Analytical Approaches

When it comes to analysing films, there are a number of different elements that help towards creating a film such as the cast, narrative, themes, iconography and conventions. These elements also help to create the overall genre of the film, which I will be discussing in the following document.

A film genre is a type of category that films fall into judging by their narrative elements and audiences' emotional responses. For example, a film could be specifically made to create a chilling atmosphere and to make audiences feel fear, which would generally make the film fall into the genre category of 'horror'. However, films don't always fall into a singular category and present a mixture of genres, for example, the well-known American martial arts film 'Kill Bill (2003)', which demonstrates a variety of genres including action, thriller, adventure, crime, mystery and kung foo.

Overall, a films genre is based on certain conventions, such as iconography, which describes elements that are traditionally associated with a particular subject. For example, 'The Terminator' which utilises robot characters, emphasises the genre of Science fiction or an action film that frequently utilises explosions, dramatic music, fighting, guns etc. When it comes to iconography, symbols can be portrayed through a number of different elements, such as the setting, characters or music. For example, characters within action films are typically quite appealing to the eye and appear physically fit, whereas in a comedy you are more likely to see a more realistically looking cast. When it comes to settings, action films would typically take place in urban areas rather than the peaceful, deserted countryside. These conventions are also accompanied by non-diegetic, pleonastic music that is used to exaggerate and match the atmosphere of the relevant genre. Within horror films, themes and visuals are commonly used to refer to certain ideas such as blood and violence. Using the poster for Stephen King's 'It', I will be analysing elements that portray certain ideas. Within the film poster, we are presented with a dark yet contrasting colour scheme. Horror films typically utilise a dark colour scheme, which is mainly due to the aim of creating a particular emotion (fear). The black background is also used to showcase the title of the film and helps towards making it stand out by using contrasting colours (black and red). The colour used within the title also gives us the idea that it is potentially referring to the idea of blood and gore which is also enhanced by the font used. The colour of the clothing in which the child within the poster is wearing refers to the themes of innocence and goodwill, which gives viewers an idea of the characters identity. Horror films typically include a protagonist and an antagonist, who obtain completely contrasting traits. The protagonist will usually showcase traits that portray innocence and kind-heartedness, which we can see in the poster for 'It' through the child's clothing. In contrast, the antagonist creates the overall horror of the film, which we can also see in the poster where the antagonist appears to be holding a red balloon.

Another important convention when it comes to analysing films is thematics. Before creating a thematic analysis of a film, you must think about what themes are being used and this can be anything such as a message or idea that a film is trying to portray. The film 'It' is a great example when it comes to themes. The film revolves around a group of kids who banded together to overcome their worst fears and to battle the murderous, fear-thirsty Pennywise (the dancing clown). The film focuses around the concept and themes of overcoming your fears and teamwork. Throughout the film, each member of the 'Losers Club' face a particular fear of theirs which is performed by Pennywise, using his shape shifting ability. Throughout the film, the group face particular events that either split them up or bring them closer together, which also results in the clown growing stronger or weaker. When the group is separated, Pennywise takes advantage, whereas when they work together, he grows weaker due to the lack of fear. This overall concept enhances the theme of working together and shows how the lack of teamwork will always result in something negative occurring. Overall, themes are essential when it comes to creating a story as it's the driving intention behind a film. Themes are the overall message of a film which allows filmmakers to portray the reason in which they created the film in the first place.

Carrying on with the different types of conventions, narrative refers to the different plot points within a film and are essential towards creating the overall story. Different genres usually showcase a different type of narrative. As I've previously mentioned, horror usually utilises a protagonist and antagonist, which is common across all types of genre especially action and war. Although genres are typically accompanied with specific conventions, films can often go against this such as Sam Mendes's '1917 (2019)', which is a World War 1 film which revolves around two British soldiers whose mission was to deliver a message that could potentially save 1,600 lives. This film is a great example of a film that subverts its genre due to how it was recorded using a single camera shot, as opposed to typical war films that utilise hundreds of cuts and angles. In the film, we are focused on the two soldiers allowing us to emotionally connect with them, whereas in a typically war film, we are more focused on the action happening around the soldiers and the war itself, which is how 1917 completely goes against the core conventions of an war/action film. 

