Autor telewizyjny? Przypadek Matthew Weinera

• Authors: Anna Flagmańska

Title variants

EN

A television auteur? The case of Matthew Weiner

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

PL

American critics often refer to showrunners as television auteurs. Do showrunners deserve this title? Applying the assumptions of François Truffaut’s la politique des auteurs, as well as Andrew Sarris’s auteur theory, this article discusses the case of Matthew Weiner, the showrunner of Mad Men, a television series set in the 1960s America. Examining each stage of the show’s production process allows to prove that Weiner had decisive influence on scripts, direction, casting, cinematography, costume and production design, music and the editing of his project. Perhaps it is time to stop considering series as a collective work – due to the differences between director’s role in film and in television – and instead focus on its auteur features, since it can be argued that we owe the latest golden age of television to the increase in the showrunners’ creative autonomy. 

EN

American critics often refer to showrunners as television auteurs. Do showrunners deserve this title? Applying the assumptions of François Truffaut’s la politique des auteurs, as well as Andrew Sarris’s auteur theory, this article discusses the case of Matthew Weiner, the showrunner of Mad Men, a television series set in the 1960s America. Examining each stage of the show’s production process allows to prove that Weiner had decisive influence on scripts, direction, casting, cinematography, costume and production design, music and the editing of his project. Perhaps it is time to stop considering series as a collective work – due to the differences between director’s role in film and in television – and instead focus on its auteur features, since it can be argued that we owe the latest golden age of television to the increase in the showrunners’ creative autonomy.

Keywords

PL

series; auteur; Matthew Weiner; Mad Men; showrunner; golden age of television

EN

series; auteur; Matthew Weiner; Mad Men; showrunner; golden age of television; series; auteur; Matthew Weiner; Mad Men; showrunner; golden age of television

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 30

Dates

published

2018-04-26

Contributors

author

Anna Flagmańska

• Instytut Filmu, Mediów i Sztuk Audiowizualnych Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

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Identifiers

DOI

10.14746/i.2017.30.22.