Film Theory Lecture

Film Theory Lecture

The Auteur- Hitchcock 'Good Evening Ladies & Gentlemen...'

What is an auteur? A filmmaker whos movies are characterisied b there creative influence.

These are created by people such as contemporaray tim burton., alfred hitchcock these are directors of know for haing there own personal stamp on films.

Cashiers du Cinema-

Auteurs french for author know for control over cultural objects.

Alfred Hitchcock on one of journal covers

History of autreurs as then you will be taken seriously if you was a director and know as an artist and create original work and have a personal film language if you are an auteurs. Auteurs often start genres but they break the rules they may start them off but they do not follow them.

Auteur Theory? Sarris said that three things that distiguished between and auteur and a film director that is that it competency of the techincal director and they meaning is more interior therefore no superficial and is more direct Finally there is a more distinguisable personallity.

Why hitchcock? His firt film was British and he worked in Europe and Amercia therefore globally know. He was very innovative in filmmaking and partly to do with problem solving. He is know as the master of suspence and is known to create the audience receptors of the film. He was inspired by Avant Grade ATy movements and surrealism about dreams but still today there is still a whole audiecne that is mainstream to auteur hitchcock.

Techinal Competence: His use of expressionist lihgtening and he is a really good story teller and he can do this visually. The subjective camera is where you alighten the camera with the characters of the film. He is the master of montage as he takes it too a higher level he did this due to the restriction of nudity therefore uses this to show horror without showing anything explicit.

1920: Hitchcock started off as a art director and he satrats drawing and he started to work for a film company Gainsboruogh. Which that they are more interested in movement rather than realism.

When on his vists in Germnay he see the work of Nosferatu this is not showing the monster and showing it through the shadow. Therefore no shock factor.

The clip shows how they showed movement without using sound. They use da swaying chandelier and shot the man walking on a glass floor and shot it underneath so could see the soles of his feet. This was very innovative and would have been a big problem solver in those times.

The character peering through a whole.

This is from the eye of the character. By doing this Hitchcock is experimentign with the audiences perception.

Dolly Zoom: This is showed in the film Vertigo this is seen as Hitchocck masterpiece. This technique is showed to the fear of a mans height.

Vertigo: The clip shows a dolly zoom which shows the distance and servere perspective to give the felling of highest. A really small character to show scale on the last shot. As hitchcock doesnt like showing realism he likes drama.

Cutting montage:

This is a storyboard for Psycho, 1960. This is the era of the code so you couldnt show a naked woman or blood so he cuts everything an the image & music goes so well toegther it has become a classic. Hitchcock is sveyr eleliquent and he doesnt keep his ideas to himself.

Hitchcock Interview: The picture cycle contained quite an amount of cinematic approach to the content. He had to do it impressionistically when the woman got stabbed in the shower. There was 70 pieces of film in 45 seconds.

Orchestration: Loud & soft notes. The second murder in psycho is taken quiet differently, the man climbing the stairs is a medium shot then the camera is taken very high so we are looking down on the the whole scene, they are two tiny figures due to the high shot. Using the size of the image to create shock.

Pure Cinemimatics: Close up of man then shows what he sees and then cut back to reaction to what he sees then he smiles therefore shows a kind character and systematic. If you changed the shot of what he sees then you would see a totally different character.

Personal Style:

Hitchcock shows signifiers to tell us its an hitchocock film. As its idea of expressionism as he is interested in emotion. Usually the darker emotions. he uses cameo appearance as he is alwaya in the film somewehere even if its just in background. He is not interested in words as he is more interested in visual narrative. He has a obssesive use of blondes, And idea of suspence this is linked with the blondes as they show the best suspence.

Janet lee, doris day, etc... They are all blonde and the significance of the hair as that is the idea of sexual repression. When the hair is down is shows bee liberated.

Suspence is genereted when the audience can see more than what the characters can see. He likes the build up rather than the ending. His wroks evoke terror in the mind of a view as he shows very little blood as the imagination is used theough the montage and there for more freighting than what you would actually see as the imagination is more adventurous.

This is equivalent to Hitchcock Mona Lisa. Vision & sight is used mainly.

The idea of trauma as it can cause people to behave in certain ways.

He also is interested in madness. And creates insanity.

Uncanny nature of fill is all about doubling up and we see her profile of her blonde hair he follows her around and in different situation.

She believes that she is the one in this painting. The necklace is also significant.

Scotty saves her in the herioic style. When she jumps into the river.

The idea of depth, as is it always green and everliving.

This shows guilt and love and that he has fallen into madness. This is very abstract and stylist. But to evoke the rational mind it is appropriate.

Clip: This is a very surreal dream sequence as Hitchcock was influenced by surrealism.

The meaning of the tree is the everliving Judy is wearing green and therefore uses this to connote her to Madeline.

This is then shows the idea of reliving as the colour has symbolism and has a deeper meaning.

Through the film he transforms her into Madeline.

Colour is used in expressionistic way.

Himself signing the film. This is Hitchcock as the background character. He gives himself the right to create a self portrait.

Interior Meaning: Vertigo is the idea of living for ever or been reborn is the deeper meaning of vertigo. In 1930 he leaves Britain and goes to work in America. Then he introduces to psychoanalysis, Hitchcock then went onto making 3 films with David O Selznick.

Collaborated with a Salvador Dali. He did a film of surrealist.

Dream Sequence Clip (Spellbound):

Using the scissors to cut the eyeball rather than graphically. Its about imagination.

This is inspired by Salvador painting and collaborating with realism.

Birds: This is the crow to fear & doom.

First seen Norman Bates we know he is a bad character because of the birds in the background.

The pot introduces birds.

The idea of Doom & Gloom. I am scared easily

Themes that are revisited:

Murder, madness, mistaken identity, espionage, relationship of order & chaos, feel of guilt, relationship between sexes & gender politics, spectators.

Gerald Mast: Even though technology moves on there is something we can keep looking at and responding to.

Critique of Auteurs:

A lot of directors that are seen auteurs are male.

Disguises the work of others when we say Hitchcock do we mean his wife as well?

Universal viewer film of quality

It is a capitalists device to the sell film by virtue of director. Eg, Steven Spielberg his name is attached to other films even though he may have only played a small part to sell the film.

The death of the author

Hitchcock tells us what he wants to know or is it open to interpretations.

This is idea of an auteur is an illusion as films are complicated and are created by many people.