Auteur Theory came from France in 1940. The word auteur comes from the French word author as auteur theory is the belief that a director is like an author for a film. The film should reflect the directors creative vision of the director. Auteur theory was advocated by François Truffaut who was a French director and creator of French New Wave, which is a style of film created by very different and individual directors- you could say French New Wave is a type of auteur film. During his early life, he worked for a French film magazine called "Cahiers du Cinema" which is where he earned his reputation for writing brutal reviews; because of this he was dubbed the "Gravedigger of French cinema". A man named Andre Bazin was the co-founder of this magazine who became a very good friend of Truffaut's. Truffaut became a very well known for his harsh critiques in Cahiers du Cinema, and went on to conceive the auteur theory.
During the time that this theory first came about, it wasn't very widely accepted.However, in 1960, Andrew Sarris an American critic gave him some support. After this, Truffaut went on to create films of his own, starting with a short film titled: "Une Visite".
Andrew Sarris was similar to Truffaut in the way that he harshly critiqued. He is "credited for popularizing auteur theory in the United States" after writing an essay in 1962 which had been inspired by critics writing for Cahiers du Cinema. He also wrote a book titled: "The American Cinema" which was very opinionated and was written to raise awareness of a film directors role and of auteur theory. In America, unlike France this theory was widely received.
Before the auteur theory came about a film was considered a success due to the actors who brought the film to life. Where as with auteur theory it is the director who has the greatest influence over the film and it is them who makes the film a success or failure. However a director can't make a film all on their own, as they need the cast and crew to help pull it together.
An auter director needs to have a range of the following things in his films: A distinct colour palette, use the same cast, have distinct shots (e.g sweeping shots like Matthew Vaughn), distinct character qualities, distinct theme and their music is often similar in all their films or they'll use the same composer.
During the time that this theory first came about, it wasn't very widely accepted.However, in 1960, Andrew Sarris an American critic gave him some support. After this, Truffaut went on to create films of his own, starting with a short film titled: "Une Visite".
Andrew Sarris was similar to Truffaut in the way that he harshly critiqued. He is "credited for popularizing auteur theory in the United States" after writing an essay in 1962 which had been inspired by critics writing for Cahiers du Cinema. He also wrote a book titled: "The American Cinema" which was very opinionated and was written to raise awareness of a film directors role and of auteur theory. In America, unlike France this theory was widely received.
Before the auteur theory came about a film was considered a success due to the actors who brought the film to life. Where as with auteur theory it is the director who has the greatest influence over the film and it is them who makes the film a success or failure. However a director can't make a film all on their own, as they need the cast and crew to help pull it together.
An auter director needs to have a range of the following things in his films: A distinct colour palette, use the same cast, have distinct shots (e.g sweeping shots like Matthew Vaughn), distinct character qualities, distinct theme and their music is often similar in all their films or they'll use the same composer.
Auteur reading: the corpse bride
From the offset of the film you can instantly tell that it is a Tim Burton film. Usually for his openings to his films he has something being followed, or a journey through something. In The Corpse Bride, it is following the progression of a drawing of a butterfly and then the journey that the observed butterfly being let out of its container. The butterfly is followed through the town in which the film is set so it is introducing all the locations featured in the film without giving anything away. He also has a very distinct gothic font that he uses for the titles, opening credits and end credits of his films, so once you see this font appear you can clearly see Burton's stamp on it.
Another thing that gives way to it being a Burton film before it's even begun is the music. Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman have worked closely on a large number of Tim Burton's films including The Corpse Bride. Each piece of music composed by Danny Elfman for Tim Burton have very homogeneous rhythm to them. The sound is very gothic and almost haunting but without the scariness. Some of the music is actually quite upbeat- particularly in The Corpse Bride. The music compliments every mood of the film beautifully, so for example in the underworld part (the only full colour part of the film) the music is very fast and matches the dark humor of the scene perfectly. You can clearly understand why Burton has used Elfman for so many of his films. You'll generally find that auteur directors use lots of the same cast and crew which helps to identify them as auteurs, so you could say that Elfman helps to identify Burton as an auteur.
Below I have added a clip of the opening credits of The Corpse Bride, and also a clip of the "underworld" scene to show the music and how it compliments the scene. For the opening scene clip, I was unable to find one with the original audio by Danny Elfman, however I added this clip for the purpose of showing the opening sequence so it doesn't matter too much.
Another thing that gives way to it being a Burton film before it's even begun is the music. Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman have worked closely on a large number of Tim Burton's films including The Corpse Bride. Each piece of music composed by Danny Elfman for Tim Burton have very homogeneous rhythm to them. The sound is very gothic and almost haunting but without the scariness. Some of the music is actually quite upbeat- particularly in The Corpse Bride. The music compliments every mood of the film beautifully, so for example in the underworld part (the only full colour part of the film) the music is very fast and matches the dark humor of the scene perfectly. You can clearly understand why Burton has used Elfman for so many of his films. You'll generally find that auteur directors use lots of the same cast and crew which helps to identify them as auteurs, so you could say that Elfman helps to identify Burton as an auteur.
