There are many different ways to analyse a film, but for this assignment I will only be using two different ways which are, ‘Genre Analyse’ and ‘Auteur Theory’. Genre analysis is where put a film into 7 sections, codes and conventions, narrative, setting, iconography, ideological message, character and themes, these help to analyse the film in a simpler form. An example of genre analysis being used is by looking at the setting, in Cowboys and Aliens the mise-en scene shows the Desert which then leads to the desert town, towards the end of the film it is set in an alien spaceship which goes to show it’s not a typical western. Auteur is French for ‘Author’ and auteur theory can refer to the filmmaker making an ideological message for the film and it also refers to a filmmaker who makes films of artistic merit rather than commercial value. An example of auteur theory being used is Leon (dir. Luc Besson 1994) where it’s an action/thriller but towards the end it becomes a family drama because the little girl becomes really close to the assassin Leon, as if she wants to be more than friends.
There are seven key areas of Genre Analysis, codes and conventions are where you pick out main things about the films that make it look like its genre, for example, in Quantum of Solace (dir. Marc Forster 2008) there are guns, sexy women, fast cars and blood, these things help to show that it is an action film. A narrative helps to tell the story of a film like in Leon where at the start lots of men are being assassinated by Leon which shows it’s an action film however it has Leon is then stuck with a young girl whose family has died, this also makes it a drama. Setting is a key area in genre analyse as it helps to guess the genre more easily, if it is set in a desert it is usually a western, set in space it is usually a sci-fi etc. They used iconography in Leon, such as, guns which represent a gangsters signature weapon to get what they want, milk which is Leon’s favourite drink because it doesn’t get him drunk and keeps him healthy and drugs which the corrupted policeman does bad things for, so he can get his hands on it. An ideological message in films is usually where the good guys are fighting the bad guys and usually the good guys always win. The ideological message for Leon is where the bad guys have caused misfortune for a good guy and the good guys want revenge but there comes great sacrifice with their revenge. Examples of mise scene being used in Leon are the costume that Leon wears in the film are a simple set of clothes, a vest, black trousers, waist braces and boots, these are a set of clothes that a unsociable person would wear because Leon wouldn’t have to be commented on them by his friends because he wouldn’t have any, a main prop of the film would be Leon’s plant which throughout the film he waters thoroughly, takes it to each new living place he goes and makes sure Matilda escapes from the Police with it, if it wasn’t for Matilda the plant would be his only friend. At the start of a Leon they use a tracking shot to establishing the surrounding area which is New York City to show it’s an urban area. The characters usually define what side they’re on in a film. Leon in “Leon” is seen as a sneaky, cold blooded killer at the start of the film but further on in the film the little girl Matilda makes him more kind and sociable. Backing lighting can be seen towards the end of the film, Leon is about to escape the police filled building, the sun is shining on his which causes his image to be silhouetted in the building, this represents Leon’s freedom from all the police. The main villain is first seen as a crazy, drug addict cop who will do anything to get his hands on some drugs and he uses his police influence to get it. The themes of the film “Leon” differ as it starts off as an action thriller because Leon kills a lot of people but as the film goes on it turns into a drama, with the death of Matilda’s brother, she wants revenge.
Quantum of Solace (dir. Marc Forster 2008) is an action thriller which its opening sequence can be considered in genre analysis. The narrative of the opening sequence is that James Bond is trying desperately to escape some bad guys by driving through urban streets in Italy. The codes and conventions in the opening scene were guns as James Bond’s and the villains main weapon, blood which represented the realism of the death scenes, the car chases which made the start very fast paced, explosions which showed the drivers of the cars weren’t being very careful trying to get to James and the silhouetted women in the opening credits to show what this film might involve to interest the male audience. The mise en scene of the start of the film was in an urban area of Italy and they showed this by driving past lots of old houses, having the sun shine down, Italian accent being heard in the background and establishing shots of the town. The main characters of the opening scene was the Aston Martin which is a classic British car for a British secret agent, the masculine character of the opening scene would be James Bond who is trying to escape the bad guys using his car and gun. The villains use any means necessary to stop James Bond from getting away, even by running over innocent people. Iconography is also used in the opening scene, such as, the use of a British car in a car chase to represent the person trying it, implying he is also British. Gun shots are used throughout the opening sequence to stop the villains chasing James Bond and to stop James Bond from getting away. One of the recurring themes in the opening scene of Quantum of Solace are well dressed men, both the Villains and James Bond are dressed in suits, this shows that they each have enough money to walk around in a suit all the time. The ideological message of the opening scene is that the good guy is trying to get away from the bad guys by attempting to cause them pain, James Bond does this by making them crash and shooting them. The opening sequence of Quantum of Solace and the opening sequence for Leon both share some differences and similarities. Some of the differences are that Leon likes to kill his victims more quietly than James Bond whereas James Bond kills people by crashing into them and shooting them. Similarities between the films are that they’re both set in an urban environment where it is vastly populated with people. Another difference in the two films is that James Bond is well dressed, whereas Leon whereas clothes that old men wear. Another similarity of the two films is the villains carry guns which means they mean to kill the good guy. Luc Besson who directed Leon could be seen as a auteur director is many ways, such as, the typical assassin in a film usually drinks alcohol when they go to bars, Leon however drinks milk to keep himself healthy and sober so he is always aware of his surroundings, Besson also uses the child Matilda to show the more nicer and lovable side of an assassin. In thriller films the police are usually seen as the good guys and the assassin is seen as the bad guy but in Leon the head policeman is corrupt and is addicted to drugs so he will do anything to get them and the assassin is just trying to protect a child from being killed by the police. Also in Leon, Leon only has one friend which isn’t a real person, it’s a plant, and it helps to stop him feeling lonely and sane, he would protect his plant with his life.
