RESEARCH INTO AUTEURS AND THEIR STYLES
An auteur is a director that can be seen as the author of their films, creating a certain style that feels and looks different to other auteurs and stands out from the crowd. Their individual style and complete control over the filming process creates a trademark stamp to the audience that any of their films can be noticed at first glance as they have so much creative force in their films. Auteurs have an individual style and normally don't aim to create a blockbuster film, the story and characters being an important and heavy part of the films that they produce.
Quentin Tarantino
'Origins have always been important to Tarantino, not just the materials and genres and movies that he lovingly references, homages, cops and outright steals, but also the careers of the actors he chooses. He casts your past as much as he casts you.'
Quentin Tarantino has been labelled the 'King of Dialogue' for his films, actors saying that his scripts feel natural to them and are very easy to learn as they sound like a song; many of his scripts not being the cleanest in language. Quentin Tarantino also creates gory fight scenes and strange scenarios and characters that interest the audience, many of his films being set in the 80's like 'Dusk till Dawn'. Tarantino also cameos in many of his films as an actor, 'Dusk till Dawn' once again being a perfect example as he plays the brother for the most part of the film before killed so he could direct the last half of the film. Tarantino's most known films are 'Kill Bill', 'Reservoir Dogs', 'Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained.'
Quentin Tarantino seems to take inspiration for actors from their past acting. It can be one of the worst and least known films that they acted in but Tarantino takes the character he sees and can make the actor feel comfortable in his own films. It's very clever how he does this and manages to find the actors he believes fits to portray the character. Tarantino is also inspired by history, politics and criminal activity. Many of his films are based around these topics and uses them to create a script and idea for a new film. Quentin Tarantino has gathered his knowledge of film making and being a director through experience of making films. With his creative talent, he was able to make his way up from a small budget, like in Reservoir Dogs, to amazing films such as The Hateful Eights. Throughout his films, you can see the quality increasing over time and that the dialogue matures, showing how Tarantino matured throughout the films he made from his experience in the field of directing.
'I think you definitely have to connect with his writing, identify with that music, the humour, and also the politics. There are people who just don’t get it, and that’s fair enough. Famously, Will Smith didn’t want to do Django, he just didn’t see himself in that world. Which worked out nicely for Jamie Foxx!'- Roth
Tarantino has a unique style compared to other directors, all of his films having a similar tone and similar look. In many of Tarantino's films he starts the film at the end of the narrative and works his way through the film, showing the same ending at the end. As you reach the end of the film the whole narrative starts to make sense. Tarantino uses this un-chronological order in many of his films, the two most recognisable being 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Reservoir Dogs'. This is a style that he uses as all of his films are dialogue heavy, this technique keeping the audience interested throughout the film as dialogue can bore the audience if not done correctly. Although Tarantino is known for his glorified violence in his films, dialogue is the most important element to any part of his films, the story carrying the most information for the audience to understand the film.
Tarantino also has many of his films in the 80's style, as mentioned before, and all of his characters mainly wear suits to show some level of class and authority in his films. Django Unchained is an example where he doesn't have the main characters in suits but in the equivalent attire for those back in 1866-1886. All of the backgrounds are also normally neutral coloured and dull, keeping your attention on the characters as they are an important element as his films are dialogue heavy.
His choice in glorified violence keeps the audience gripped to the film, his violence being heavy but to a somewhat unrealistic standard. In an interview, Tarantino speaks about his opinion on violence, his self having many feelings about violence as a topic but enjoys it in films as it keeps the audience under control, making sure that the audience finds the film entertaining. Tarantino quoted 'If you ask me how I feel about violence in real life, well, I have a lot of feelings about it. It's one of the worst aspects of America. In movies, violence is cool. I like it.' Tarantino says that he uses violence as it was something that he loved watching whilst growing up, being able to tell the difference between the movies and real life. Tarantino's scenes with violence are memorable and fairly realistic until he scene is changed to something much less realistic.