To further explain various analytical approaches towards films, I will be using James Cameron's 'The Terminator (1984)' as an example that I will be frequently referring to. The Terminator revolves around a cyborg assassin whose mission was to prevent the birth of a saviour against machines in a post-apocalyptic future. Due to the involvement of cyborgs and time travel, this automatically makes this film fall into the genre category of science fiction. As I've previously mentioned, robots are a key factor when it comes to emphasising the genre of sci-fi, however other elements of the film proves that the film also emphasises action as well as horror. This is due to the fighting and use of firearms between the protagonist and antagonist and various scenes which showcase blood and gore. An example of a scene that emphasises horror would be the scene in which the terminator uses various tools to cut open his human skin. The scene uses a lot of blood, which is a common element when it comes to iconography in horror. Overall, the film showcases a key importance towards the utilisation of technology and how it contrasts from the 80s to the post-apocalyptic future. This concept could be seen as similar to the 2009 film 'Avatar', which was also directed by James Cameron, which is also a sci-fi that focuses on the use of modern technology against a weaker opponent. However, Avatar focuses on the invasion of a foreign planet by humans, whereas The Terminator focuses on a disguised cyborg from the future. In both films, the contrast of modern technology and weaker technology is used and plays a huge role within both narratives.

Another method in which films can be analysed is through feminism, but what does this mean? Feminism relates to the advocacy of women's rights and fight towards achieving equality of the sexes. Various political campaigns are held in relation to issues such as domestic violence, equal pay, reproductive rights, maternity leave etc. Feminism dates back to the ninetieth and early twentieth century, during a period of time where women were perceived as objects rather than human beings. Women were simply treated as reproductive systems whose sole purpose was to obey men and to reproduce. Due to this dehumanization, women were therefore unable to vote, which triggered the origination of feminism. This successfully led to women having the right to vote in 1920, which only resulted in more improvements when it came to the equality of the sexes. To this day, inequality of the sexes still occurs, whether it be in the film industry or life in general.

When it comes to the film industry, the stereotypical representation of women still takes place. Within the comedy sector of film genres, this stereotype is exaggerated due to the aim of creating a comedic effect. An example of this would be a scene from Chuck Russell's 'The Mask (1994)', where Cameron Diaz's character is presented through the eyes of the two males' characters (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMHDKMUsmQI). Although only being an opening scene, many stereotypes have already been portrayed such as the red dress/lipstick. Red lipstick is stereotypically used by women to draw attention to the mouth area and is especially sexualised by men. The colour red is overall typically used or worn to draw attention which is ideal towards the stereotype of women living for the attention and attraction of men. In this case, the female character is conveniently wearing red which results in the close attention by the two male characters. I believe this stereotype has resulted in the objectification of Cameron Diaz's character, similar to how women were treated before feminism began. Within this example, romantic music is played upon the arrival of Tina, which enhances the emotion felt by the male characters and further exposes their true intentions. During the scene, we are presented with extreme close up shots which follow the direction in which the two male characters are looking. This is called the 'male gaze', which refers to visuals created from a male's point of view, usually resulting in women being objectified and sexualised. The male gaze can be over-exaggerated like in this example, due to the aim of creating a comedic effect, however it can also be done unintentionally. The male gaze extinguishes any importance towards the female's character and emotion and mainly focuses on their appearance and symbolises the male's true intentions and sexual desires. The majority of film crews involve men meaning the male gaze is simply unavoidable. 

Moving back onto analysing The Terminator, there are many ways in which this film showcases feministic elements. Sarah Connor is one of the most important cast members when it comes to the Terminator films as well as being one of the only female characters. Across the Terminator films, we have watched Sarah Connor evolve from being the typical damsel in distress to helping towards ending the existence of the Terminators. She was an iconic character when it came to the development and increase in action heroines, playing a huge part in the new era of cinematic female warriors. She also played a huge role towards the overall narrative of the Terminator due to her being the sole reason why the cyborg travelled from the future in the first place. Within the first film, we are firstly presented with an oblivious teenage girl whose purpose was to give birth to the leader of the war against machines. She appears to have quite a feminine look when it comes to her hair, outfit and figure. Her outfit symbolises many feminine stereotypes such as the excessive use of pink which women are stereotypically fond of. Her voice also contrasts to the rest of the Terminator films where it appears to have more of a high-pitched soft tone. Her figure also contrasts to the rest of the films as she doesn't appear to be physically ready to take on such responsibility (lacks robust muscly figure). However, by the end of 'The Terminator (1984)'and throughout the beginning of Terminator 2, Sarah Connor is presented to have turned herself into a soldier, having advanced knowledge on handling guns, all while knowing that the survival of the human race laid in her hands. She completely changes her overall appearance and attitude, contrasting the Sarah Connor we first met in The Terminator (1984). The events in which she experienced throughout the whole narrative, morphed her into the person she was during the most recent Terminator film 'Terminator - Dark Fate', where she appears to have advanced knowledge on how to use certain weaponry. However, this appearance was first noticed in the second Terminator film, where she is first introduced performing pull ups, which most audiences would see as a masculine gesture. The first Terminator film plays a huge role in Sarah Connor's evolvement as it is where we see her learn essential skills and independence while being protected by Kyle Reese, the male soldier sent from the future by her son whose mission is to prevent her termination. In 'The Terminator', Sarah Connor begins to rely on Kyle Reese to allow her survival, however nearer the end of the film, she shows signs of independence and uses the knowledge and skills that she had developed to fight against her cyborg assassin. The film ends with Sarah Connor successfully destroying the Terminator, even after her protector had died, which highlights how Sarah Connor had evolved from being the damsel-in-distress to becoming the hero. The way in which she motivates, and forces injured Kyle Reese to carry on fighting, emphasises how they have almost switched roles and how all of Kyle's knowledge and power had been passed onto her. Although the film shows elements of feminism in some aspects, she is overall not sexualised nor seen through the male gaze but is more of a symbol of female empowerment rather than a sex object. 

