Lecture 12 Authorship and Style

1. Lecture 12 Authorship and Style Professor Michael Green Fernando Meirelles directs Ralph Fiennes in The Constant Gardener (2005)

2. Previous Lecture • Genre Recognition • Genre History • Social Functions of Genre • Genre and Hardboiled (1992)

3. This Lecture • Style • Authorship • Some Notable Auteurs

4. Style in Cinema Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) Directed by Terry Gilliam Lesson 12: Part I

5. What is Style? Style is the repeated and salient use of film techniques characteristic of a single film or a group of films. Lost in Translation (2003) Directed by Sofia Coppola

6. Stylization • Style is often thought of in terms of flashiness, or film techniques that call attention to themselves. Examples include the approach of such directors as Terry Gilliam, Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan and Spike Lee. • The films of such directors are often thought of as stylized, but in reality, every film is the product of individual choices and therefore has a style.

7. Example

8. Stylistic Patterns Across Films • Stylistic patterns can be seen in several films by the same filmmaker. • Martin Scorsese’s use of rock soundtracks • Watch the clips

9. Stylistic Patterns • Are a major part of any film. • Deep focus cinematography in Citizen Kane

10. Group Style • Refers to the consistent use of techniques across the work of several filmmakers. • German Expressionism • Soviet Montage • Kung Fu movies • American Film Noir

11. Film Noir

12. Style and the Filmmaker • A film’s style results from a mix of historical constraints and deliberate choices. • Typically, the filmmaker makes certain technical choices and adheres to them throughout the film. • A few techniques might stand out as varying from the film’s normal usage – in a dream sequence, for example – but in general, a film tends to rely on consistent usage of certain techniques.

13. Some Stylistic Patterns • Jump cuts and handheld camera in Breathless. • The shark motif in the score for Jaws. • Long takes and handheld camera in Children of Men • Fast editing in The Bourne Supremacy • Wipe cuts in The Empire Strikes Back • Elaborate make-up and costumes in Pan’s Labyrinth.

14. Style and Narrative • Filmmakers often plan the style to reflect the progression of the scene or the overall story. • Dead Man Walking • The Silence of the Lambs

15. Style and the Viewer • Although we’re seldom conscious of it, we tend to have expectations about style. • If we see two characters in a long shot, we expect a cut to a medium shot or close-up. • If a character speaks we expect to hear diegetic sound that is faithful to its source. • If the character walks rightward, as if to leave the frame, we expect the camera to follow.

16. Analyzing Film Style • How do we analyze a film’s style? • Step 1: Determine the organizational structure. • Step 2: Identify the salient techniques used. • Step 3: Trace out patterns of techniques • Step 4: Propose functions for the salient techniques and the patterns they form.

17. Determine the Structure • Step 1: Determine the organizational structure. • What kind of narrative is it? Or is it a narrative at all? • How does it manipulate causality, time and space? • Does it use parallelism? • Does it choose between restricted and unrestricted knowledge?

18. Identify Salient Techniques • Step 2: Identify the salient techniques used. • Survey technical aspects of the film: mise-en-scene, editing, sound, etc. • Which of these techniques does the film rely heavily on/emphasize? • What unconventional or original techniques are used?

19. Trace Out Patterns of Techniques • Step 3: Trace out patterns of techniques • Once you’ve identify salient techniques, notice how they are patterned. • Reflect on your own responses • Look for ways in which style reinforces patterns of formal organization. • How does the filmmaker design the film’s stylistic system to underscore moments in the drama?

20. Propose Functions • Step 4: Propose functions for the salient techniques and the patterns they form. • In other words, you are arguing for how the filmmaker is using style to create meaning. • This is at the heart of critical analysis.

21. Authorship Mira Nair directs Tabu in The Namesake (2006) Lesson 12: Part II

22. Who is a Film’s Author? • This is a question that continues to be debated and has no “right” answer. • In theory, the film’s “author” can be one of several people, or a combination of them. • However, the film’s director is commonly thought of as it’s author. • This idea was born out of a theory developed in France in the 1940s and ‘50s.

23. The Auteur Theory • The term auteur implies that the director is the primary creative source, and therefore his or her films express his or her distinctive vision of the world. • Just as “Dickensian” describes Charles Dickens literary style, so “Wellesian” might be used to describe a film exhibiting certain traits of Orson Welles’ style, such as deep focus cinematography.

24. Director as “Author” • The connection between the film director and literary author derives from the fact, historically, that French film directors also wrote or co-wrote their films. • But the French critics who advocated the idea of the auteur also argued for the artistry of Hollywood directors – that even commercial directors working for studios could be considered artists.

25. Criteria of the Auteur • The American film critic Andrew Sarris came up with several (controversial) criteria to define who qualifies: • Technical competence: A director must be capable of making a well-made film • Style: A director must demonstrate a distinguishable personality. • Themes: The films in a director’s body of work must share interior meaning.

26. Problems with the Auteur Theory • Technical competence is a weak criteria. • It penalizes directors who deliberately seek out a wide variety of styles and subjects. • It fails to acknowledge the collaborative nature of filmmaking (screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, et. al.)

27. More Problems • It implies that the director possesses conscious intentions for meaning that are always reflected in the film. But negotiating meaning in films is a complicated process that goes beyond authorial intentions and is historical and subjective.

28. Auteur Theory as Marketing • The commercial exploitation of the auteur is evident in many marketing campaigns. • Filmmakers have become cult celebrities. • Some contemporary examples include: • Spike Lee • Quentin Tarantino • Robert Rodriquez • Sofia Coppola • Wes Anderson

29. Some Notable Auteurs The Swedish director Ingmar Bergman Lesson 12: Part III

30. Auteur Profile #1: Tarantino • Elements of Style • Violence—gory, bloody • 1970s genre: music, cars • Non-linear narrative • 50’s look • Fetishization of weapons • Themes • How violence bonds men • Odd people/outcasts • Women are strong/active • Watch the clips

31. Auteur Profile #2: Coppola • Elements of Style • Use of pop music • Vibrant colors • Elaborate costumes • Themes • Youth/aging • Power of women/ beauty as control • Music as liberation • Whiteness • Watch the clip

32. Auteur Profile #3: Anderson • Elements of Style • Still camera • Unusual framing • Unique costumes • Narrative frame • Narrative freedom • Themes • Eccentrics/outcasts • Dysfunctional family • Watch the clip

33. Some Notable Auteurs Orson Welles Akira Kurosawa Citizen Kane (1941) Touch of Evil (1958) The Seven Samurai (1954) Rashômon (1950)

34. More Notable Auteurs John Ford Federico Fellini The Grapes of Wrath (1940) The Searchers (1954) La Strada (1954) 8 ½ (1963)

35. Still More Auteurs Jean Renoir Woody Allen Grand Illusion (1937) The Rules of the Game (1939) Annie Hall (1977) Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

36. Others • Alfred Hitchcock • Ingmar Bergman • Michelangelo Antonioni • Spike Lee • Martin Scorsese • Steven Spielberg • Clint Eastwood • Kathryn Bigelow

37. City of God (2002) • Directors: Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund • Lund worked with the actors and Meirelles directed the scenes and set up shots. • Only Meirelles received an Oscar nomination, not Lund – controversial. • Watch the two clips and pick out elements of the movie’s style.

38. End of Lesson 12 Next Lecture: Documentary, Animation, Experimental Film