FM4 - Varieties of Film Experience - Issues and Debates (A670QS)
Institution
WJEC
2500-word summary and essay-style analysis of Andrew Sarris Auteur theory, applied to Vertigo (1958), Rear Window (1954), Blade Runner (1982) and Alien (1979). These notes were used to revise for Film Studies WJEC A level in 2019 for which I achieved a high A* grade. Detailed and succinct analysis,...
FM4 - Varieties of Film Experience - Issues and Debates (A670QS)
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WJEC Eduqas GCE A LEVEL in FILM STUDIES
2019 New Specification
Auteur Theory Notes: Alfred Hitchcock and Ridley Scott
In film criticism, Auteur Theory refers to a director’s film that reflects their visible and
distinctive signature. ‘Auteur’ is the French term meaning ‘author’, dictating that the director
creates the film based on their personal artistic perspective. Auteurs base their films on
artistic merit as opposed to commercial value. The concept originated during the French New
Wave period (1958-1962) from a group of influential filmmakers, led by Francois Truffaut.
Truffaut first published the defining article for Auteur Theory ‘A Certain Tendency of French
Cinema’ in the magazine ‘Cahiers du Cinema’ (1954). This theory was developed and named
by Andrew Sarris in 1962 in his essay ‘Notes on Auteur Theory’. Throughout this essay,
Sarris defined Auteur Theory as three elements including technical competence, personal
style and interior meaning. These elements can be found in both Hitchcock and Scott’s films,
allowing a deeper understanding due to the conventions within genre and narrative.
Hitchcock is an irrefutable Auteur, known as the “master of suspense” due to the
psychological nature of his films. Hitchcock was known to explore taboo areas throughout his
work, from a patriarchal view point, as well as basing his films on his own life, for instance
his film "Vertigo... is alarmingly close to allegorical autobiography," John Russell Taylor
(1978). Rear Window, a “masterpiece of voyeurism” Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment
Weekly (2000), reveals Hitchcock’s critique of the audience’s obsessive paraphilia and
interior meaning that the auteur director explores throughout several texts including Vertigo
and Rear Window. Lisa’s introduction is an example of the voyeuristic objectification of
women and the male fear of emasculation, a key interior meaning that Hitchcock portrays
throughout many of his films. The first shot, the shadow slowly moving across Jeff’s face, is
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a lighting convention of the horror genre. As the audience discover that the figure is Lisa,
Hitchcock establishes Jeff’s castration anxiety due to the compulsive male gaze and the fear
that the woman will resist objectification.
This use of cinematography demonstrates Hitchcock’s technical competency, as
subtle meanings can be delineated. The following long take is a point of view shot (an
element of cinematography that Hitchcock frequently utilises, demonstrating his technical
competence and personal style), from Jeff’s perspective, encouraging the audience to
sympathise with his fear. The shot then changes to a close up two shot, connoting intimacy
between the two characters. From the beginning of this sequence, it appears that Jeff and
Lisa’s relationship is fulfilling the stereotypical male and female dynamic of the patriarchal
1950s, as the audience are forced to reduce Lisa to an object of the male gaze by witnessing
the scene through Jeff’s point of view. Another example of the reduction of Lisa’s role is the
long shot, further objectifying her. However, this dynamic shift as we learn Jeff is a more
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