Spike Lee Kevin Smith And Alfred Hitchcock free essay sample

Spike Lee, Kevin Smith And Alfred Hitchcock As Film Auteurs Essay, Research Paper In the movie industry, there are managers who simply take person else # 8217 ; s vision and express it in their ain manner on movie, so there are those who take their ain visions and utilize any agencies necessary to show their visions on movie. The latter of these two types of managers are called auteurs. Not merely do auteurs compose the books from elements that they know and love in life, but they direct, produce, and sometimes move in their movies as good. Three premier illustrations of these auteurs are: Kevin Smith, Spike Lee and Alfred Hitchcock. Kevin Smith has do the grueling trek from an unknown, highly low-budget film maker to a good known and respected film maker thanks to the aid of his vision to lodge to the rudimentss. His movies are about normal, in-between category life adding elements of wit, drugs, and the day-to-day battle of blue-collar workers. Smith was born and raised in Red Bank, New Jersey. He grew up traveling to the really same Quick-E Mart in which his first widely received movie, Clerks, took topographic point ( www.uidaho.edu ) . Smith ever uses his ain experiences as a lower-middle category male in New Jersey to roll up his books, and adds his ain wit every bit good as the wit of repeating histrions who appear in his movies. His four semi-cult hit movies are ( in order of production ) : # 8220 ; Clerks # 8221 ; , # 8220 ; Mallrats # 8221 ; , # 8220 ; Chasing Amy # 8221 ; and # 8220 ; Dogma # 8221 ; . In all four of these movies, Kevin Smith wrote the books, directed, produced and made visual aspects in the movies. Smith non merely acts in all of the movies, but besides acts the same character in all the movies. Jay and Silent Bob are two characters that make visual aspects in every one of Kevin Smith # 8217 ; s movies. These characters are based on characters that Smith made up in his amusing book entitled # 8220 ; Jay and Silent Bob. # 8221 ; Smith ever plays the function of Silent Bob and Jay is ever played by histrion Jason Mewes. Most of Smith # 8217 ; s movies trade with a few twenty-somethings seeking to get the better of the basic obstruction of avoiding ennui. While there are ever indelicate and somewhat controversial spots of conversations in his first movies, Smith approached a somewhat more controversial subject than usual in his last movie, # 8220 ; Dogma. # 8221 ; # 8220 ; Dogma # 8221 ; starred Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as two fallen angels that would make anything to acquire their wings back. Smith took this chance to do a movie in which he could eventually vent some of his choler about his faith and how deadening it is. Smith is so a spiritual individual, but he believes that the church has nil to pull the young person, nor to maintain their attending. Because of this, he created # 8220 ; Dogma # 8221 ; which mixes wit and the church to do Christianity more interesting ( www.zap2it.com ) . One such illustration is when the people of New Jersey make a new icon named # 8220 ; Buddy Christ, # 8221 ; who is a figure of Jesus Christ with his pollex up, winking and grinning at his fellow Christians. Smith has taken mundane happenings, added wit and a spot of lewdness and crafted them into books. Smith has so taken these books and directed, and produced full-length movies in which he besides acted. After the movie was to the full changeable, Smith so edited all of his movies ( with the exclusion of # 8220 ; Mallrats # 8221 ; ) . Because of all of the work that Smith single-handedly put into his independent movies that ended up pulling a immense crowd of fans, he can certainly be called an auteur. Staying on the subject of controversial movies, another manager comes to mind. This manager had an ultimate end that he desired to # 8220 ; # 8230 ; do movies that will capture the Black experience by any agencies necessary # 8221 ; ( Smith 437 ) . He stirred up much contention with the content of his movies within the movie universe, and because of this had to make his movies with small outside aid. This auteur is, of class, Spike Lee. Shelton Jackson Lee was born in 1956 as the boy of a Jazz instrumentalist and an art professor. Lee subsequently grew into the moniker Spike and because of his parent # 8217 ; s background, he became interested in the humanistic disciplines. It wasn # 8217 ; t until college