To go along with his use of violence, many of his scenes are set in a bar and is shown over multiple films such as 'Django', 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Reservoir Dogs.' This is one of Tarantino's styles that he uses in multiple films, any form of alcohol being used throughout all of his films. This is the place where the fighting normally takes place in Tarantino's films or is a place for the two main characters to speak to each other. The bars are normally the turning point in Tarantino's films, starting the violent fight scenes afterwards such as in 'Dusk till Dawn.' These bar scenes are always a strong point in Tarantino's films and are implicated perfectly into the tone of the film that he is directing, managing to get the feeling across to the audience.
A scene that is in all of Tarantino's films are the trunk shot, most famously known in 'Pulp Fiction.' Tarantino also uses the reverse trunk shot which shows the people outside the truck looking inwards, this shot being one that Tarantino made his own. This is a style that Tarantino uses to make suspense in the audience and to make them wonder what they are looking at inside the trunk. These shots are good for crime dramas like those Tarantino directs, the trunk being known to hold guns for those planning to commit a crime. The fact that Tarantino has used this shot in all of his films shows that it is something unique and important to him, showing that this is an important part of his overall style.
'When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films.'- Quentin Tarantino
Stanley Kubrick
'Early into his film-making career, Kubrick acted as cinematographer, editor and sound man, in addition to directing. Later, he would also write and produce.'
Stanley Kubrick was a director with impressive visionary on how he wanted his films to look, not shying away from doing multiple shoots of a scene; The Shining had 127 takes for one scene. Stanley Kubrick was most famous for his thriller, 'The Shining', and his science fiction film, 'Clockwork Orange'. Both films have amazing visionary and strange sets around them, making the audience feel the emotions of the visionary expertise he wanted. Stanley Kubrick was quite the perfectionist of his films and wanted them to be presented exactly how he imagined them.
'Many of Kubrick’s images are inspired by the novels that his movies were based on. However, by pinpointing his cinematic references, we get a sense of the breadth of his film knowledge and enthusiasm for diverse genres.'
Stanley Kubrick took inspiration from the books that his films were based on. Kubrick was said to take inspiration from all diverse genres in film, expanding his own knowledge and allowing him to do a wide variety of films before pin pointing what genre he wanted to focus on. It allowed him to become more experienced and give his self better visionary on how his films should of looked. Kubrick also based many of the scenes in his films from other films that he was inspired by. Many of the shots in the Shining are very similar to older and less popular films in the same genre. It shows that he was inspired by others work and knew which scenes worked well, analysing films in his specific genre to gain expertise in film making and cinematography.
Unlike Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick liked structure in his films as they all flow from beginning to end in a linear tone. Kubrick liked splitting his films into three acts and are normally split my a major event in the story that affects the main character. Each act of Kubrick's films typically have different tones which makes it more engaging to the audience despite the often slow pace. This is a technique Kubrick used in many of his films and was a unique style that very few other directors used for their films. This works well with the film choices as many are an adaptation of a book, one example being 'The Killing' which was based off of the book called 'Clean Break' which was written by Lionel White, using books as an inspiration to adapt the book to his own vision.
One technique Kubrick liked using was the one point perspective, many of the shots being performed down a hall way like in 'Clockwork Orange' and the first time he used it in 'Paths of Glory.' This technique is one of his most unique and most known shots, these shots normally including a tracking shot that follows the character. Kubrick was also known of using reverse tracking shots which made the style of his films unique and noticeable by the audience. The one point perspective makes you focus on the character as the surroundings are getting smaller, meaning they take up less of the screen to focus on. The one point perspective also adds into the impressive visionary Kubrick was known to have, the shot being able to express an emotion of weirdness or make the audience uncomfortable in the situation, Kubrick knowing the meaning behind his shots through the visionary.
Kubrick also was a fan of making his shots symmetrical as it has been shown that symmetry is more aesthetically pleasing than to something that isn't. Many of his symmetrical shots also take place in his one point perspectives or in a hallway, some examples being in 'Space Oddessy' in the hall and 'The Shining' with the twins stood at the end of the corridor. The symmetry can make the shot look professional and crisp but also to make the overall style more strange as many things the audience see are unsymmetrical, making these shots seem out of the ordinary. The symmetry also centers the character, the character standing out from the background as they are normally in brighter colours to make them stand out from the background.
