Even More theories - Auteur and Barthes

The  task at hand was to create posts or numerous posts about the theorist that we can later look back at and use to either challenge or conform against in our media texts. The theories themselves are not as complicated as I thought they would be making it easier to use them when I think they are appropriate.

Auteur Theory

In the 1950s, the French magazine Cahiers du Cinema instigated a new way of 'reading' movies - what later came to be called 'auteur' theory. The idea was that film was a work of art; just like a novel or painting, meaning it is the product of an individual's imagination. It's been used by French film directors like Francois Truffaut who put the focus on the contributions that directors made to the film, in terms of style and creative interpretation. 

“A true film auteur is someone who brings something genuinely personal to his subject instead of just producing a tasteful, accurate but lifeless rendering of the original material.”

This theory tells us, that every frame, every piece mise-en-scene, has been deliberately composed as a result of a series of artistic decisions made by the auteur and that these are distinctive and creative techniques that they carry from production to production which helps the audience to  identify their work as a director.

 There are many known directors that this theory applies to such as: 

Tim Burton and his dark stylised films with the dark humor that accompanies them. Quentin Tarantino who is known for his pop culture references and mixture of humor, violence and some controversial things such "Django Unchained" and its frequent use of a derogatory word for black people.

Barthe's Theory

Roland Barthe was a french literary theorist who suggested that narrative works with five different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it. Also used denotation and connotation to analyse images.The codes are:

• Action - A narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action e.g. a shoot out.

• Enigma - Narrative devices which tease the audience by presented a puzzle or mystery to be solved. It serves to delay the story's ending pleasurably.

• Symbolic - this type codes are the connotations of the images or imagery presented i.e the hidden meaning behind it.

• Semiotic - The denotations of the image/imagery which is strictly what you can see.

• Cultural - A device which the audience recognise and associate with a particular part of culture.