The document discusses auteur theory in film, which proposes that the director is the primary author or 'auteur' of a film, with a recognizable and distinctive personal style. It originated with French New Wave directors like Truffaut, Chabrol, and Godard in the 1960s. Auteur films tend to be more stylistically sophisticated and give the director almost complete control over the filmmaking process. Critics argue it ignores the collaborative nature of filmmaking, but proponents believe successful auteur directors can withstand commercial pressures to impose their personal artistic visions. The document tasks analyzing films by Tim Burton to determine if they can be considered auteur films based on his distinctive style, recurring themes of misfits, and other signature

1. Auteur theory Auteur film Director Is the ‘author’ not the writer Director’s style is distinctive and recognizable Clear influence over the look, feel and language of the film Origins in French New Wave Cinema of the 1960s e.g. Truffaut Chabrol & Godard Auteur films tend to be more stylistically sophisticated and distinctive in terms of mise-en-scene. In an industry which is highly collaborative, the auteur-director has almost complete control over the film-making process Favours style over content; artistic expression over commercialism

2. Andrew Sarris: The strong director imposes his own personality on a film; the weak director allows the personalities of others to run rampant. Hitchcock, Kubrick, Orson Welles, Nicholas Roeg , Coen brothers are among the many who could be considered to be ‘auteur’-directors. Arguably, every director who has made a non-mainstream film could be defined as an ‘auteur’. A real auteur however is one who manages to combine commercial success with artistic merit

3. Criticisms of auteur theory Every director has his/her own style of film-making; so every director could be considered an auteur Ignores the collaborative nature of film In favour of auteur theory successful auteur-directors can stand up to producers and studio executives in the face of real commercial pressures to make genre films whose formula has been tried and tested in the market-place

4. Task Watch any films by Tim Burton To what extent can they be described as ‘auteur’ films Look at: Distinctive style similar themes e.g. the misfit/ outsider Other recurring elements (actors, music etc) Gothic aspects Use of animation