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ISSUES OF AUTEURSHIP IN PRODUCTIONS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STAGE AND FILM PRODUCTIONS

Amount: ₦5,000.00 |

Format: Ms Word |

1-5 chapters |



ABSTRACT

Based on the dimension of application and operational framework of the concept of auteurship, auteur directors in stage and film productions believe in the supposition of taking control and close monitoring of all aspects of a production in order to achieve or actualise the directorial vision of a production. This study is aimed at ascertaining the following objectives: importance and limitations of each collaborator in stage and film productions, effects of Auteurship in stage and film productions, actual right and prerequisites of a director as the author of a production, issues of Auteurship in each phase of production: preproduction, production and post production, Differences and similarities in stage and film productions, differences and similarities of interpretative and creative director and the distinctions and similarities in stage and film directing. The study was based on two methodologies-Sociological and Literary methods due to their usefulness in information gathering. The theoretical framework of this study was anchored  on  Auteurship  and Collaborative  Theories  to examine  how a director  as auteur  could succeed without the collaboration of other artists in the production. In view of this without  effective  collaborative  efforts  of different  artistic  expects  no production will be successful if the director is left alone to do all the work  in the pretext of maintaining or showing coherency in styles, motif, themes, and vision in a production.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The dynamism of collaboration in production where all artistic elements are blended together into a unified whole with a director as the chief collaborator, who supervises, coordinates and controls these elements: script, performers, designers, and other production crew members cannot be over emphasized.

However, the emergence of auteurship in France proclaiming that the director should be the auteur (author) of a production by imposing and implementing his/her vision/concept  in  a production  at  the  expense  of  other  collaborators,  has  ignited serious  arguments  on  whose  vision/concept  or  point  of  view  should  reflect  or dominate in a production where various individual experts contribute their expertise to the final effect of a production.

Before the origination of the word auteur in production with its  acclaimed functions mostly, in film, some notable theatre directors in the likes of Sir William Davenant, David Garrick, George Anton Benda and Vsevelod Meyerhold have been performing such functions. They were imposing,  projecting and implementing their own vision/concepts in their productions and not the vision of those dramatists. They used to completely tempering with the structure or rewriting a playwright’s script.

This supposition of auteurship phenomenon has held away for many decades leading to emergence of two schools of thoughts. These schools of thoughts are either in support or against the existence and relevance of auteurship in production. In view of these  arguments,  it seems  none of these  schools of  thought  have been able to establish reasonable prerequisites or criteria why a director should be seen or not to be seen as the auteur (author) of a production. Those who have attempted doing so either

ends  up  over  flogging  or  under  flogging  the  issue  of auteurship  without  a  clear balance.

Issues associated with auteurship phenomenon could affect the future of stage and  film  productions  as  collaborative  media  if  better  ways  of  enhancing  this collaboration are not put in place; by stating clearly and categorically the relevance, importance and limitations of each collaborator in any production.

It is against this background that this study enunciates and proffers solutions to those pertinent issues of auteurship which are considered detrimental to  production collaborations.

1.1      Statement of Problem

The issue of auteurship  in production is so peculiar that it has sparked  off serious arguments among theatre and film scholars. These arguments are whether the auteurship concept should be discarded or retained.

Issues associated  with auteurship  in production are problematic  due to  the domineering influence of the director over other collaborative artistic experts as well as every aspects of a production. The auteurship theory allows or permits the director to impose and implement his or her sole vision, concept and point of view with little or no regards to the playwright or screen writer’s script. Rather, the director sees the script as a pretext for the activities of a production and the placement of emphasis on the spontaneous events that happen in front of the camera or before the audience and also undermining  the contributions  of other  collaborators.  This problem,  however, could lead to poor quality of the final effect of a production.

1.2      Research Questions

The following are the research questions for this study:

      Should stage and film productions be seen as collaborative medium for personal artistic expression of the director’s vision or concept as auteur?

    Does the issue of auteurship in stage have the same dimension as film production?

    Why is auteurship very strong in film than stage productions?

    To what extent does auteurship phenomenon affect stage productions?

      Does the issue  of auteurship  have any impact  on the production process  as  a collaboration medium?

1.3      Objectives of the Study

By the end of this study, the following objectives would have been achieved:

           Importance and limitations of each collaborator in stage and film productions would have been ascertained.

