The word ‘genre’ means ‘type’ or ‘category’, the aim of genre is to organise films into groups so it’s

easier for people to easily access genres of film they like and enjoy and used is by media analysts

to define a genre. Each genre has its own conventions which change over time which makes it

easier to notices the difference between films. Nick Lacey is a genre theorist who uses a repertoire

of elements to define a genre. The elements are Character, Style, Setting, Iconography and

Narrative these can be applied to all genres of film. For example, in an action film you would

expect to see; iconography – fast cars, guns and explosions. Style – explosions(diegetic), fast paced

music (non diegetic), Character – male hero saving female victim and also actors/actresses who

have done work involving this genre in the past eg tom cruise is an expected action actor as he’s

worked many action films in the past. Setting – action films are generally set in big cities such as

New York or other big cities all around the world as they help the film be more realistic by adding

special effects to make the city look destroyed. Narrative – Hero saves the female character,

disruption is made, the villain dies and then there is a happy ending. Another genre example is

Horror where you would expect to see; iconography – blood, pot dolls, cobwebs, rocking chairs,

Style – slow paced music (non diegetic) to build tension for the audience generally used before

something drastic happens in the film, Character – children often play a villain in new horror films

and this challenges the idea of children being innocent and pure for the audience. Also

stereotypically a group of people are targeted and they all end up dying. Setting – haunted houses

are a popular setting and also dark forests as dark lighting is more used for horror. Narrative –

unaware of any danger and then they end up being haunted/dying.

Another theorist is Steve Neale and his theory is that he believes “genres are instances of

repetition and difference” and that “difference is absolutely essential to genre” this means how

much it conforms with a genres stereotypes and conventions and that a film must conform to the

conventions enough so it can still qualify as a film of a certain genre. This theory applies to the film

Leon as it has the qualities of a typical action thriller such as explosions, guns and typical setting

which is the same as the James Bond films. But the difference between the two films is the sexual

representation of women which is juxtaposed in the two, in the James Bond films a very famous

character is ‘the bond girl’ who is typically played by a beautiful woman who has a sexual

relationship with James Bond. In the film Leon this is challenged as the sexually represented

female is a 12-year-old girl who admits her love for the middle aged hit man and they end up

having some sort of relationship. This idea is typical from the auteur Luc Besson, auteur theory is

when the original filmmaker has a personal creative vision which is applied to the film and most of

the time can be noticed by the audience so it’s easy to pin the work of a certain filmmaker.

Another difference is the characterisation between the two hit men (Leon and James Bond) as

Bond is very professional; has a posh car, fancy suit and a beautiful woman as a sexual partner

whereas Leon; lives in a rundown apartment, wears a long grey coat and has a relationship with a

young girl.

Mean Girls

The movie Mean Girls which was produced in 2004 by director Mark Walters is a stereotypical teen comedy. The main characters in the film are the popular girls referred to in the film as ‘the plastics’, these are bitchy, stuck up and mean towards everyone in the school including each other.

They intimidate other people in the school, even though the main ‘mean girl’ Regina George has an innocent, maths geek boyfriend who is the complete opposite to her. The other main character is the ‘new girl’ Cady who is the protagonist has moved from Africa to America and starts her

The way he is cuddling with the cushion shows he is vulnerable and weak which juxtaposes with the baby in the shot as this is meant to be the other way around with the male being the role model. The poster shows it’s a comedy as all the things going on are unexpected and funny to an

The male character in the poster looks strong and serious, he is holding a gun which is an iconic prop in action films. It is shot from a low angle which makes you feel intimidated by the character and shows he’s the boss and is a dangerous character, especially how he stands holding his gun with such

The colour palette is dark this is stereotypical for this genre of film. The fact his coat is black represents the darkness and death he can cause. The other colours such as the title represents blood and danger, there’s also lots of brown which is a serious, down to

Their location looks very high cost and this makes the audience question how they got there and this creates enigma so people want to watch the film to find out.

The baby in the photo is shown with a pair of sunglasses on next to a table of alcohol and other things which could be implying the stereotype of that men can’t properly

Straight away this can be identified as a horror based on the location and props in the shot. The house in the distance is a conventional setting for this genre

experience at a new highschool. Other characters in the films are jocks, nerds and teachers which are all typical characters for this conventional teen comedy setting of a highschool. The narrative is mainly about Cady and how she becomes a ‘plastic’, the narrative is very conventional of teen comedy and the events which happen don’t come as a surprise to the audience. The rising action occurs in another typical setting of a party where Regina had told Cady she would help her get with Aaron (Regina’s ex) but instead Regina kisses him and this creates tension and rivalry between the two girls. To get back at Regina- Cady gets help from her two friends Janice and Damien to plan a revenge. There are also many other rising action scenes in the film such as; cady becoming like Regina, finding the burn book and Regina being hit by a bus and all these scenes build towards the point of greatest interest. The climax in the film is set at a school prom, Cady arrives to the prom with the ‘mathletes’ as she’s become her old self again and left the plastics. She ends up winning prom queen and decides to share the crown with everyone, which creates a happy ending as she’s done the right thing. In the denouement it shows a montage of where all the main characters are now, and Cady talks about the ‘junior plastics’ who are new to the school over a slow motion shot of them walking on campus. This implies that the whole narrative could repeat itself as every year each group of people have new drama.

