Introductory Film Studies: Auteur Theory

Screen & Sound
24 Jan 202312:10
EducationalLearning
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TLDRThe video examines the concept of a film director as the 'author' of a movie, known as auteur theory. It traces the historical origins and development of auteur theory, from directors like Orson Welles to critics like Andrew Sarris. The script explores opposing perspectives like screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz's claim that he deserved more credit for Citizen Kane than Welles. It also looks at alternatives like Schreiber theory that focuses on the screenwriter. Ultimately, the video advocates using auteur theory as an analytical tool while acknowledging its limitations in capturing the collaborative filmmaking process.

Takeaways
  • 😀 Outdoor theory posits the film director as the central creative force or 'author' behind a movie
  • 🎥 Other major creative roles like screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor contribute significantly to a film's creation
  • 🎞 The history of 'auteur theory' traces back to 1940s critics seeing directors as using film techniques to express a personal vision
  • 👨‍🎤 Orson Welles and the making of Citizen Kane sparked debates about directing versus writing roles in authorship
  • 💡 Pauline Kael criticized auteur theory's focus on directors overvaluing other contributions
  • 📝 David Kipen proposed an alternative 'Schreiber theory' centering the screenwriter as the author
  • 🔍 It's important to connect a director's style and technical choices to their thematic interests
  • 🎬 Studying a director's body of work can reveal how their worldview evolves across their career
  • 🎞️ Considering genre helps contextualize and compare different directors' approaches
  • 😊 While imperfect, auteur theory remains an useful framework for analysis if applied judiciously
Q & A

  • Who first proposed the idea that a film director uses cameras and other equipment as a 'writing instrument' to express their vision?

    -Alexandra Astrock first used the term 'camera stylo' or 'camera pen' to describe this idea in 1948.

  • How did François Truffaut build upon Astrock's 'camera stylo' concept?

    -Truffaut developed the concept of 'politique des auteurs', championing certain directors like Hitchcock and Hawks as auteurs who expressed themselves and their worldviews through film.

  • Who popularized the term 'auteur theory' in English?

    -Andrew Sarris turned Truffaut's 'politique des auteurs' into the English term 'auteur theory', ranking directors on their ability to create a worldview over their careers.

  • What film is often cited as ending the creative freedom directors enjoyed during the 'New Hollywood' era?

    -The costly failure of Michael Cimino's 'Heaven's Gate' in 1980 is often blamed for studios regaining control and limiting directors' creative autonomy.

  • What is the main argument made against auteur theory by Pauline Kael?

    -Kael argued that Orson Welles unfairly took sole credit for 'Citizen Kane' when Herman Mankiewicz deserved much credit for the screenplay.

  • What alternative theory to auteur theory centers the screenwriter as the main creative force behind a film?

    -David Kipen developed 'Schreiber theory' in 2006 to position the screenwriter, not the director, as the primary author of a film.

  • What are some useful starting points for identifying a director's style and tendencies?

    -Looking at technical elements like shot composition, editing pace, use of lighting and color, and noticing similarities between characters and plots across their films.

  • Why is genre analysis a useful complement to studying a director's body of work?

    -It enables seeing how their style and thematic interests align with or diverge from the conventions of genres they work within.

  • What limits of auteur theory should be acknowledged?

    -That it oversimplifies film authorship as centered on one visionary figure when many others significantly shape a film.

  • How can connecting a director's techniques to their themes lead to deeper understanding?

    -It moves beyond just noticing tendencies in isolation to seeing how stylistic choices tie into their ideological, philosophical or artistic preoccupations.

Outlines
00:00
🎥 How outdoor theory challenges the idea of a director as sole creative force

This paragraph introduces outer theory, the idea that a film's director is its central creative force and author. It notes that while directors guide major creative decisions, filmmaking involves many collaborators with creative input. The history and criticism of outer theory is overviewed.

05:01
🎞️ The rise and fall of the auteur director in Hollywood history

This paragraph traces the rise of outer theory in 1950s French film criticism, its adoption in America as auteur theory, and its purported decline after some high-profile directorial flops. It argues this narrative of the director's power rising and falling is oversimplified.

10:02
👩‍🎨 Challenging the director's claim to authorship

This paragraph examines the famous debate over who deserves credit for Citizen Kane, often cited as evidence against outer theory's focus on the director as sole author. It introduces ideas from critics who argue no single person can claim authorship of a film.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡screenplay
A screenplay is the written script that provides dialogue, scene descriptions, and actions for a film. Screenplays are an important part of filmmaking, providing the raw story material that directors adapt into a film. The video discusses debates around whether the screenplay writer or director should be considered the author of a film.
💡director
The director is the creative leader in charge of bringing a film to life. They guide actors, work with cinematographers on camera shots, and collaborate with editors on the final product. The auteur theory posits that the director should be considered the author and creative force behind a film.
💡authorship
Film authorship refers to who is considered the creative driving force and originator of a film. The auteur theory champions the director as a film's author, while critics suggest filmmaking involves many contributors and collaborative creative decisions.
💡auteur theory
The auteur theory proposes that a film reflects the director's creative vision and inner worldview. It suggests the director is the primary creative force shaping all aspects of a film in the way that a writer is the author of a novel.
💡Citizen Kane
The 1941 film Citizen Kane, considered one of the greatest ever made, sparked debates over its authorship between director Orson Welles and screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. This illustrated controversies around assigning sole authorship of films.
💡technique
The script advises analyzing the persistent technical filmmaking techniques used across a director's works like shot symmetry in Wes Anderson's films. This reveals artistic tendencies and can be connected to recurrent themes.
💡genre
Looking at how a director engages with, challenges, or evolves film genres over their career shows how their worldview changes. Eg. Clint Eastwood deconstructing Western genre tropes he helped popularize.
💡preoccupation
A director's thematic preoccupations refer to ideas, concepts, and themes they repeatedly explore across films revealing their core interests.
💡criticism
The video notes criticisms of the auteur theory like a collaborative model better fits filmmaking's group creative process rather than assigning sole authorship to the director.
💡evolution
The video suggests tracing how a director's style, relationship with film genres, and thematic explorations evolve over their career to understand how their worldview changes over time.
Highlights

A film's creative decisions are typically made by quite a few people

The director usually gets the final word on a film's creative elements

The centering of directors as films' authors has its detractors

Schreiber Theory centers the screenwriter rather than the director as the true author of a film

It emphasizes the degree to which film is a collaborative medium

There's plenty of space for new understandings of film authorship

Identify techniques that persist across a director's films

Connect a director's use of technical elements to their thematic preoccupations

Think about how directors use technical elements to advance a thesis, explore an idea, or say something about a theme

Pair analysis of a director's tendencies with analysis of the genre they seem to operate in

Trace the evolution of a director's worldview across their career arc

Outdoor theory may not capture all nuances of filmmaking but is a useful shorthand

It enables connections to be drawn between a director's body of work

Trying to apply an older model of single authorship to a collaborative medium

Useful as an analytical tool even if doesn't fully capture film's complexity

Transcripts

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