Auteur Theory

In film criticism, auteur theory holds that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the primary "auteur". In spite of—and sometimes even because of—the production of the film as part of an industrial process, the author's creative voice is distinct enough to shine through all kinds of studio interference and through the collective process. In some cases, film producers are considered to exert a similar "auteur" influence on films they have produced.In law, the film is treated as a work of art, and the auteur, as the creator of the film, is the original copyright holder. Under European Union law, the film director is considered the author or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory.
Auteur theory has influenced film criticism since 1954, when it was advocated by film director and critic François Truffaut. This method of film analysis was originally associated with the French New Wave and the film critics who wrote for the French film review periodical Cahiers du Cinéma. Auteur theory was developed a few years later in America through the writings of The Village Voice critic Andrew Sarris. Sarris used auteur theory as a way to further the analysis of what defines serious work through the study of respected directors and their films.

Andrew Goodwin: Theory of Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin has identified a number of key features in music videos which are:

- A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
- A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.
- Genre-related style and iconography present.
- Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.
- Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
- Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.

He says that music videos are often constructed by the link between the visuals and the song plus the artist. Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close-ups of the artists gives them the representation and publicity they require. Voyeurism is used to increase the video’s appeal, particularly to males, whilst intertextuality is often employed in humorous videos.

Many of these features are present in all music videos, depending on the genre of the song and the aim of the record company/artist.

FaceBook question

Props/Equipment list

Props list.

Guitar x2

Microphone

Bottle of alcohol

Cigarette

Pouch of flour (drugs)

Party- cups, cans, chairs, alcohol, stereo

Equipment list.

Video camera

Tripod

Mac

Spotlight

Tapes

Digital camera

Personnel involved.

Courtney Schofield              Filming

Hannah Ward

Tom Wolfe

Lauren Chappell                 Main characters

Sarah Rose

Matt Walton

Tom Dalaimo                     Band members

Ryan Thompson

Shelley Wiseman

Sam Hassan

Chellbi Stennett

Stephen Walsh                            Party people

Matt Walton

Ryan Thompson

Lighting Design

Opening scene- Main character is in an empty, rundown warehouse with no artificial lighting used as it needs to have a dark atmosphere, portraying the fact that he has lost everything and this is now his home. The cold weather and dark nights will add to this atmosphere as it will emphasise his loss.

House party scene- Normal house lights/lamps will be used to create the party feel that the audience should be familiar with.

London scene- The bright lights used around London will help the audience realise that the main character has lost his rational thinking, creating the chaos and confusion being portrayed.

Flashbacks- The flashbacks will be edited in black and white so the audience can distinguish between the past and the present.

Costume and Make-up plan

Main male character- Rough-looking, slightly alternative style clothing in order to portray his rough lifestyle and attitude to drinking and smoking. Make-up to make him appear run-down and unhealthy due to his drug and alcohol abuse; dark eyes, pale skin.

Main female character- Stylish everyday clothing, nothing out of the ordinary, to show she is a normal girl and to make sure the focus is not kept on her as the story is based around the male character. Natural make-up to keep her image simple, with mascara running in order to show the audience she has been crying which will help to convey her pain.

Second female character- Short dress, promiscuous image in order to lure the male character. Lots of make-up to show the difference between the two female characters.

Party people- Stylish, dressy clothing to portray your everyday teenagers.

Decisions Script

1.       What was the final decision on our song?

Our final song choice was ‘White Blank Page’ by Mumford & Sons. We picked the song because we wanted to make a narrative based video and we felt that the lyrics were appropriate in helping us to create an effective storyline. We chose a song by Mumford & Sons because we felt the band had a unique approach to music as opposed to the mainstream music currently in the charts.

2.       Have we got permission from the band allowing us to use their song for our project?

No, not yet. We could contact them through their FaceBook page or reach them through their fan site. The job of contacting them will be left down to Hannah. 

3.       Have we  completed our storyboard for our music video?

Yes, our storyboard is finished, this will now help us when filming so we know what goes in what order and when certain things need to be happening. It will also help us when setting us different camera shots and angles as we will know exactly what shots we are using.

4.       What settings will we be using in our music video?

We plan to set the opening scene in an empty, rundown warehouse to show how the main character has lost everything due to his abuse of drugs and alcohol. The dark colours will portray his emotions of being alone and distraught, however the bright colours of the graffiti will convey the chaos and confusion he is feeling from the effects of the drugs. The scenes in which we are showing the band playing, we intend to set in a field in order to keep with the theme of a typical Mumford & Sons music video. Another setting we will be using is a house party. We are using this setting because after conducting our questionnaire, this is one of the settings our audience wanted to see in our music video.

5.       Have we decided on who will be playing our characters in our video?

Yes, we have a good idea on who we will be using but still need to contact a couple of them to see if they are willing to take part in our video. We have also decided on back up actors incase the main actors for one reason or another cannot take part. We have had to decide on people who have a certain look to be in our video. For example, the main male character has to have a rugged, unshaven look as he has been left homeless and is currently abusing drugs and alcohol. If the actor looks too well groomed and looked after, it will not coincide with the concept of the video.

6.       What costumes have we chosen to use in our music video?

For the main male character, we have chosen to dress him in rough-looking, slightly alternative style clothing in order to portray his rough lifestyle and attitude to drinking and smoking.

7.       Have we decided on the lighting for the different shots?

Yes, various lighting effects will be used for different scenes. The opening scene in which the main character is in an empty, rundown warehouse, there will be no artificial lighting used as it needs to have a dark atmosphere, portraying the fact that he has lost everything and this is now his home. The cold weather will add to this atmosphere as the cold days and dark nights will emphasise his loss. The scene with the house party will use normal house lights/lamps to create the party feel that the audience should be familiar with. When we film the scenes in London where it becomes apparent to the audience that the main character has lost his rational thinking, the bright lights will help to create the chaos and confusion being portrayed.

8.       Are there any recurring themes in our music video?

The theme that frequently appear in our video is loss. The main male character has lost his home and his loved one due to his drug and alcohol abuse. He also loses his rational thinking because of the effects of the drugs. This is apparent to the audience through the use of random images that the main character thinks he is seeing but are not actually there. The overall video has quite a dark feel to it, leaving the audience thinking about the message being conveyed. We aim to discourage the use of drugs by showing the audience how they can go from having everything to nothing.