The article makes the argument that the renowned director Alfred Hitchcock mmay be considered as an 'Auteur'.
The article sets out to answer the following questions:
- But what does being an Auteur mean in practice?
- Why are some directors regarded as auteurs and others not?
- How do you know when you’re watching a film directed by an auteur?
The article describes an ‘auteur’ as:
“some film directors should be regarded as the single creators of their films, much as a writer is regarded as the creator of a novel.”
"single-take shots" - the example given in the article is the opening shot from Psycho, however to add further proof to this auteur theory we can also look at the following shots some off which are more than a minute long from the film "Frenzy"
Some of the points made by Massey can be proven in just the one scene from Psycho. For example the following two points are considered by Massey to be conventions typical of a Hitchcock film:
"very precise editing to create tension and surprise" as well as "complex montage"
both of these points can obviously be seen in perhaps Hitchcock's most famous set piece; the shower scene from Psycho...
The article goes on to discuss how Hitchcock himself understood that he could use the style of his films to elicit something from the audience.
"Hitchcock believed that it was the director’s responsibility to trigger the audience’s emotional and psychological response by what he called ‘pure film’."
Further evidence of this point comes in the form of an archived interview with the director himself whereby he outlines his own feelings of style vs content:
Elaine has started to cover some of the points made by this thorough essay from the MediaMagazine website - however there is much more that could be discussed and, of course, an abundance of evidence out there that could be used to illustrate the main findings of the essay.
“some film directors should be regarded as the single creators of their films, much as a writer is regarded as the creator of a novel.”
It goes on to assert that auteurs: “impose a personal vision on their films” - by this they mean that the director very much has their own personal stamp or signature that makes films recognisable or unique as theirs.
The article lists many of the conventions that appear in many of Hitchcock’s films using Psycho as a particular case study.
Some of these auteur conventions revolve around themes and plot points but many of them are visually recognisable.
Some of which include...
The article lists many of the conventions that appear in many of Hitchcock’s films using Psycho as a particular case study.
Some of these auteur conventions revolve around themes and plot points but many of them are visually recognisable.
Some of which include...
"single-take shots" - the example given in the article is the opening shot from Psycho, however to add further proof to this auteur theory we can also look at the following shots some off which are more than a minute long from the film "Frenzy"
Some of the points made by Massey can be proven in just the one scene from Psycho. For example the following two points are considered by Massey to be conventions typical of a Hitchcock film:
"very precise editing to create tension and surprise" as well as "complex montage"
both of these points can obviously be seen in perhaps Hitchcock's most famous set piece; the shower scene from Psycho...
The article goes on to discuss how Hitchcock himself understood that he could use the style of his films to elicit something from the audience.
"Hitchcock believed that it was the director’s responsibility to trigger the audience’s emotional and psychological response by what he called ‘pure film’."
Further evidence of this point comes in the form of an archived interview with the director himself whereby he outlines his own feelings of style vs content:
Elaine has started to cover some of the points made by this thorough essay from the MediaMagazine website - however there is much more that could be discussed and, of course, an abundance of evidence out there that could be used to illustrate the main findings of the essay.
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