Auteurism or the auteur theory is the idea that a director puts so much of himself (his style, personal experiences, etc) into a film that he is basically it’s author. “Film should ideally be a means of personal artistic expression for it’s director bearing the signature of his or her personal style.”(Lewis, page 11) For a film to be “auteuristic” for lack of a better word, it should clearly be a product of its director. Early auteurs include Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and other well known directors. Orson Welles, known for his big hit Citizen Kane, is an example of failure within auteurism. While Citizen Kane was wildly successful and still considered a brilliant film today, Orson Welles was also deeply criticized for it. Due to the criticism, he was never allowed to have as much stylistic freedom with a film again and did not produce any other ”blockbusters”. Alfred Hitchcock is an example of major success …show more content…
They changed Hollywood, for better or worse, in more than one way. Jaws and Star Wars both took advantage of tv commercials to advertise. Jaws was the first of the two to do this, “Jaws proved that one film under careful guidance from its distributor, in this case Universal, could precipitate a national pop culture event and make millions upon millions of dollars for a single studio with but a single film” (Stringer, page 73) Jaws quickly surpassed The Godfather in box office numbers, making over $100 million in the first six months.(Stringer, page 72) Star Wars would later pass Jaws record using the same tv advertisement strategy. These successes made television no longer a rival for films, but an ally. With this new tool, film profits began to skyrocket, and therefore so did the film’s budgets. Movie merchandise started to pop up, and that made films exponentially more profitable, as merchandise could be sold and also acted as a piece of advertisement. (Stringer, page
In the film industry, there are directors who merely take someone else’s vision and express it in their own way on film, then there are those who take their own visions and use any means necessary to express their visions on film. The latter of these two types of directors are called auteurs. Not only do auteurs write the scripts from elements that they know and love in life, but they direct, produce, and sometimes act in their films as well. Three prime examples of these auteurs are: Kevin Smith, Spike Lee and Alfred Hitchcock.
The auteur theory is a view on filmmaking that consists of three equally important premises: technical competence, interior meaning, and personal signature of the director. Auteur is a French word for author. The auteur theory was developed by Andrew Sarris, a well-known American film critic. Technical competence of the Auteur deals with how the director films the movie in their own style. Personal signature includes recurring themes that are present within the director’s line of work with characteristics of style, which serve as a signature. The third and ultimate premise of the Auteur theory is the interior meaning which is basically the main theme behind the film.
The films of Alfred Hitchcock provide some of the best evidence in favor of the auteur theory. Hitchcock uses many techniques that act as signatures on his films, enabling the viewer to possess an understanding of any Hitchcock film before watching it. His most famous signature is his cameo appearance in each of his films, but Hitchcock also uses more technical signatures like doubling, visual contrast, and strategically placed music to create suspense.
Hitchcock has characteristics as an auteur that is apparent in most of his films, as well as this one.
...ormation of novel to film, sees Hitchcock’s responsibility as auteur. Suggesting Hitchcock as ‘creator’, attributes to Vertigo’s “perfection” (Wood, p.129) as Wood argues. Stylistic features known classically to Alfred Hitchcock movies is also what defines Hitchcock as a classic auteur, his style generates a cinematic effect which mixes effectively with his use of suspense. In returning to Cook’s discussion, she references Andrew Sarris, who argues that the “history of American cinema could be written in terms of its great directors,” (Cook, p. 411) showing the legitimacy of authorship in popular American cinema. Ultimately Cook goes on to address the changes in authorship from the 1950’s until today, featuring developments in authorship within Cinema. Overall, both Cook and Wood presented a balanced discussion on the legitimacy of Alfred Hitchcock’s auteur status.
Movies today are extremely expensive to make and are typically financed through either film studio contracts or from investors willing to take a risk. In order to be successful, movies need to be marketed and distributed either under contract by the film studios or by companies that specialize in such services. The aspects of financing, marketing and distribution of films have changed between the studio and independent systems over the years as the evolution of the film industry took place.
Alfred Hitchcock’s unique sense of filmmaking and directing has allowed him to become a very famous and well known film maker of his time. He uses similar recurring themes, elements, and techniques in many of his films to engage the viewers in more than just the film, but the meaning and focus behind the story.
Orson Welles’ production of Citizen Kane revolutionized film making by mastering the art of using cutting edge techniques to make it one of the most single revolutionary and groundbreaking films in the history of movies. Citizen Kane, released in 1941, is thought to be the single most revolutionary and groundbreaking film in the history of movies (Rotten Tomatoes). Welles used many techniques in the production of the film that were never even thought of before that point. In this way, the film Citizen Kane is an extremely innovative film and definitely pushes the limits of its genre at the time. Welles completely changed the course of the production of film by introducing a completely new way of writing, directing, and through his use of techniques.
Auteur theory holds that, ‘a director’s films reflect that director’s personal creative vision, as if he/she were the primary author. From the earliest silent films to contemporary times motion pictures have crossed over and both entertained and educated the viewing audience.
As a filmmaker, whose individual style and complete control over all elements of production, Alfred Hitchcock implied a great deal in the motion pictures that he made.
Through materialism, Kane became a self-invested individual. The highly acclaimed Citizen Kane creates drama and suspense for the viewer. Orson Welles designed this film to enhance the viewer’s opinion about light and darkness, staging, proxemics, personal theme development, and materialism. Creating one of the most astounding films in the cinematography world, Welles conveys many stylistic features as well as fundamentals of cinematography. It is an amazing film and will have an everlasting impact on the world of film.
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
The auteur theory states suggest that a film that is the best of the maker, will bear his certain signature and it will display elements that reoccur in more than one film of that specific director.
Auteur is a concept that originates in French in 1950. As its name translate to English “Author”, it is about the author. It segregates directors with unique styles and gives them more prestige. An auteur differs from other directors because they stick to their style. They are easy to distinguish. To be an auteur a director has to have three characteristics that would identify them: Technic, style, and interior meaning. This last one is more abstract, though. There are many directors that are considered auteur. Let us compare two great directors that fit into this definition. What are style, and technically used by Alfred Hitchcock and Akira Kurosawa?
The purpose of this research assignment is to put forward a convincing argument in how digital technology in the last four years have completely revolutionised the whole film industry. This thesis will attempt to focus on the main disciplines of film making and the impact that technology has had on each area. Firstly, this article will look at recent changes in the pre-production area of film making followed by what new equipment and storage facilities are being used during film production. Next is arguable the biggest transformation in the film industry as a result of technology, namely the post production stage. New methods of film distribution are explored followed by the negative impact that technology has had on the film industry with the main focus being on the illegal distribution of copyrighted film footage. New ways in post-theatre film distribution is also explored and the impact that continual break-through technologies are having on the education and training of professionals working within the film industry. Finally an examination of the impact of computer generated graphics on the film industry is concluded by a brief discussion on what the future may hold for the film industry.