that Lee decided on going a film maker. Directly after graduating from Moorehouse College, he immersed himself into carry throughing his dream # 8220 ; # 8230 ; to set the huge profusion of black civilization on movie # 8221 ; ( Smith 440 ) . His alumnus movie, entitled # 8220 ; The Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads. # 8221 ; paved the manner for his hereafter repute by having an academy award. Even with this first movie, Lee # 8217 ; s manner of a non-linear secret plan line took form, and his overpowering call that black civilization was respectable and interesting to a cosmopolitan audience became evident. Lee # 8217 ; s father wrote the mark to this movie, and Lee directed and produced it ( Andrew 200 ) .. He went on to take on these really same facets, every bit good as moving in his following movies. Lee # 8217 ; s following movie was # 8220 ; She # 8217 ; s Got ta Have It, # 8221 ; which dealt with the fact that black work forces were ever being stereotyped as rip offing on their girlfriends with, sometimes many, different adult females. This movie, alternatively, reversed the function and told of a adult female who had three lovers. His following movie attacked black versus white racism by stating the narrative of a school where the # 8220 ; haves # 8221 ; were the light-skinned inkinesss and the # 8220 ; have-nots # 8221 ; were the colored inkinesss. It said what Lee wanted to state, but since this was his first Hollywood movie, it lacked a batch of the glamor that the audiences were used to seeing in characteristic movies ( Lee 19-21 ) . Despite the assorted reappraisals in Hollywood, it took off surprisingly good in the box offices. Spike Lee # 8217 ; s following movie, # 8220 ; Do the Right Thing, # 8221 ; gained a batch more regard in the movie universe than # 8220 ; School Daze, # 8221 ; and was even nominated for Academy Awards in many different Fieldss. This movie, nevertheless, was about non released because people were frightened that it was so controversial that it might do mass public violences. Lee claimed that he was merely continuing his dream and the lone thing he wanted to arouse were treatments ( Smith 442 ) . Lee # 8217 ; s following movies ; # 8220 ; Mo # 8217 ; Better Blues # 8221 ; ( based on Lee # 8217 ; s male parent ) , and # 8220 ; Jungle Fever, # 8221 ; were written, directed and produced by Lee every bit good, in order to see that his wo rds were interpreted right. Lee’s dream was eventually making a crescendo when he was given the opportunity to direct a movie about one of the largest heroes in Afro-american history, Malcolm X ( Andrew 201 ) . Lee confronted the company that was traveling to patronize the devising of the Malcolm X narrative and persuaded them that they couldn # 8217 ; t allow Norman Jewison, a white adult male, portray this black adult male # 8217 ; s battle. Many consider # 8220 ; Malcolm X # 8221 ; to be a authoritative movie with the mastermind of Lee # 8217 ; s auteu-rism polishing through working in concurrency with Denzel Washington # 8217 ; s superb playing. From at that place, Lee continued to demo the battle of Black America in movies such as # 8220 ; Crooklyn # 8221 ; ( scripted by Lee # 8217 ; s sister, Joie ) , # 8220 ; Girl 6, # 8221 ; # 8220 ; Clockers, # 8221 ; and # 8220 ; 4 Little Girls # 8221 ; ( www.eFilmCritic.com ) . Although no 1 had of all time tried it before, Spike Lee decided to present America to the African-American # 8217 ; s position and civilization. He did this by himself since non many people were willing to assist. When money to back up the movies from studios was short, he went to fellow black-rights militants such as: Oprah Winfrey, Janet Jackson, Tracy Chapman and Magic Johnson. Once he had the budget, he wrote, directed, produced and acted in the movies that he made to advance the construct that # 8220 ; An all-black movie directed by a black individual can be of Universal appeal # 8221 ; ( Smith 443 ) . In the past 60 to seventy old ages, many things have changed in the movie industry, such as constructs of that which is controversial in movie. One thing has remained the same, nevertheless, a individual who exudes exclusive creativeness in bring forthing a movie is entitled an auteur. Just as Lee and Smith used any agencies necessary to make movies which fulfilled their visions, the same can certainly be said for the mastermind film maker, Alfred Hitchcock. While Spike Lee and Kevin Smith