Below I have added a clip of the opening credits of The Corpse Bride, and also a clip of the "underworld" scene to show the music and how it compliments the scene. For the opening scene clip, I was unable to find one with the original audio by Danny Elfman, however I added this clip for the purpose of showing the opening sequence so it doesn't matter too much.
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Tim Burton uses very specific colour palettes in his films. In The Corpse Bride he uses the same very washed out tones as the rest of his films, however it has a bit of a unique twist as there are some very bright and colourful scenes with a greenish tinge to them. I think the reason for the green hue is that horror films often use this, as they are very dark. This contrasts heavily to the rest of the film and is a bit of a juxtaposition as you would expect the dead world to be very dark and scary, where as in The Corpse Bride it is very bright and full of life, where as the "real world" is very washed out in colour and sinister looking.
The themes of Tim Burton's films are often very centered around the theme of death which give his films a macabre feeling, however he still manages to keep them fairly child friendly. In The Corpse Bride, the focus is on a man named Victor who is practicing his wedding vows in a forest and ends up accidentally marrying a corpse. This sounds very shocking for a children's film, however the issue is dealt with in a fairly lighthearted way, as Victor and Emily go down into the "underworld" and meet all the eccentric characters down there.
The main characters in Burton's films are usually very isolated from the other characters or outcast in some way. Victor from The Corpse Bride is isolated from his family and his future wife's family due to him being so awkward and clumsy. He's not posh like the rest of the characters in the "real world" which is why he stands out so much and manages to make a mess out of things easily- thus making the other characters look down on him. With these other characters looking down on him, it is clear that he is very lonely and doesn't fit in. You'll often find with Burton's films that you feel sorry for the main character, and I certainly feel sorry for Victor while he's making his desperate attempts at his wedding vows to please his future mother and farther in-law.
Another main feature of Tim Burton's films is that he always uses the same cast members, particularly Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. These two actors were cast in The Corpse Bride and are the voices of the two main characters: Victor and Emily. I personally feel that Johnny Depp's voice works extremely well for Victor as it is very stuttering and of a nervous disposition. I also think that the character of Victor actually looks very similar to Johnny Depp, but I would imagine that Tim Burton probably did this on purpose due to working with Johnny Depp on so many of his films such as Edward Scissorhands and Alice In Wonderland.
Below is a YouTube clip from The Corpse Bride which clearly shows how out of place Victor is:
The themes of Tim Burton's films are often very centered around the theme of death which give his films a macabre feeling, however he still manages to keep them fairly child friendly. In The Corpse Bride, the focus is on a man named Victor who is practicing his wedding vows in a forest and ends up accidentally marrying a corpse. This sounds very shocking for a children's film, however the issue is dealt with in a fairly lighthearted way, as Victor and Emily go down into the "underworld" and meet all the eccentric characters down there.
The main characters in Burton's films are usually very isolated from the other characters or outcast in some way. Victor from The Corpse Bride is isolated from his family and his future wife's family due to him being so awkward and clumsy. He's not posh like the rest of the characters in the "real world" which is why he stands out so much and manages to make a mess out of things easily- thus making the other characters look down on him. With these other characters looking down on him, it is clear that he is very lonely and doesn't fit in. You'll often find with Burton's films that you feel sorry for the main character, and I certainly feel sorry for Victor while he's making his desperate attempts at his wedding vows to please his future mother and farther in-law.
Another main feature of Tim Burton's films is that he always uses the same cast members, particularly Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. These two actors were cast in The Corpse Bride and are the voices of the two main characters: Victor and Emily. I personally feel that Johnny Depp's voice works extremely well for Victor as it is very stuttering and of a nervous disposition. I also think that the character of Victor actually looks very similar to Johnny Depp, but I would imagine that Tim Burton probably did this on purpose due to working with Johnny Depp on so many of his films such as Edward Scissorhands and Alice In Wonderland.
Below is a YouTube clip from The Corpse Bride which clearly shows how out of place Victor is:
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sarris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfHnuZqtV68
http://filmtheory.org/auteur-theory/
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/16607/music-in-the-movies-danny-elfman-and-tim-burton%E2%80%99s-collaborations
http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/truffaut/
http://www.britannica.com/art/New-Wave-film
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sarris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfHnuZqtV68
http://filmtheory.org/auteur-theory/
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/16607/music-in-the-movies-danny-elfman-and-tim-burton%E2%80%99s-collaborations
http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/truffaut/
http://www.britannica.com/art/New-Wave-film