An auteur is someone who directs and writes a film, to name auteur would be Robert Zemeckis. Robert Zemeckis directed and wrote the 1985 film Back to the Future, The narrative of the film tells the story of Marty McFly, a teenager who is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955. He meets his future-parents in high school and accidentally attracts his future mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by causing his parents-to-be to fall in love, and with the help of scientist Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, he must find a way to return to 1985. The codes and conventions of Back to the Future are, the DeLorean DMC-12 which Marty uses to go back and forward in time, the use of this car would be modern in the time the film was made so it can connect to a younger audience, throughout the film Marty gets around using a skateboard to make him look cooler to the audience and Doc Browns gadgets are seen in the film to show that Doc is a mad scientist with lots of crazy ideas. The location of the film is in a suburb where it changes from 1985 and 1955 where Marty grew up and so did his parents. The main characters of the film is Marty Mcfly who is a popular, skateboarder who has a friend called Doc Brown who is also a main character of the film, Doc likes to show his inventions to Marty to get a younger persons point of view. The main villain of the film would be Biff who bullies Marty's father in 1955 and even in 1985. A recurring theme of Back to the Future would be the use of the word "Heavy" by Marty to show that something is shocking or confusing. Another recurring theme would Marty’s constant meddling with his parents past, causing himself to never be born. The ideological message of the film would be that the good buy (Marty) is trying to change back his past so his parents meet, however, the bad guy (Biff) is trying to stop them from even talking to each other, not knowing Marty is from the future. Iconography is also in Back to the Future, such as, Marty's skateboard which shows he's cool and "down with the kids", the DeLorean which uses its design to camouflage its self so it cannot be mistaken for a time machine and the picture that Marty carries around of his family to show them fading away every passing second if he doesn't succeed in his parents meeting. Robert Zemeckis can be considered an auteur for his directing and writing of Back to the Future because he did things other sci-fi directors would never dream of, for example, in older films time machines weren't seen as a DeLorean, they were seen as really complicated boxes in science lads, Robert Zemeckis made his idea fit with the times which was the 80's. Another reason Robert Zemeckis is an auteur is when Marty was at the school dance where his parents meet, he played a song that hadn't been written yet which in the future ended up being Marty the one who had made the song, in other time travel films the people in them try not to change the past, but Marty tried any means necessary to get his parents together.
Jon Favreau Directed the 2011 film "Cowboys and Aliens", in my opinion I think that Jon Favreau is not an auteur, the reason I think this are as follows. An Auteur is usually involved in the writing of the story or the writing of the screenplay which Jon Favreau isn't involved in either so he wasn't really connected with the story. Secondly, the idea of cowboys meeting aliens has been used before in less popular films in the mid 20th century, the main reason a lot of people knew and Cowboys and Aliens was because big actors like Daniel Craig, who was in Quantum of Solace, and Harrison Ford, who starred in Star Wars, starred in it. Another reason why I don't think Jon Favreau is an auteur is because he used the clique, "The Man With No Name" a clique which is used in all most every western film that has been made.
If two contrasting genres collide like it did in Cowboys and Aliens, it can make a successful film. Watching a less advanced society face a very high tech alien species would make the audience get more interested into what happens. Mixing the two genres would make Cowboys and Aliens a hybrid giving it more chance it would draw in the western genre fans and sci-fi genre fans to watch it, giving the audience the best of both worlds.