The Foundation for Auteur Theory

I am deeply entrenched in The Cinema Book, 2nd Ed. edited by Pam Cook and Mieke Bernink (third edition now out, no idea what the difference might be, other than less used copies available for film students). I am walking through the book in my study of Auteur Theory. Thus far, I have covered a brief section on the Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave), a brief illustration of the studio system/golden age of Hollywood and today I began an entire section (~80 small print 8.5"x11" pages) on authorship in film studies. The brief introduction has given me the following insight into la politique des auteurs, crafted by Andre Bazin and colleagues.

1. Trigger: Astruc pens a famous essay (La Camera-Stylo (still looking for a good external reference, but it means Camera-Pen...)) calling for a new cinematic language that would allow for individual artistic expression.
2. Production Economics: For news gathering/propaganda purposes, Americans develop smaller, more manageable cameras; this enables small teams to possess the tools of film production previously reserved for large, well-financed or government backed enterprises.
3. Voice: A subset of film critics also happened to be members of a politically marginalized and silenced movement. They were looking for a voice.
   
4. Access to New Art and Information: Previously banned films from America were finally open to French audiences and critics (these include the works of Alfred Hitchcock and films like The Maltese Falcon).
   
5. Authorship: Authors of the Cahiers du Cinéma discussed the difference between directors who could merely competently tell a story using regurgitated cinematic conventions, and those who could do the same, but also present deeper themes and more coherent artistic visions.

These are the contextual footers for the development of the politique des auteurs. However, these contexts are not unique. Let's explore these topics within the context of digital media in the present-day West:

1. Trigger: Today we probably lack a cohesive trigger like Astruc's article. Perhaps some such trigger is now available, likely roughly developed by small teams of guerrilla filmmaking networks, and either I am unaware of it or its relevance will only be available after some longer period of time. Perhaps it is Robert Rodriguez's Rebel Without a Crew. I will continue to search for such a manifesto.
2. Production Economics: I would argue that the development of digital video workflows of the last decade are a far greater enabler than the 20 lb 16mm camera. Certainly current economics put full production and post tools in more hands today than the earlier developments ever could have. These systems can even shrink production teams to the size of one (animation and most of YouTube's non-copyrighted content, for example).
   
3. Voice: This, in combination with #1 above, is a dicey subject. I would argue that the enablement of internet publishing has created an atmosphere that allows any marginalized group an outlet for their ideas and frustrations. However, the niche dynamics of the internet may actually nullify this aspect. Groups of like-minded individuals can form small, tight communities very easily, communicate freely amongst themselves, and yet still be completely invisible to those who are unfamiliar with their plight or the community building and aggregating aspects of the internet. Also, political censorship of the internet can endanger this as well.
   
4. Access to New Art and Information: Netflix, Amazon, Google (Pandora, Rhapsody, Technoroti, ...). Long Tail economics and information filters such as the services mentioned create incredibly low barriers of entry into any type of content in nearly any medium. I am constantly adding works that reflect my eclectic interests in really old movies to my Netflix queue. Google and Wikipedia make my research quick and painless. Goodreads allows me to find books about philosophy, religion, science and filmmaking and then collect those books in a queue that I can pick off as my current context changes, all the while allowing me to focus my interests more tightly and further removed from the mainstream. I concede though, that if I were a Chinese blogger, Google might be a far less useful tool.
   
5. Authorship: Without a more specific and driving treatise, the jury is out on this.

What can we learn by comparing these two lists? What jumps out at me is the fact that all of the really difficult contextual elements, the socio-economics ones, are currently favorable for a digital revolution, which has been often promised, to actually occur in filmmaking. What seems to be missing is the theoretical framework that guides individuals to harness these economic conditions. However, I would like to stress that such critical legwork may actually already be done (and likely has been done be an increasing number of media studies Ph.D. candidates.) Perhaps it is only the infamy of such a work that is currently missing. Certainly hundreds of new media artists have been testing the waters and developing new ideas and systems perpetually since bandwidth became affordable, gaining the practical skills needed.

Now, where do we find our treatise?