A Question of Authorship:

The aim of this project was to make a film in which there was no authorship from the filmmaker. It was created in response to two of Roland Barthes ideas.

1) The Death of The Author (Image, Music, Text, 1977). Barthes believed that by reading and interpreting meaning in a text the reader actively kills the author. It is the "destruction of the voices" and the "destruction of the point of origin." I wanted to explore the implications of this idea for the writer or filmmaker.

2) Readerly and Writerly Texts(S/Z, 1992). My aim was to create something as "writerly" as possible "...to make the reader no longer a consumer but a producer of the text." meaning that there was scope for the reader to write their own meaning onto the story.

In addition I was influenced by the idea that a text takes on a new life at the moment of exhibition and the less fixed meaning there is, the longer and more vivid a life the text will have (Keats, Foucault and Metz). Please see the 'Theoretical Essay' for a detailed account of the theoretical concepts that influenced the process.

The video below comprises of the first 3 stages of the process* (the 4th and 5th stages are reflective and can be explored by clicking through the pages of this blog). It shows a short 30 second film of a character walking. We are then introduced to 6 readers who watched this short film and made up a narrative about the character. Then we see the new film that was created in response to these narratives. In creating this new text, I have attempted to destroy the point of origin of this film. My voice is inaudible under the warring voices of my readers and hopefully you will feel that the visual images are "writerly" and thus allow any new reader to write their own narrative.

*a written explanation of the full process can be found in the appendix

Questions to consider:

• To what extent do the voices in film A to B appear to be authoring the narrative?
• Who is the true author of this text?
• Does authorship lie with the person whose creative ideas are realised or the 'scriptor**' who realises them?
• Is this film successful as a writerly text?

If you are interested in reading more about this project please click through the pages on the left. The Essay will give you an overview of the theory that underpinned this process. For my conclusions please click on Reflection on The Success of This Project.

** see Essay for Barthes explanation of 'scriptor'

If you would like any more information about my project please email me: clairempollard@gmail.com