The Auteur – Author in French – Hitchcock, Kubrick..
-
a
film maker whose movies are characterised by cultural influences, leaving a
personal stamp. An Auteur has a person film language, and holds a lot of
creative control. They break rules, and do not follow a certain genre.
What makes someone an auteur? (According to Sarris – 1962 – American)
-
Technical
competence
-
Distinguishable
personality
-
Interior
meaning
Why Hitchcock?
-
Long
career in early years of film.
-
Worked
in both Europe and America.
-
Innovation
in film making.
-
Known
as the “master of suspense”.
-
Influence
in later genres like the American
Slasher, Italian Giallo, or the
psychological thriller.
-
Inspired
by avant – garde expressionism, surrealism etc..
Technical Competence of Hitchcock:
-
Expressionist
lighting
-
Story
telling visually in silent era
-
Use
of the subjective camera
-
Dolly
zoom
-
Clever
use of montage and cutting to create tension in spite of the production code.
Certain thing’s weren’t allowed to be shown, but were expressed through
montage.
1920’s
-
Hitchcock
joined the film industry around 1920, drawing the sets.
-
In
1925, he was dispatched to German as part of a apprenticeship.
-
F.W. Murnaus’ Nosferatu -1922
-
The Lodger – 1927 – One of Hitchcock’s first directed
films. Inspired by German visual arts and cinema.
-
Subjective
camera – Jamaica Inn – used by many other directors.
-
Dolly
Zoom – An unsettling camera angle - Used
in “Vertigo”
Cutting and Montage
Psycho – 1960 – He couldn’t show naked women or blood, so he fragmented
everything.
-
“a
lot of people think that cutting is taking a man from one place to another”
-
“it had to be done impressionistically, so it
was done with little bits of film”
-
“ I
think in there was about 70 pieces of film in 45 seconds”
- "the second murder in Psycho was treated quite differently"
- "if it were music, it would be tremors on the violin, then suddenly a brass instrument, to create shock"
The Directors distinguishable Personality ( Style)
- Expressionism - form evokes emotion (dark emotions)
- Cameo appearances pf the director
- Narrative is often visual rather than told through dialogue
- Certain actors are often used: Cary Grant, James Stewart, Tippi Hedren, Doris Day, Joan Fontaine - the same actors, different roles.
- Obsessive use of blondes - "Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints"
Suspense
- Generated when the audience see danger his characters cannot see
Expressionism
- Hitchcock films are not concerned with realism or naturalism
- Give them pleasure, the same pleasure they get when waking up from a nightmare"
Voyeurism, Trauma, Madness, Subjective point of view
Interior Meaning
1938 - Hitchcock leaves Gainsborough studios to work in America.
- David O Selznick introduces him to psychoanalysis
- Rebecca (1950), Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946)
- Collaboration with Dali - Spellbound
The Art of Hitchcock
Birds are always used to simulate danger, doom and gloom.
- "Birds" - 1963
- Also see in "Psycho"
- He's scared of small children and other shit
Themes That Are Revisited
- Ordinary people
- Mistaken Identity
- Espionage
- Murder
- Search for identity
- "Death drive"
- Relationship between the sexes
- Spectators
- Guilt / desire
- The nature of cinema
Critique of the Auteur
- made by the elites - often male
- It disguises the work of the people - art director, cinematographer, screen writer, sound technicians etc..
- It offers a universal view of quality
- It is often a capitalist device by selling a film by virtue of it's director.
1938 - Hitchcock leaves Gainsborough studios to work in America.
- David O Selznick introduces him to psychoanalysis
- Rebecca (1950), Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946)
- Collaboration with Dali - Spellbound
The Art of Hitchcock
Birds are always used to simulate danger, doom and gloom.
- "Birds" - 1963
- Also see in "Psycho"
- He's scared of small children and other shit
Themes That Are Revisited
- Ordinary people
- Mistaken Identity
- Espionage
- Murder
- Search for identity
- "Death drive"
- Relationship between the sexes
- Spectators
- Guilt / desire
- The nature of cinema
Critique of the Auteur
- made by the elites - often male
- It disguises the work of the people - art director, cinematographer, screen writer, sound technicians etc..
- It offers a universal view of quality
- It is often a capitalist device by selling a film by virtue of it's director.