1. Theoristshave come upwitha multitude of waystoanalyse films overthe years;twosuchare ways
are throughthe analysisof genre andthe applicationof auteurtheory.
As an audience genre isnothingmore thana wayfor us to categorise ourfilms- it’sfullof prediction,
expectationandanticipation. Howeverinthe mediaindustryitisacritical tool in orderto studythe
principlesof bothfilmmakingandaudience response;bycreatingsimilaritieswithinmoviesthey’re
thenable to start groupingthemwhichinturnis whatcreatesthat familiarityforaudiences and
allowsusto make those assumptions-they’rebeginningtobuildconventions thatwe become
accustomedtoo.
NickLacey’srepertoire of elementsisone wayinwhichwe cananalyse genre;he believes thatby
breakingdowntextintofive distinctareasandidentifyingthe elementswithineach we’re thenable
to place a piece of mediatextintoa particulargenre.The five elementsinclude:
 Character:a genericcharacterthat’salwaysfoundinthat genre.
 Narrative:the storystructure.
 Setting:adistinctlocationcommonlyfoundinthatgenre e.g.Cowboysand Aliens- Western
Saloon.
 Iconography:iconicelements- visual,audio,imagery- thatisassociatedwiththe genree.g.
JamesBond- Guns,Cars,and Women.
 Technical andAudioCodes:particularstylisticelementscommontothatgenre e.g.camera
angle,editing lighting,diegetic/non diegeticsound.
For example,whenapplyinggenre analysistothe lone ranger,we instantlyknow throughthe setting
and iconography thatitcan be categorisedintothe westerngenre due tothe barrenland,cactuses,
railroadsandsaloons.
Auteurtheoryisanotherwayinwhichwe can analyse film;the conceptfirstderivedinthe 1950’s by
Frenchfilmcritics,one of those beingFrancis Triffautt. Anauteurisa directorwhose workshows
himto be a distinctartist;theyhave complete creative control overtheirworkandhave a personal
signature style.Unlikegenre analysis,auteurtheorydraws ourattentiontowhatisunprecedented
rather thansimilar.Anauteurcan be:
 The principal creatorof a film e.g.Tarrantino.
 A filmmakerwho demonstratesaparticularstyle e.g.Tim Burton.
 A filmmakerwhodemonstratesinnovation e.g.JamesCameron.
 A filmmakerwhodemonstratesartisticmeritovercommercialsuccess e.g.LucBesson.
 A filmmakerwhomakesfilmswithsimilarthemes e.g.Scorsese.
For example,inthe movieInception,directorChrisNolan’sdistinctnon-linearstyle narrative has
made it arguable that he is inan auteuras it’sunlike anyothermovie foundwithinthatgenre- it
goesagainstconvention.
WhenapplyingLacey’sfive repertoireof elementstoa walkamongthe tombstones,we’re ableto
categorise itintothe action/thrillergenre.
The movie- directedbyFrankScott- wasfirstreleasedinSeptember2014 and revolvesaroundthe
life of private investigatorMathewScudder.It’scleartome rightfromthe beginning thatit’s

2. designedtoattract15-35 yearolds;the filmincorporatesall the typical oldstyle elementssuchas
car chasesandgun stand offs.Action/Thrillersare one of the most populargenre of films,therefore
theyappeal toa large massoff people.Howeverinorderforthemto make the movie appealingthey
mustfirstensure thatthe audience isprovidedwiththatfeelingof prediction,expectationand
anticipation- thisisexactlywhatawalkamong the tombstones suppliesuswith- meaningthatour
directorisnot an auteur.
Priorto the movie evenbeingreleased,startheoryallowedustosomewhatdetermine the genre
throughthe powerof marketing.LiamNeesonwasplasteredoverpostersforagenre of filmhe’s
mostfamous for meaningitwill instantlyattracthisfanbase,howeveractionfilmsare designedto
appeal toa particularniche- inthiscase youngmaleswhoseekthrill andexcitement.Stereotypically
the action/thrillergenre isviewedasmasculine due tothe ideologythatthe moviesdepictevery
guysdream life.
One of Lacey’selementsisthata movie canbe categorisedthroughitssettingdue togeneral
convention. Asshouldbe expected,withinthe firstfew secondsanestablishingshotof a skyline
revealstous thatit’sset within NewYork;metropolitancitiesconnote asense of exhilarationand
dangerwhichiswhat we as an audience have now beenaccustomedtoexpectandfamiliarise with.
The action genre primarilyderivesfromthe westerneraof movies,therefore more oftenthannotan
elementof thiswillbe employedandincorporatedintothe movie;inthe case of a walkamongthe
tombstones we see asaloonstyle bar. Howeverwithinotheractionmoviesthiscouldsimplybe agu
fight.
