Machgan, Arianne Steven Spielberg and the Auteur Theory week 3 assignmnet

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1 Steven Spielberg and the Auteur Theory Arianne Machgan The University of Arizona Global Campus ENG 122: Introduction to Film Nathan Stewart December 11, 2023

2 Steven Spielberg and the Auteur Theory To analyze a film, you are seeking past the actors that are expressing the story of the film. Auteur theory emphasizes the director as the primary creator of the film. The director creates a movie that tells a story as authors do. In Chapter 8 of Film: From Watching to Seeing, the auteur came from the French word author (Goodykoontz, B., Jacobs, C. P., Meetze, J., and Pritts, N. 2019). Storytelling is the author's direction of how the story unfolds. The directors are the authors of the film, expressing their personal touch to the storyline. The theory focuses on the unique style that the author’s film reflects with their directive characteristics, which you can see throughout filmmaking's intricate and complex process (Grant, 2012). Steven Spielberg’s films E.T the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Back to the Future (1985) show great auteur in his films through cinematography, lighting, and movement of the camera—the one-motion movements to create a feeling of being in the movie. Technical Competence Technical competence, according to Sarris’s guidelines, is what directors fall under the first step, which is to break down how well the movie was made (Goodykoontz, B., Jacobs, C. P., Meetze, J., and Pritts, N. 2019). Technical competence shows up in different levels of the film. The director uses tools and techniques in their directive filming throughout the whole movie and other movies they direct. The director adds personal meaning to the film with their competence techniques. Both E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Back to the Future have Spielberg's focus on technical competence that includes dramatic music and cinematic energy. In Spielberg’s 1982 film E.T the Extra-Terrestrial, the main lighting technique that was used was low-key lighting. Low-key lighting designs a dark, scary look (Goodykoontz, B., Jacobs, C. P., Meetze, J., and Pritts, N. 2019). The dark lighting gives extreme shadows, like in

3 the scene where Elliot finds the Alien ET. The woods are dark and scary, and you don’t know what is going to happen. The camera angle is low and gives the audience the feeling of being in the film. Another great film that Spielberg directed in 1985 was Back to the Future. Spielberg used fast movement of the camera, switching from one shot to another. In the scene where Marty and Doc are watching Doc’s dog, Marty, who is in the time travel car, travels at high speed, and the car disappears right in front of them. The camera was switching fast between Marty’s face, the dogs in the car, the speed of the car, and Doc. The fast movement made the intense build, wondering if Marty and Doc were going to get hit by the car coming their way. Distinguishable Personality In many of his films, Steven Spielberg has some kind of family trauma in the storyline. He adds personal characteristics to each of his films with distinguished touches. He is well- known for his science fiction films and iconic movies like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Back to the Future (1985). In some of Spielberg’s movies, the kids have a special connection to an adult, even if they are not the main characters in the movie. In E.T . the Extra-Terrestrial, Elliot’s father doesn’t live with them. In the scene where Elliot is having dinner with his brother and mother, they don’t believe he is an alien in the woods. Elliot gets upset and shouts that Dad would believe me. Elliot upsets his mother, Mary, and she tells him to call his father and find out. Elliot couldn’t call his father because he was in Mexico with a lady named Sally. It explained that Elliot's parents are divorced, and it upset Mary that he would bring up his father. In Back to the Future , Spielberg had Marty’s father, a weak man who couldn’t stand up for himself. In the scene where Marty is in the past when his father was his age and ran into him at a café. Marty realizes he is sitting next to his father, and his father’s bully walks in Biff. Biff and his gang

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