began single-handedly making their ain movies because of fiscal grounds, Alfred Hitchcock controls all facets of his movies so # 8220 ; the unity of his work is non jeopardized # 8230 ; # 8221 ; ( Truffaut 14 ) . Alfred Hitchcock is really serious about his movies. # 8220 ; Throughout his full calling he has felt the demand to protect himself from the histrions, manufacturers, and technicians who # 8230 ; [ might countervail the significance of ] # 8230 ; his plants. He hence had # 8220 ; # 8230 ; to go the manager nor histrion will oppugn, to go one # 8217 ; s ain manufacturer, and to cognize more about technique than the technicians # 8221 ; ( Truffaut 14 ) . It is because of his mentality on this that his movies are so concrete and appear flawless. Although many of his movies were simply based on dramas and less based on his life experiences, Hitchcock twists the secret plans around and uses his repute of # 8220 ; The adult male with the maestro head # 8221 ; to direct his movies with sheer luster. The literary plants that Hitchcock adapts into his movies are normally light and unpopular. Hitchcock refused to do screen versions of literary plants that held importance such as # 8220 ; Crime and Punishment # 8221 ; because he said # 8220 ; # 8217 ; Crime and Punishment # 8217 ; is person else # 8217 ; s accomplishment. There # 8217 ; s been a batch of talk about the manner in which Hollywood managers distort literary chef-doeuvres. I # 8217 ; ll have no portion in that! # 8221 ; ( Truffaut 71 ) . With the books that he really creates, Hitchcock delves into a great resource of his fright of everything to cognize what would keep people in suspense. Hitchcock grew up a lone wolf with an incredible fright of constabulary a nd force. He knew what childhood frights were composed of and used this cognition to make his movies ( Truffaut 30 ) . Hitchcock was one of the best-known managers for adding particular effects to do a soundless movie more realistic. He would utilize film-staining techniques, ordinary family points were used to do a shooting more affecting, and many other techniques neer thought of before in old movies. One such illustration is when he placed a piece of glass in forepart of an actress # 8217 ; face in order to hold her hair spread out on the glass, so she appeared more scared. Another technique that Hitchcock used to maintain audiences amused, is to put himself in a scene in every movie. It was foremost done because he did non hold plenty supernumeraries to make full the screen, but subsequently carried on as a tradition that Hitchcock fans come to anticipate. Hitchcock mastered the filmic linguistic communication. He knew how to utilize a great figure of tools in order to do his movies reach near-perfection. He knew how to falsify clip, images and emotions on the screen by pattern and by using his natural endowments. He trusted cipher besides himself in the procedure of filmmaking and therefore his movies contained fluidness and true suspense. Hitchcock adapted his movies into a book, directed, produced, appeared in and worked out the technicalitites of his movies. All of these aforesaid elements adds up in an equation that equals a mastermind auteur. There aren # 8217 ; t many film makers that can see themselves true auteurs. To be an auteur, the film maker must hold an ultimate end to show something they care about on movie. They must non merely show this in their book, but carry through on it by directing, bring forthing and drawing together many other facets of the movie by themselves. Three film makers that fit this description to a # 8220 ; t # 8221 ; are Kevin Smith, Spike Lee and Alfred Hitchcock. These three work forces all went out with the same end: To show their positions of life in extraordinary movies. They all went above and beyond their call of responsibility and are now ranked among the top film makers of history, the rank of movie auteurs. Andrew, Geoff. Stranger than Paradise. Limelight: New York, NY. 1987. Lee, Spike and Lisa Jones. Elate the Race: the Construction of School Daze. Fireside: New York, NY. 1988. Smith, Jessie Carney. Black Heroes of the Twentieth Century. Visible Ink. : Detroit, MI. 1998. Truffaut, Francois. HItchcock. Simon and Scheuster: New York, NY. 1983 www.eFilmCritic.com. HBS Entertainment. 1998-2000. www.uidaho.edu/~purc3906/kevbio.htm. University of Idaho. Last updated November 2, 2000. www.zap2it.com/TVPeopleprofiles. Tribune Media Services. 2000.