Stanley Kubrick has two styles that are seen in most of his films; futuristic or 80's. Like Tarantino he uses the 80's as his style for the clothing and the set in films such as the 'Shining' but also has been shown to use the futuristic style in 'Space Oddessy.' His 80's style uses weird patterns on the floors and walls which have bright colours to make them stand out and the characters wear colours and clothing that were popular back in the 80's. For his futuristic style he likes putting the characters into bright colours, making them stand out from the background and to keep the focus on them, the symmetry of his shots also helping with this. These two styles are unique and different to each other, showing the visionary skills that Kubrick had to understand two different styles in time and to perform them in his own unique style that the audience will remember.
'Perhaps it sounds ridiculous, but the best thing that young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all.'- Stanley Kubrick
Steven Spielberg
'Audiences around the world were riveted by the continuing adventures of his daredevil hero Indiana Jones.'
Steven Spielberg is the most famous for modern day films, being the most famous in Hollywood, working on well-known films such as 'E.T.', 'Jurassic Park' and 'Jaws' that are well known sensations. Spielberg covers more than one genre, moving from Sci-fi adventures to childlike wonder and marvels. Spielberg has been the most influential director to many people worldwide, bringing their childhood stories to life, like 'BFG', or making them feel as if they're in a different world; makes them enter a whole different reality.
'What I think is essential for filmmakers to really learn how to do is see the scene first in their head, figure it out, even almost mathematically, and then go out and shoot it.' - Steven Spielberg
Spielberg does have some historical based films such as 'Schindler's list' and 'Saving Private Ryan.' Spielberg has said that he has been inspired by personal experiences, such as his parents divorce, and films he saw as a child. He loves sci-fi films from his childhood of watching them with his father, many of his films being inspired by this. Spielberg bases many films off of the imagination and fears which allows the audience to enter a different world and experience the fears and emotions that his characters feel. He based 'Jaws' off of the huge fear of the sea, making people experience what someone may imagine to happen to them and seeing it play out in front of their eyes. Spielberg manages to make people marvel in the world he creates, many referring back to people's childhoods and children's huge imaginations, such as the 'BFG' film he released in 2016.
One shot Spielberg is comfortable using is the reflection shot which can be seen in many of his films, one example being 'Jurassic Park'. Spielberg performs these shots so the audience keep their focus on the main character's expression and actions whilst also seeing a side character and being able to understand their emotions or their plans. In 'Jurassic Park' it is used in the car mirror so the audience can see the character and the dinosaurs in the background, keeping the audience in the story and being able to see multiple characters at once. This is a classic shot for Spielberg in his films and is a clever but unique way to show two characters at once without them having to be in the same frame.
Something that has been named the "Spielberg Face" by fans is a technique that Steven Spielberg uses frequently, all characters in his films staring at something in awe or in shock. This is seen in multiple of his films and is always in a close up, allowing you to read the expressions of the characters to great detail. This technique is used in 'Jurassic Park', 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'Jaws.' Lots of other directors and filmmakers have used shots similar to this in their movies but Spielberg was one of the first to show how effective the shot could be. By focusing on characters’ faces, it creates a better human connection, showing that his films are more about the people in them overall than the special affects being used.
Another technique that Spielberg uses is that a character approaches camera into close up shot, allowing you to see the background before the character is in the foreground where you focus on their facial expressions. Like the close ups, other directors have also used this technique but Spielberg put it into fruition. The fact that this shot only shows a small part of the character to the audience, such as the hands or their head, engages the audience emotionally and is used to give emphasis on the character. Spielberg wants you to connect to the characters rather than the special effects that are a strong part of his films, close ups performing this well enough that the audience will forget the surroundings of the character and focus on their expressions, feeling the same expressions as the characters on screen.
