The Whole Equation of Pictures

In this article, Thomas Schatz examines Old Hollywood’ focus on the director with New Hollywood’s focus on the auteur. He points out that auteurs opposed the studio system and it’s greedy, corporate, creativity suppressing “studio-factories.” At this point in history, it seems, the filmmaker was tragically underappreciated, and was viewed more as an employee than a creative mind. It makes a lot of sense that the best films of early Hollywood had a mixture of individual leadership and institutional resources. The style and direction of a particular director was bolstered by the efficient and powerful studio companies. The individuals brought the creativity and vision, while the studios brought the funding, means of production, and distribution channels. Schatz defends the position that filmmaking is best studied as a group effort, rather than an individual one. The “genius of the system” beats the “cult of personality.” At this time in film history, it was the structure of the studio system that held together all the social, industrial, technological, economic, and aesthetic forces in balance. During the classical Hollywood era, filmmaking was still a competitive and creative enterprise, yet still relied on negotiation more than collaboration.