          Effects of auteurship in productions would have been known.

           Actual right and prerequisites of a director as the author of a production would have been ascertained.

           Differences  and similarities  in stage and film productions would have  been revealed.

           Issues of auteurship in each phase of production: preproduction,  production and post production would have been made manifest.

           The distinctions and similarities in stage and film directing would have been known.

           Differences and similarities of interpretative and creative director would have been ascertained.

1.4      Significance of the Study

The study on issues of auteurship in productions is relevant and unique due to the following reasons:

The study determines the effect of auteurship in productions and reveals what qualifies a director as author. This research highlights the strengths and weaknesses of auteurship  in  productions  and  proffers  possible  solutions  to  harmonious  working relationship among production collaborators.

Finally, the study no doubt instigates researchers on the subject of auteurship and also being useful and meaningful to lovers of knowledge, students, practitioners, scholars and researchers.

1.5 Delimitation/Scope of the Study

The research is confined to auteurship in stage and film production processes from the three stages of production: preproduction,  production and  postproduction. The study however, deals with sequential manifestation of auteurship issues at each phase of a production as well as a comparative analysis of stage and film directing. Differences and similarities of auteurship phenomenon in stage and film production and the idea of interpretative and creative director in production were also treated.

1.6 Limitation of Study

The  study was  affected  by some  factors  such  as:  difficulties  in  accessing available materials on the subject Issues of Auteurship in Production from individual, public and institution libraries. Especially materials on auteurship in stage production where not much even from the internet.

Poor transportation system  and security network in the country hinders  the study because the researcher finds it difficult when traveling long distance  for data collection from primary and secondary sources.

Time  and  financial  constraints  for  collection  of  data  limited  the  research because the researcher could not travel to some of the places intended  to interview stage and film practitioners as well as scholars. Despite the limited time for the study

most interviewees kept rescheduling dates, times, and places for the interview due to their  businesses  and  long-standing  engagements.  Inadequate  finance  to  purchase books and journals relating to the subject of investigation affected the study also.

1.7 Research Methodology

The researcher  adopts the Sociological  and Literary methodologies  for  the collection of data for the study from primary and secondary sources.

The researcher relies on Sociological Methodology due to its relevance in the collection of data for the study. According to Sam Ukala, this method  “involves a high degree of the researcher’s interaction with the society being studied’’ (13). Since part  of  data  collection  of  the  research  is  through  interviews,  this  method  was considered very useful because it availed the  researcher the opportunity of face-to- face interaction with the interviewees which Ukala posits that interview is one of the “cardinal techniques of data collection in this methodology” (13).

In collecting data for the study through this method  the researcher  equally relies on the purposive sampling technique which is one of the non-probability sample techniques where “not every member of the population has a chance to be selected”. The researcher focuses on purposive sampling techniques where a sample of theatre and film practitioners and scholars were selected within Nigeria for interview based on the subject of investigation using basic tools in the field such as note book, durable audio  tape recorder  and  accessories  and making  sure that  the atmosphere  for the interviews was conducive.

In order to draw logical conclusion from collected data through Sociological method, the researcher made use of the Univariate method of analysis to establish the number of times a particular answer on a particular research questions were repeated from the data gathered.

The researcher also used Literary Methodology for the research because of its accuracy  in  information  gathering  from  secondary  sources  which  scholars  haves treated on various subjects relating to the topic of investigation. Ukala says that;

“The  Literary Methodology  is available  to  researchers  of  subjects  about which or much has already been written and whom the researcher may be unable to personally observe or make physical contact with” (13).

In  this  case,  the  researcher  made  use  of  data  from  earlier  scholarly  views  and opinions. In fact, the data collected for the study using this methodology were based on previous  scholarly views and  opinions  from secondary sources  such as books, journals, dissertations, newspapers, seminar, and conference papers, internet materials relating  to  the  subject  of  investigation.  Data  collected  from  this  method  were “analyzed in relation to the research questions and objectives” (13).

The  researcher  utilized  the  comparative  analysis  approach  through  critical review, description, examination and evaluation of data collected from these materials to arrive at a logical conclusion.



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ISSUES OF AUTEURSHIP IN PRODUCTIONS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STAGE AND FILM PRODUCTIONS

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