A unique technique that Spielberg uses that hardly any other directors have used is that he frames a character through an object in the foreground, making the shot unique and different. This shot is good at showing the surroundings of the characters but by framing the main character through an object keeps the focus on them. As your eyes advert to the object closest to the screen, you see the main character inside the object and move your focus to them. Many of these shots by Spielberg are either at a high or low angle of the character that they are focused on, showing how powerful or weak their character is at the same time. This is the most unique shot that Spielberg uses, managing to focus the audience to where he wants them to look without them picking up on it or even realising it.
'The public has an appetite for anything about imagination - anything that is as far away from reality as is creatively possible.'- Steven Spielberg
Edgar Wright
Wright is most known for his comedic Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy that consist of 'Shaun of The Dead', 'World's End' and 'Hot Fuzz', working with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as his main actors for all three films. He also collaborated with them as the director of the television series Spaced and has become well known with his new directory in 'Baby Driver.' Wright is still a new director to the scene but has marked his place as a well known director with the films that he has directed, having a strong sense of comedy and a fun, but energetic, story line.
'If you ever watch police chases on, like, helicopter cams, they very quickly become nightmarish when you start to see the police coming in from the edge of the frame. I always find that terrifying.'- Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright gained many inspirations from different films and directors, one being Tim Burton, and he would watch as many films as he could each day, his favorite film being the criminal comedy film, 'Raising Arizona (1987).' Edgar wright loved watching films, dropping out of school to pursue his dreams in film making and directing. Despite the fact that they contain numerous fantasy elements, his films are heavily autobiographical and on most of his films, there are certain features such as a trivia track that runs with the movie or a scene of the movie with the characters voices dubbed. He has drawn deeply from the sight-gag, gore, violence, action scenes and wordplay that are wacky and heartfelt and outrageous.
Another thing Edgar Wright is well known for is his quick action montages, all three films in the Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy using this technique to it's best quality in each of these films. The quick action montages are used to create a sense of comedy in this genre, being able to take away from some of the more serious sections of the film. These scenes can also be some of the most memorable out of the films, the audience taking a liking to the quick edits and the detail in each shot. Edgar Wright uses this technique to keep structure in his film as it can sometimes lose structure after a scene of jokes and comedic relief, this bringing back the comedy and the structure to the film and re-gaining the audience's attention to the story.
'I'd rather try and cram in another two gags than leave a pause to say, 'Hey, wasn't that bit funny?' '- Edgar Wright
Something that appears in all of his films is a pub or bar, a place where the characters meet or choose to visit. It is used in 'World's End' as the main topic of bar hopping and in 'Shaun Of the Dead' as the place where they'll meet up after zombies have taken over. Pubs or bars have become an iconic scene in his films, just like Tarantino, and is a main turning point of the story as it normally starts the dramatic scenes, whether it be zombies attacking and eating your friend or aliens taking over people in the bathroom. The audience enjoy these scenes and know that the film is going to hit a turning point which gains the audience's attention on what is going to happen next. Everyone who watches all of his films expect a scene like this in his films as it has become such an iconic part of his films.
Another classic scene that happens in all of the Three Flavours Cornetto films is the fence jump fail, being a unique scene that everyone enjoys. The fence jump fail is a form of comedy and is normally placed quarter way to halfway through the film before the turning point of the film, helping you get into the story line of the film and to understand the line of comedy in these films. This is a clever technique to keep the story line light-hearted and to keep the audience's eyes on the screen, the two actors being a big part of the act as their dialogue together adds to these scenes. 'Hot Fuzz' is most known for the fence jump fail, the first officer acted by Simon Pegg jumps it clearly, and the more funny and less athletic officer, Nick Frost, falls through the fence. It helps underline the personality of the characters that he creates and how they may develop throughout the story, keeping you wanting to watch the film to see if your predictions are correct.
Wright also uses the technique of repeated dialogue, this being a memorable scene along the sides of the fence jump fail and the pub scenes. The most popular scene of this technique is in 'Shaun Of the Dead' where they keep repeating the plan and changing it when one part of it has been disregarded by Nick frost's character. The repetition makes it memorable to the audience from the comedy behind it, the quote of this being the most popular from the film in itself. It isn't much effort but works well with the comedy that Edgar Wright writes down on his scripts, this also being able to add some comedic relief to the scenarios going on. It adds flavour to the film and makes it unique to the audience, something that they won't forget any time soon.