NickLacey believesthateverygenre of moviehasagenericcharacter;havingan antagonistand
protagonisthasalmostbecome aprinciple of filmmakingforthe action/thrillergenre.Mathew
Scudderisthe strong, handsome ‘hero’of ourmovie,he controlsall actionandisultimatelythe one
whowill getthe happyendingandpersevere evenwheneverythingisgoingwrong.The protagonist
of the movie istypicallyaccustomedtodangerdue totheirlifestyle- inthe case of thismovie,anex-
cop.
Ray and Albertare the antagonistof the movie andalthoughtheyare conventionallymale,inrecent
yearsit has become widelyacceptedthatwomenare takenonthisrole.Stereotypicallyour
antagonistare eithermulti-millionairesseekingcontrol orvillainsthatare tryingtomake money- in
walkamongthe tombstonesRayandAlbertare seekingransommoney.
The female of the movie isthe innocentandhelplessdamsel indistresswhoseekssaviourfromour
hero.
WhenapplyingLacey’srepertoire of elementstothe action/thrillergenre andwe begintolookmore
closelyatthe narrationof the plot,justice andinjustice isakeytheme- thisisanelementthatisalso
somewhattrue toauteursas well. The movieshave agrowingsense of threatwhichleadstoa
pursuitandclear equilibrium.
Conventionallythe movie istoldfromthe protagonist’spointof view whichinturnpresentsuswith
the eventsourhero- MathewScudder- mustovercome.Asanaudience we’vecome toview it
customaryfor the narrative to be linear- itbuildsenigmaandleavesusinsuspensewhichiswhat
we’re seekingwhenwe setouttowatch the movie.

3. Iconographyisan importantfactorwithina movie asitallowsusto put relationbetweenobjectand
genre.Forinstance withinthe action/thrillergenre thisconsistsof guns,carchases,metropolitan
cities,explosions,lifeanddeathaswell as the audioaspects;withoutthis,we asan audience would
viewitas ‘unusual’- it’snotwhatwe’re expecting.
Leonand JamesBond:Skyfall are twomoviesthatare at completely opposite ends of the spectrum
to each other.SamMendes,directorof Skyfall followedeveryconventionwithinthe bookinorder
to produce a movie thatwouldbe a commercial success,whereas LucBesson,directorof Leonwent
againstthisand valuedartisticmeritoveranythingelse makinghimanauteur.
Everythingaboutthe twomoviesiscontrasting.Asmentionedearlier,ourprotagonististhe ‘prince
charming’of the movie thateveryguywantsto be and everygirl wants- it’swhatwe’ve come to
viewasnormal withinthisgenre.Inthe case of JamesBond- playedbyDaniel Craig- thiscouldn’tbe
truer;masculinityanditsembodimentisthe iconof whoJamesBondis.Luc Bessononthe other
handpresenteduswitha lonely,isolatedcharacterbythe name of Leon;he broke all conventions
and insome ways‘dehumanised’whatwe’ve tocome toview asthe perfectprotagonist.
On one handwe have thischarming gentlemanwhosavesthe worldbydayanddrinksmartinisby
night- the ‘perfect’lifestylethatwe want to breakintowhenchoosingtowatchan action movie- and
on the otherwe have Leon,and outcastof the worldwhospendhistime as a hitmanbyday and
drinkingmilkbynight.
EverythingaboutSkyfall isbigger,bolder,more dramatic,attractive andexpensive-whenwe payto
see an actionmovie we wantto be swoopedintothe glamour of itall and that’sexactlywhatJames
Bondprovidesuswith.
The narrative of Skyfall isona muchlarger scale andset inthe large city of London.HoweverLuc
Bessonhadhisown creative visionanddidn’twanttofollow the conventionsinorderto give himself
an artisticstamp;at the time of release the movie wasn’tmuchof a successbecause of thisreason,
there wasn’tmuchextravaganza.Howeverthiswasn’timportantto Luc Besson.The movie isona
much smallerscale andextremelyuncommercial;it’ssetwithinlittle Italy,the lowerworkingclass
area of NewYork meaningthere isnoglamorisation.
Leoncauseda bigcontroversywhena12 year oldgirl wasplacedas the sidekick;unlike JamesBond
we didn’thave thisbeautifuldamsel indistressthatseekedsaviourfromourherobefore endingup
inbedwithhim.We have thisyounggirl who’dsoonerkill thanrunawayfrom herproblemsand
audiencesdidn’tlike this;we expecttobe sweptinthe romance of it all whenwatchinganaction
movie.
In orderto achieve commercial successJamesBondusedstartheorybyhiringone of Hollywood’s
biggestactorsto get bumson seats;the editingof the movie hasbeendone insucha waythat every
inchof himisconstantlybeingshownoff.
