The auteur theory

The main focus of the auteur theory is The film makers body of work
so in our case we will be looking at Hitchcock who is known who his
unique sense of style which is embodied throughout his films, this is
one of the criteria's that have t be met in order to be an auteur and
Hitchcock is style which allows the audience to play God as they
think they know what is going on he does this using camera
techniques which also allows us to empathize with the characters.

What are the main ideas of the

auteur theory
For Hitchcock the main things that solidify him as an auteur
include

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M otifs
A udience
S tyle
T hemes
E nigma
R epitition

Motifs
Motif that reoccurs during
Hitchcock's body of work includes
Birds
Staircases
Mirrors
Paintings
Blonde women

Audience

Hitchcock likes to audience let them think they know what

is going on in his films, for example at the beginning of
psycho we think we are following a movie about a woman
who has stolen something but halfway through the movie
this woman is killed off, similarly to vertigo we believe we
are watching a film about vertigo but after having watched
the film once and vertigo only being mentioned twice we
start to consider that the film is much more that what we
have just simply seen and not everything we have seen is
relevant, as Hitchcock does this in order for the audience to
play God

Style
When talking about Hitchcocks style a very important feature
is pure cinema which is evident throughout his films, he
focused on the visuals to the point where he did not see the
plot as important this is why there may be many plot holes
within his stories. His dedication to pure cinema led to him
creating techniques such as the DOZI which was very forward
for the time Hitchock was filming in and it was a very good
technique particularly when used in vertigo as it gave us an
idea of exactly how Scottie was feeling when he was claiming
the stairs

Themes
Hitchcock has many reoccurring
themes throughout his body of work
which includes
Murder
Guilt
Betrayal
Trust

Enigma
Hitchcock used lots of McGuffins and
false plateaus in order to play with
the audience, and make us think we
are aware of what is going on

Repetition
There are many things that Hitchcock
would repeat throughout his work
which includes
Themes
Cast
Cameos
Plot devices

Who are the main Theorists of the

auteur theory
The auteur theory was developed in
France by Francis Truffaut.

Understanding the auteur theory can be very useful

because it helps us understand the messages Hitchcock is
constantly trying to get across through his body of work
and this can also be link to other theories for example the
Marxist theory because as seen in vertigo the ruling class
man cannot be trusted he presented as a devious murderer
which is similar to uncle Charlie and how he is presented in
shadow of a doubt which people who look into Hitchcocks
work may being to understand more about what he is trying
to suggest by the subtle things that includes mise-en-scene
or the casting of characters to get a point across you may
not recognize or understand fully unless you look at his
work as a whole