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For the film buffs
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
For one of my uni assignments I have to talk about the auteur theory and i'm using Hitchcock and the film, The Birds (1963) as my examples.
The autuer theory basically says that a director is the sole author of a film and has their own creative stylistic signature on their film, making them instantly recognisable as their film - think Tim Burton.
I have to include a scene from The Birds to analyse that clearly demonstrates Hitchcock's auteur status.
For those who know the film can you please suggest a scene i can use??
The autuer theory basically says that a director is the sole author of a film and has their own creative stylistic signature on their film, making them instantly recognisable as their film - think Tim Burton.
I have to include a scene from The Birds to analyse that clearly demonstrates Hitchcock's auteur status.
For those who know the film can you please suggest a scene i can use??
Post edited by JustV on
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Comments
From a purely stylistic point of view the scene in the attic with the bird attack shows of his increasing violence against female characters - which can be seen progressing through Marnie to it's peak in Frenzy.
However it's probably easiest to focus on the school playground scene. You can see his love of suspense, but most importantly the themes of the ordinary being more dangerous or sinister than it really appears to be. It's also a masterpiece in Hitchcockian suspense, the slowly building tension, the casual nature of the threat as it begins. The lone and excluded female character - apart from the world around her (Psycho, Marnie, Vertigo)
I'd definately argue that auteur theory should consider the thematic as well as the sylistic component. Sam Fuller, for example, probably doesn't have a strong enough style in all his films due to a workmanlike professionalism, but his themes, right through the Stell Helmet to white Dog overwhelm the involvement of others.
Luckily i did a presentation on this in college and i still have alot of the info i used then
But yeah, I think in addition to the narrative elements and visual style, many directors have methods of production that lend themselves to their auteur status. You couldn't discuss Lar von Trier without mentioning his production for example, which includes such things as having the entire crew naked for the shoot, the Dogme rules, and the strange demands he places on his actors. And with Hitchcock, this tends to be his planning.
I'm not a film buff but when I read that she had to do about The Birds that's exactly the scene that jumped to mind first, so at least from a laymen's perspective it seems to be what stands out about the film.
You are all such clever people.
It was only a few weeks ago but i can hardly remember what i wrote in that essay... thats kinda bad.