The debate of whether a director can be called an auteur/have authorship is one with strong arguments on both sides. Orson Welles was an outsider to the studio system and directed only 13 full-length films throughout his career. Due to this, Welles often struggled for creative control over his films from the major studios, and his films were either heavily edited or remained unreleased. He has been praised as a major creative force and as ‘the ultimate auteur’.
Welles and his editor, Robert Wise, had originally created a 148-minute cut of The Magnificent Ambersons before the studio took over; narrowing it down to a much shorter 88-minute length ready for release. This was due to the preview audiences and the depressing ending, so RKO Studio …show more content…
On one hand he was neither the sole producer of the film nor did he work alone on it, but on the other hand most of his films include the same stylistic patterns throughout, making it easy to identify if one is watching an Orson Welles production. Popular modern debate suggests that an ‘auteur’ may be a select group of people rather than a sole individual, as many film directors work with the same people on each film. “When you look closely at auteurs, what you often find is that their real genius is for the the assembly of creative teams, trusting the right people with the right tasks at the right time.” (Lehrer, 2011) However, Orson Welles did not work with the same people on each film he created. He did however have a very unique directorial style throughout the era in which he …show more content…
Lucy, Eugene, and Uncle Jack talk outside in the snow as George and Isabel stand in the doorway looking out at them. Welles does this throughout the film: the characters speaking while out of frame, their voices disembodied.
Auteur theory has influenced film criticism since the 1950s, when it was proposed by critic François Truffaut, who expressed that directors should use mise-en-scene to imprint their vision upon a film. It draws from the work of cinema enthusiasts who helped to compile ‘Cahiers du Cinema’ and argued that the director's vision should be reflected from within the films they create. Cahiers du Cinema founder, André Bazin explained that auteur theory was a way of choosing the personal factor in an artistic creation as a point of reference, and then presuppose that it would continue from one film onto the
Welles and his editor, Robert Wise, had originally created a 148-minute cut of The Magnificent Ambersons before the studio took over; narrowing it down to a much shorter 88-minute length ready for release. This was due to the preview audiences and the depressing ending, so RKO Studio …show more content…
On one hand he was neither the sole producer of the film nor did he work alone on it, but on the other hand most of his films include the same stylistic patterns throughout, making it easy to identify if one is watching an Orson Welles production. Popular modern debate suggests that an ‘auteur’ may be a select group of people rather than a sole individual, as many film directors work with the same people on each film. “When you look closely at auteurs, what you often find is that their real genius is for the the assembly of creative teams, trusting the right people with the right tasks at the right time.” (Lehrer, 2011) However, Orson Welles did not work with the same people on each film he created. He did however have a very unique directorial style throughout the era in which he …show more content…
Lucy, Eugene, and Uncle Jack talk outside in the snow as George and Isabel stand in the doorway looking out at them. Welles does this throughout the film: the characters speaking while out of frame, their voices disembodied.
Auteur theory has influenced film criticism since the 1950s, when it was proposed by critic François Truffaut, who expressed that directors should use mise-en-scene to imprint their vision upon a film. It draws from the work of cinema enthusiasts who helped to compile ‘Cahiers du Cinema’ and argued that the director's vision should be reflected from within the films they create. Cahiers du Cinema founder, André Bazin explained that auteur theory was a way of choosing the personal factor in an artistic creation as a point of reference, and then presuppose that it would continue from one film onto the