The settings in the film are very typical; highschool, shopping malls, parties and big houses. These settings are expected in teen comedies as the target audience of teens can relate to the scenes/settings in their own lives. Steve Neale’s theory of “genres are instances of repetition and difference” can be implied to this film as the settings are very common and appear in most films.

The iconography in this film is mainly clothing items such as girly, revealing skirts and tops for the ‘plastics’ and this is their look as all the other girls in the film seem covered up and wear darker colours, “on Wednesdays we wear pink “is a quote that the plastics go by this shows their personality. Another popular clothing item is the varsity jackets worn by the jocks, straight away these tell the audience that a character wearing one of these is a jock and most of the time they end up being a dumb boyish character.

In the film lots of different camera work is used; there is a scene where split scene is used and it shows the audience 4 different scenes on the screen at once between the ‘plastics’, this is useful as it helps exaggerate the situation as you can see the character’s facial expression and surroundings.

Flashback scenes are used in the film to show Cady’s past in Africa and this helps the audience connect with her, another way the audience feel connected is when throughout the film Cady’s voice overs are used.

The films 'mean girls' and 'napoleon dynamite' are both well-known teen comedies, these two films have similarities but also differences. The similarities of the two are the settings. both of the films are set in American high schools, This is a conventional setting for this genre as the characters are usually students attending school with the typical narrative of 'young love'. Linking to that past point each film has a teen relationship between the main character in each of the films and a student from the school, in mean girls it's a popular girl falling for a nerd in napoleon dynamite in the beginning its a girl falling for the main character who is nerdy and unpopular who then also falls for the girl. Another similarity is both films have talent show scenes in which main characters perform to an audience, a difference being in mean girls it's the plastics doing a well-rehearsed and loved performance from the audience compared to the one man performance of napoleon the unpopular nerdy loner. Another difference is the juxtaposition between the main characters in both films. in mean girls the main characters are popular and a threat to the rest of the school, on the other hand in napoleon dynamite he himself is the main character and he is unpopular. He also gets bullied which also contracts with the fact that in mean girls the main characters are the bullies. Steve Neale’s theory of repetition and difference can be applied here as both films are easily recognizable teen comedies using the same settings and teen love story but both have differences such as narrative and characters.

Auteur Theory

Auteur theory is a term often applied to a director who is seen as the ‘author’ of their own work, they often have a signature style.

An example of an auteur direction is Tim Burton who in his films demonstrates a particular style which is easy for an audience to recognise as his work. Quentin Tarantino is another auteur director who is the principal creator of his own films; he writes the scripts, financially supports the film and even stars in the film himself. Another auteur director is James Cameron who comes up with new and creative ideas using special effects that he develops himself, this makes his work stand out as its different to most films. Luc Besson is another example of an auteur director, he likes to make films and add a peculiar twist to them as he values artistic merit over commercial success; for example, in ‘Leon’ the female love interest is 12 years of age. This comes as a shock to an audience as it hasn’t been used before and it seems so wrong but it’s interesting for people to watch as it’s a sense of unrealism. Finally, another example is Martin Scorsese who makes films with similar themes which

are set in New York typically based on gangsters or one of his more recent films the wolf of wall street based around brokers.

Tim Burton is one of the most well-known/successful directors. He has done films such as; Coraline, Beetlejuice, The nightmare before Christmas. All of these films have a particular style of being quite gothic and being quite similar in sense of the look of characters and settings, by doing this makes him an auteur director.

Both of these films by Tim Burton show the distinct style he puts on his work. They’re both quite similar in the sense of the colour palette is very dim and mysterious which links with the gothic/horror style of his films. They also both show the main character both positioned in similar positions on the poster.

Quentin Tarantino is a very creative and hardworking auteur director. He has worked on the films; the hateful eight, pulp fiction and Django unchained. He is well appreciated as he puts so much into his films, this makes him an auteur as other directors don’t do all the things he does.

Both of these are film posters from Tarantino films, they are both very similar due to the colour palette of reds and blacks which creates a sense of danger and death which link to the genres of the film. Both show the main characters who are all male, no females are present on either one of the posters. Iconography is used which also gives ideas of the genre such as; guns, cowboy hats and dark clothing.

Jared Hess is an auteur director as he strongly uses comedy in his films which are commonly funny and silly. He also likes to use male characters in a way that they challenge gender stereotypes as the main male characters don't have the typical manly features like popularity and a jock style personality like other teen comedies.

by looking at 2 of Hess's films posters they are eye catching with a bright colour palette which shows the films are fun and exciting. He also shows both of the main characters of each film in the centre of the poster both looking not so 'manly', The way he does this makes him an auteur director.