'Whenever I'm writing a script, I'm scoring myself by playing the right kind of music.'- Edgar Wright
Tim Burton
One person's craziness is another person's reality.'- Tim Burton
Tim Burton is mostly known for his dark, eccentric and Gothic visuals in his fantasy films and his animated films such as 'Corpse Bride', 'Edward Scissorhands and 'Beetlejuice.' His visuals have become well known and noticeable to many, Burton marking his name in animation and in fantasy films as a unique, stylistic director. His films are also well-known for musical parts throughout the film such as 'Sweeney Todd' and the graphic violence or the illusion to it is unique and well performed in Tim Burton's films, regardless if you like his style of films or not, his main actor in many of his films being Johnny Depp.
'Things that I grew up with stay with me. You start a certain way, and then you spend your whole life trying to find a certain simplicity that you had. It's less about staying in childhood than keeping a certain spirit of seeing things in a different way.'- Tim Burton
He spent most of his childhood drawing cartoons and watching old movies, his favourite movies often having Vincent Price. Christopher Lee, Edward Gorey, Alan Moore, Georges Méliès and Paul Whitehouse were his biggest inspirations whilst creating his films and his art, their styles being unique which Tim Burton took to his own, making his own unique style. Tim Burton had a weird childhood, some of his most important inspirations coming from his experience and things he did as a child, some of his inspirations being based on his father. His unique childhood adds to his inspiration and his artistic background also adds to the unique style he has managed to create for his self that stands out from the rest.
Tim Burton is also known for his Gothic visuals in his films, some of the most popular being 'Sweeney Todd' and 'Beetle Juice'. Burton will either use bright colours for the characters such as Beetle Juice or put them in black and white just like Sweeney Todd. The colour selection in his films can be different but all give off a Gothic vibe to the films, making the films feel like a dream rather than being set in real life. It adds a sense of fantasy to the films for the audience, being able to focus on the story line and the characters knowing that they aren't realistic but also can still disturb the audience with some of the actions that they perform, making the films story driven and strange to the audience. From the characters to the props, houses and cities are all designed to be an exaggerated, almost cartoon way to present their World to the audience.
'Movies are like an expensive form of therapy for me.'- Tim Burton
Burton also always has an outcast or eccentric character against the rest, this character is typically very strange in their actions and nobody understands them because of their current condition, the best example of this being 'Edward Scissorhands.' These characters aren't exactly relatable to the audience but can make the audience feel for them even if they are a bit eccentric, some of their issues being similar to what could happen in real life. It is a clever way of making the audience connect with the characters without having to go into great detail on their pasts, being just enough information for the audience to understand the character's condition and why they don't fit in with the rest of society, using flash backs to show their past. The weirdness of the characters makes them memorable to the audience and are difficult to forget, many of his characters becoming memorable to thousands.
To go along with the eccentric and outcast characters, he uses flash back sequences to show the audience what the character's backstory is and why they are the outcast in society. as mentioned before talking about the characters, the flashback sequences allowing the audience to connect with the characters, gathering just enough information to understand their pasts and why they are the outcast. The flashbacks are a great way to tell the story to the audience before coming back to the present and continuing their story, allowing the audience to gain more information on the characters before moving forward. In 'Sweeney Todd' the flashbacks show Sweeney’s family before they were taken away from him, which influenced his character deeply and allows the audience to understand his motives behind his actions.
Dark and light contrasts have also become an element of his films, allowing the audience to see how the character is an outcast compared to the rest, the main character wearing black clothes to fit with the Gothic style and the other characters wearing brighter clothes. His also uses this contrast for the towns, the most memorable being in 'Edward Scissorhands' where all the houses in the town were bright and the castle in the background is dark. It once again shows the audience how different they are from the rest of the characters and how they don't fit in, the dark and light contrast making this understandable from the first look at the cities.
'People told me I couldn't kill Nicholson, so I cast him in two roles and killed him off twice.'- Tim Burton
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