So what’s this auteur stuff?:
So what’s this auteur stuff? Strongly influenced by film studies, the director/writer as author:
David Lynch—Twin Peaks, Wild Palms
Steven Bochco—Hill Street Blues, LA Law, NYPD Blue
Aaron Spelling—Dynasty, 90210, Melrose Place
Norman Lear—Maude, All in the Family
David E. Kelley—The Practice, Boston Public, Ally McBeal, Picket Fences, Chicago Hope
Definitions?:
Definitions? Draws from a view that art is a manifestation of the emotions, experience and worldview of the individual artist
What do they look at? A close visual and textual examination of two aspects of the work 1) the mis en scene (all the means available to a director to express her attitude toward the character—pacing, camera movement, cuts, angle and distance of the camera, content of the shot, etc.), and 2) the pattern of thematic motifs across an author’s entire work
Questions that auteur critics might ask…:
Questions that auteur critics might ask… How does this work differ/share similarities with previous works?
Is there evidence of growth, evolution, or regression?
Is this an homage?
Auteur criticism caveats:
Auteur criticism caveats The intentionalist fallacy
TV isn’t really an individual artistic creation, TV is the quintessential team production…who’s the auteur?
The writer?
The director?
The executive producer?
The network?