What is the auteur approach in OCR Film Studies, and how do you apply it to a Hollywood film without ignoring industry and context?
The auteur approach. The director as the author of a film, the auteur theory and its origins (politique des auteurs, Sarris), recurring style and theme as a signature, and the critique that filmmaking is collaborative and industrial.
An OCR A-Level Film Studies guide to the auteur approach. Covers the director as the author of a film, the origins of auteur theory (politique des auteurs, Sarris), recurring style and theme as a signature, and the critique that filmmaking is collaborative and industrial, with how to apply it in the exam.
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What this dot point is asking
The auteur approach treats the director as the author of a film. This dot point covers the auteur theory and its origins (the politique des auteurs and Sarris), the idea of a recurring style and theme as a signature, and the critique that filmmaking is collaborative and industrial. It is a specialist study area for the Hollywood comparative study and for experimental film.
The answer
Where the approach comes from
Sarris proposed criteria for an auteur: technical competence, a distinguishable personality, and an interior meaning arising from the tension between a director and their material.
Identifying a signature
Applying the approach means identifying a director's signature:
- Recurring visual style (framing, camera movement, lighting, colour).
- Recurring themes and preoccupations.
- Recurring motifs and methods, and a consistent way of working.
The film is then read as the work of that author, with the signature traced through specific formal choices.
Why it is useful here
The approach is a specialist option for the Hollywood comparative study and for experimental film (where auteur and narrative are the specialist areas), because it gives a way to unify a film's meaning as the expression of an author.
The critique
A strong answer applies the approach and then weighs this critique.
Examples in context
A strong answer applies the signature through specific form and weighs the collaborative critique to reach a judgement.
Try this
Q1. Explain what the auteur approach means and where it originated. [5 marks]
- What the marker wants. The director as author of the film; origins in the Cahiers critics' politique des auteurs and developed by Sarris (AO1).
Q2. Explain the main critique of the auteur approach. [10 marks]
- Cue. Filmmaking is collaborative and industrial (writers, cinematographers, editors, studio constraints), so authorship is shared, not the director's alone (AO1 and AO2).
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR H410/01 202115 marksExplore how far one film you have studied can be understood as the work of an auteur. [15]Show worked answer →
An analysis essay (AO1 and AO2), marked by levels of response. The marker rewards auteur applied through recurring style and theme.
Method. Identify the director's signature: recurring visual style, themes, motifs and methods, shown through specific formal choices in the set film.
Develop. Weigh the auteur reading against the collaborative, industrial nature of filmmaking (writers, cinematographer, studio). The top band applies the approach and judges its limits.
OCR H410/01 202320 marksDiscuss the view that the director is the author of a film. Refer to the films you have studied. [20]Show worked answer →
An extended essay (AO1 and AO2), shown at the 20-mark cap (true tariff up to 35), marked by levels of response.
For. Argue a recognisable directorial signature unifies the film's style and themes, so the director is its author, applied through specific form.
Against. Argue filmmaking is collaborative and industrial (screenwriters, cinematographers, editors, studio constraints), so authorship is shared, and the studio era complicates the idea.
Judgement. Reach a view on how far the director is the author, grounded in the films. A balanced judgement reaches the top band.
Related dot points
- The Hollywood comparative study (1930 to 1990). Comparing one Classical Hollywood film (1930 to 1960) with one New Hollywood film (1961 to 1990) through film form and context, with either auteur or ideology as the specialist study area, in the highest-tariff Section A essay.
An OCR A-Level Film Studies guide to the Hollywood comparative study (1930 to 1990) in Component 01. Covers comparing one Classical Hollywood film with one New Hollywood film through film form and context, the auteur or ideology specialist area, and the comparative essay skills Section A rewards.
- The ideology approach. Reading a film for the values, beliefs and assumptions it carries (dominant ideology, hegemony), how films reinforce or challenge ideology, and applying the approach to the Hollywood comparative study and British film.
An OCR A-Level Film Studies guide to the ideology approach. Covers reading a film for the values, beliefs and assumptions it carries (dominant ideology, hegemony), how films reinforce or challenge ideology, and applying the approach to the Hollywood comparative study and British film since 1995.
- Experimental film (1960 to 2000). What the study requires, what makes a film experimental (challenging mainstream conventions of narrative and form), the movements and tendencies of the period, and the specialist focus on auteur and narrative.
An OCR A-Level Film Studies guide to experimental film (1960 to 2000) in Component 02. Covers what the study requires, what makes a film experimental (challenging mainstream conventions of narrative and form), the movements and tendencies of the period, and the specialist focus on auteur and narrative.
- Auteur, narrative and choosing critical approaches. How auteur and narrative work as critical approaches, how to match an approach to the question and the set film, combining approaches, and reaching the judgement the higher-tariff levels-of-response essays reward.
An OCR A-Level Film Studies guide to using critical approaches in essays. Covers how auteur and narrative work as critical approaches, matching an approach to the question and the set film, combining approaches, and reaching the judgement the higher-tariff levels-of-response essays reward.
- Classical Hollywood and New Hollywood. The studio system, the classical style, the star system and the Production Code (1930 to 1960); and the collapse of the studios, the influence of art cinema and the auteur, and the looser style of New Hollywood (1961 to 1990).
An OCR A-Level Film Studies guide to Classical Hollywood and New Hollywood. Covers the studio system, the classical continuity style, the star system and the Production Code (1930 to 1960), and the collapse of the studios, the influence of art cinema and the auteur, and the looser, darker New Hollywood (1961 to 1990).
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Film Studies (H410) specification — OCR (2023)