I will be presenting on Auteurship from chapter 1 in UFT tomorrow in class, here are some of the points that I came across in the reading. The Auteur is the person (director) who’s influence on a project is so great that they are considered the author of it. Very commonly this is the director. And there is a lot of controversy over whether there actually is an auteur when dealing with film, as film is a very collaborative effort that draws from so many different people and creative inputs. It can be said that the writer of the script can claim auteurship as well. But what makes somebody an auteur and not just a director? Four main factors were themes, biographical details, production, and aesthetics. Very often a filmmakers personal touch contributes to whether they are the auteur or not, an example of this is Tim Burton, who’s feel can be instantly noticed when watching one of his films. But is it just about quality or quantity? Do you need more than one film, and need to have a certain style to be the auteur? Even if film is a collaborate effort, how can someone like Hitchcock, a filmmaker who oversaw every aspect of his work with extreme attention to detail, not be considered the auteur of his films? The biggest question this brought up to me was who really is a films author? Is it the director? Or is it a much more collaborative effort?

Nick Tassoni