What is an Auteur? - Seminole Cinema: SEHS Film



IB Film: Year Two, W35.2The Director’s Obsessions is an Auteur?Alfred Hitchcock?could be considered the poster child for Auteur Theory.The writers who proposed auteur theory felt one of the justifications for the idea was that a director like Hitchcock, who worked for the?studio system?and also worked mostly in a single genre, could still be easily identified as a unique influence on his films.The fact that he worked in a factory style of filmmaking could not mask the fact that his films were the work of a singular imagination. The director's interests, perhaps even the director's obsessions, were clear within the entire body of his work.Hitchcock's genre was the thriller, a loosely defined genre that often runs the gamut from mystery?to?horror?and even as far as spy films, though in all cases focusing on the?suspense?that can be created by their premise.We will look at Hitchcock's films through a number of theoretical lenses, but all of these viewpoints will depend on the idea that Hitchcock is an auteur.?Francois Truffaut?said:“He exercises such complete control over all the elements of his films and imprints his personal concepts at each step of the way, Hitchcock has a distinctive style of his own.He is undoubtedly one of the few filmmakers on the horizon today whose screen signature can be identified as soon as the picture begins.”?[Hitchcock: A Definitive Study of Alfred Hitchcock?by Francois Truffaut, Simon & Schuster, revised edition (1 Jan 1986)]We will look at Hitchcock through the lenses of gender theory, psychological film theory (a branch of film theory in which the insights of clinical psychology are used to analyse both the underlying assumptions of the film's creation, as well as events and characters in the film's narrative)?and formalism,?but first let us consider what makes Hitchcock an auteur.The Making of an AuteurWhen thinking about an individual director and whether or not they are an auteur, one has to consider the director's?oeuvre.?In the case of a film director, we are looking at the similarities between many different works and discovering the shared qualities.In all of Hitchcock's films there is a precise control of filmic elements, such as shot choice and editing. Hitchcock's films were meticulously storyboarded (in fact this planning stage was the stage the director enjoyed the most).He, apparently, was so aware of the timing of the effects he wanted to achieve that he could say how many feet of film had to be used for a particular shot.His manipulation of the audience extended to the audio track. Though he was not responsible for the creation of sound, he often collaborated with the same people.?Bernard Herrmann?created the shrieking strings for?Psycho?(1960), the mysterious and haunting music of?Vertigo?(1958), and assisted with the electronic bird sounds used as the only soundtrack in?The Birds?(1963).Frequently, collaboration can lead to disagreement.Originally, Hitchcock had planned on using no music in the shower sequence in?Psycho, but after much argument, he agreed with Herrmann that music made the scene more effective.Another element to examine when looking at a director's?oeuvre?is mise-en-scene.Do we see similar elements on view again and again?In Hitchcock's case, casting of principal roles frequently made use of similar kinds of actresses and actors.Similar kinds of sets were employed, often designed to emphasise the idea that the audience was watching the characters in the film without their knowledge.In this, and other set decisions, Hitchcock was apparently influenced by the American artist?Edward Hopper.Sub-plotWe will return to Edward Hopper when we look at the formal elements in Hitchcock's work, but first consider for a moment how this famous artwork,?Nighthawks at the Diner, shares many elements with Hitchcock's films.??For instance, note that?the lighting has a sharp contrast between light and shadow that make the mood mysterious.?It is obviously late, but our attention is drawn to the relationships we can see through the big glass window of the diner.?In fact, we are a voyeur (like an audience watching a movie) looking at people who are unaware of us.?What are their relationships, the man and woman who are together and talking to the Chef, and the man who sits significantly apart from them? ?Is he lonely??Perhaps most importantly, why is the perspective of the picture the perspective of someone in the street at night watching all these people?Are we?watching events going on, even more lonely, more isolated than the single man who sits alone in the diner??The perspective of the audience, the place from where the audience watches, was vitally important—a fact both Hopper and Hitchcock knew.?In Hitchcock's case, probably the most significant use of this idea is the film?Rear Window, where much of the film is shown from the perspective of a protagonist who has broken his leg and so is essentially immobile, forced to watch a murder unfold through the windows of the apartment building across the courtyard from his own room.?How will you deal with the audience in your own films?One element of the mise-en-scene that is a Hitchcock tradition is the director's?cameos.These are short appearances in the film by the director, which are almost hidden in the background of events.Apparently, Hitchcock began these because there were not enough actors around to fill the backgrounds, but they became a tradition and a sort of?in-joke?for the director as time went on.View -?Hitchcock's?cameosFinally, a key element to look at in terms of authorship are the qualities of the?narrative?itself.Frequently involving mistaken identity and the idea of being trapped, even imprisoned, in a situation that is not of ones' own making, Hitchcock's particular brand of suspense is so definitional that many other directors have emulated him, from Francois Truffaut, to?Brian De Palma, and even?Mel Brooks?in his comic version of Hitchcock's film,?High Anxiety.Hitchcock's authorial stamp is so definitive the name for his kind of movie is 'Hitchcockian'.Jump CutView the prescribed films?Psycho?and?The Birds.?While you watch?Psycho?and?The Birds, consider all the elements that make Hitchcock unique, and also those elements that have influenced other films you have seen.?Review -?Psycho?(1960)Review -?The Birds (1963) ................
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