Luc Besson howeverchose anactor that at the time of release wasunknowntoaudiences-Jean
Reno- there wasn’tevenaguaranteedfanbase thatwouldgo andwatch the movie. Leonreallywas
all aboutLuc Bessonputtinghisideasandstylesoutthere whetherhe achievedsuccessornot.

4. AlthoughLucBessonisan auteurdue to the fact he valuesartisticmeritovercommercial success,
someone canbe an auteurfor manyof reasons.TimBurtonfor example hasearnedthe title due his
distinctstyle andoriginality;hismoviesincorporatehisownbelief andvaluesandare toldfromhis
ownperspective inanindividual way.Hisfilmsexplore conceptsthatwouldneverhappeninthe real
world,yetthe themes are sohuman like andrelatable.
Martin Scorsese isan auteurwhomakesfilmswithsimilarthemes;theyaddressRomanCatholic
conceptsof guiltand redemption,the American-Italianidentity,gangconflict,profanityand
violence.
Mean girlsisa verygenericAmericanteencomedyfirstreleasedin2004 anddirectedbyMark
Waters. The filmlooksathighschool cliquesandthe damagingeffectsitcanhave on teenage girls.
The cast ismade of LindsayLohan,JonathanBennett,Rachel McAdams,LaceyChabert andAmanda
Seyfried.
Everythingaboutthe movie isthe epitome of stereotype fromcharacterisation,setting,tostyle and
iconography.
As iscommonwithinthe teen-comedygenre,we have three setsof distinctcharacters;the queen
bee’s,knownasthe plastics,ourshygirl dyingto fitinand the outcasts- alongwitheveryother
universallyfoundclique.The outcastsandplasticsare completelyoppositetoeachotherand
therefore boundtoclashthroughoutthe movie.Havingthesesetsof characterswithinthe movie
has become aconventionof the genre;whenwe setoutto watchthe movie we know thatwe’re
goingto getthe nittygrittyof ‘teenage’life. Evenmoviesteencomediesthatdonotportray that
ideaof cliquesstill have segregationwithinthe school.
An example of thisiswithin the movie HighSchool Music- SharpayandGabriella.Heather- the
heathers.The PrincessDiaries- Lana.Clueless- Cher.
Our meangirlswithinthe movie giveof the ideologyof wealthandpopularity;theyare objectsof
male gaze yetindependentandcontrolling.A conventionwhichhas become customary tothisgenre
isthe underage sex anddrinking;theyappeartohave notaspirationsandlive withinacompletely
materialisticworld. Althoughare outcasts‘hate’the plasticstheywanttobe a part of theirworld.
Commercial successisanimportantfactorand thereforstartheoryhas beenusedinorderto attract
audiences.
Revenge isakeythemwithinthe movie.Ournarrative followsthe three actnarrative structure so
that we have a beginningmiddle andendwhichiswhatasan audience expecttosee- we wantthat
predictability,it’swhywe choose towatcha particulargenre.
Duringour expositionwe firstmeetCadyandthe plastics; the settingpresents withthis‘idealistic’all
Americanteenhighschool thatconveyseverystereotype of the genre fromthe jockinsports
jackets,tothe geeksthatplaychessand the plasticswiththeirexpensivecars.These are all iconic
and symbolicelements thatwe associate withthe genre.
Whilstthe all Americanhighschool actsas the primarysettingforthe movie,itisan iconicelement
of the genre- we’re sweptupinthisworldof the idealistichighschool experience;evenwhere you

5. sitdefinesyourstatus. Noteencomedyiscomplete withoutatripto the mall- where theyshop
defineshowmaterialistictheyare.
A theme thatiscarried throughoutthe movie isthathighschool isa representationof the animal
kingdom;ouroutcast isthis‘exotic’creature’thateveryonewantstomake friendwith.The outcasts
havingdiscoveredthatthe plasticswanttoinclude herinthere clique askhertogo alongwithit in
orderto findout inside informationsothattheycan ‘bringthemdown’- the conventional themeof
revenge andfriendship.Thisisourincitingincident.
Risingactionbeginstosetinwhenwe discoverCady’spersonalityischangingforthe worse andshe
nowhas a crush on one of the plastics- whodiscoversthis-ex-boyfriends.Cadythe goesonto have a
party whichcauses a massfall out betweeneveryone andhence theybecomefrenemies- all using
each otherbehindstheirbacks.
The climax comesinplace whenthe burn bookisprintedall overthe school andCady isblamedfor
it afterone the plasticwrites aboutherself withinthe bookonpurpose. In-betweenall of this
Regina- one of the plastics- isranover afterrunninginfrontof the bus- andCady isblamedforit.
All the girlsfromthe highschool begintolettheirfeelingoutina interventionstylemeetingand
thusare fallingactioncomesintoplace.Asshouldbe expectedourprotagonist- Cady- revertsback
to herold self indenouement,comesoutontopby puttingeverythingrightandgetsthe guy thus
havingherhappilyeverafter.