As I've previously mentioned, we are shown a newer and more evolved version of Sarah Connor within Terminator 2, where she appears to be held in a psychiatric hospital. This is due to how she allegedly tried to blow up a computer factory according to her son. The lack of proof that her mission to prevent the war against machines was genuine, resulted in her being placed in the hospital. However, this gave her a lot of spare time to work on her personal physique by training within her own room which we can see when she is first introduced in Terminator 2. During this scene, we can see that Sarah now presents numerous masculine traits such as her muscly physique. As we dive deeper into the film, we are then introduced to John Connor who faces a similar issue to Sarah Connor in the first terminator film, where he has been targeted for assassination by a more advanced terminator. Contrasting to the first film, Sarah Connor is now a mother, meaning her new mission is to protect herself as well as her son who plays a huge role towards the prevention of machines taking over the world. Throughout the film, we are shown more evidence of how Sarah Connors character has evolved and grown more powerful as she almost destroys the cyborg assassin herself, if it wasn't for her lack of bullets. The T-800 that was sent to protect John and Sarah fortunately finishes off the antagonist. However, Sarah Connor destroys the final piece of Skynet, which was their protector, emphasising how she still plays a hero, preventing the catastrophic future. This proves a very hard decision to Sarah Connor, due to the love that John Connor had for their robot protector, however she had to make it in order to protect her son, emphasising how she would sacrifice anything to save her son. This particular scene makes the character of Sarah Connor even more empowering, as she has been given the challenge of becoming a mother. I believe this overall film is based around the theme of 'motherhood' due to the majority of the film showing how far Sarah Connor would go to protect her child, e.g. trying to escape the psychiatric hospital although knowing this would result in serious consequences. Whilst exiting the hospital with her son and their protector, she points a gun towards a police officer. This further showcase Sarah's commitment to motherhood as she appears to be willing to kill in order to prevent her son's termination, although her intentions not being to kill anyone but the T-1000. Using motherhood in films is quite common as it is a great way of portraying women as strong by protecting their child. Another example we could use is Luis Prieto's 'Kidnap (2017)', which is an American thriller that revolves around the kidnapping of a diner waitress's son. Throughout the film, we follow Karla, who frantically hunts down the kidnappers of her son Frankie. Within the film we are shown multiple scenes which showcase how Karla is willing to do anything to get her son back such as offering all her money and completely demolishing her vehicle. She is also shown to cause serious car accidents while pursuing her son's kidnappers, however this does not stop her. This is very similar to Sarah Connor, due to her lack on focus on other people. Overall, bother these films are great examples when it comes to the themes of female empowerment and motherhood. 

Overall, The Terminator films are a great example when it comes to female empowerment and heroism, as I believe this narrative wouldn't have occurred if feminism wasn't created. Feminism still proves effective as we are starting to see more female heroism taking place rather than seeing the cliché damsel in distress female being saved by the stronger male. The representation of women has severely evolved throughout the course of cinema, due to more female lead characters being utilised. Annual studies found that 40% of 2019 blockbusters featured a female lead as opposed to 0% nearer the beginning of cinema, during a time when feminism was non-existent. This demolishes the typical representation of male dominance on-screen, which has taken place over the last few decades. A well-known example being Hermione Granger in 'Harry Potter', who challenges and questions her authority and saves her friends from danger in multiple situations. I believe this character would've never existed if it were for feminism. The films in which I have mentioned have proved very influential towards the use of female lead characters and have also proved very effective when it comes to portraying certain themes (e.g. motherhood).