Auteur Director vs Hollywood Studio System

What is ‘Auteur Theory’?

The director is the primary author of the film because of the level they are involved in the film. They have an overview/voice in the making of the film and have a recognisable style as well as similar narrative themes in their films. Collaborations and their technical approach are also elements of what makes people auteur’s.

What constitutes an Auteur? What can we look for in identifying an Auteur Director?

• A common narrative theme in their films
• A recognisable style
• Technical approach
• Collaborators
• Overview/voice

When was Hollywood’s Golden Age? Why did it begin and end? What is typical of films in this period (Classical period)?

• 1920’s – 1960’s
• Started because of the introduction of sound
• Ended because of the Paramount decree

What was the Studio System? Who were the big five?

• The studio system was a method of film production and distribution dominated by a small number of “major” studios in Hollywood (Wikipedia)
• 20th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (?)

Social/Political/Cultural contexts

What impact did WW2 have on Hollywood film production?

• Many films were inspired by the war
• For the United States, the propaganda agency that coordinated actions with the film industry was the Office of War Information. The agency worked with film makers to record and photograph wartime activities while regulating its content. The agency worked to display the war in a positive light and censored negative content like pictures of soldier insanity and casualty; pictures of American casualties were banned from being published until 1943 (Wikipedia)

What was the Vichy Government of 1940-1944? Who were the ‘Free French’?

• Vichy France is the common name of the French State headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Evacuated from Paris to Vichy in the unoccupied “Free Zone” in the southern part of metropolitan France which included French Algeria, it remained responsible for the civil administration of France as well as the French colonial empire. (Wikipedia)
• Free France and its Free French Forces were the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle during the Second World War and its military forces, that continued to fight against the Axis powers as one of the Allies after the fall of France. (Wikipedia)