kills them and
then puts them into pies for people to eat the whole film is very strange. With his wife Lucy
poisoning herself (even though in the end we find out that was a lie), with the linear narrative
we begin to really feel sorry for Todd for what has happened, losing the love of his wife and
Judge Terpin stealing his daughter Joanna. Through this we begin to see the evil vs the
good. We then have representation of isolation, Joanna is locked away in her room and just
wants to be set free, and this is where Antony comes in as ‘prince charming’, as it follows a
very fairy-tale and fantasy genre. But then you don’t expect cannibalism to be in a fairy tale
so the narrative theme and structure is very different throughout the film.
All characters within the film all are represented as quite dark and dull people, especially
Todd and Mrs Lovett, with their dark, messy hair, black theatrical costumes, pale face and
black dark eyes. But if you compare them to Todd’s past, Lucy and Joanna (his wife and
daughter) they are represented are young, beautiful blonde females. Belowyou can see the
differences between Mrs Lovett and Lucy. From the use of lighting it shows how Todd’s life
changes from him being Benjamin Barker and having a bright future with high key lighting
compare to his life now as Sweeney Todd, the serial killing barber and the use of low key
lighting.
Judge Terpin is the villain of the film, keeping Joanna locked away and isolating her from the
rest of the world, whereas even though Todd is a serial killer and is also evil, we feel sorry for
him and relate to how hurt and heartbroken he must be and all this is caused by Judge
Terpin. The hero figure is Antony as he is the one who saves Joanna, as much as it isn’t really
a ‘happy ending’, it is. Todd is now with his wife, the judge is dead and Todd’s daughter Lucy
is free, safe and in love.

7. Nicole Melia
Tim Burton mainly used the same actors for his films; this is why they all look so effective and
what makes him an auteur that stands out. One main actor is Johnny Depp, he plays Willy
Wonka, Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd and actress Hellen Bonham Carter, who
plays Mrs Lovett and Mrs Bucket (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Both actors are well
known for their fantastic acting and fit the roles perfectly and this is why Tim Burton’s styles
and themes work so well. Another collaboration he has is with Danny Elfman who creates
most of Tim Burton’s music throughout his films. The costumes in all of Burtons films have a
similarity as the main character, who is usually the quirky and un-popular one has a dark
theme in what they wear, usually black and white. He uses the designer Colleen Ackwood to
create his costumes as she understands what he wants his main characters to be represented
as just by looking at what they are wearing.
In conclusion, by analysing films through both genre and auteur theory it has given me a
wider appreciation for these films.