Working Paper: NBER ID: w15930
Authors: David W. Galenson
Abstract: John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock were experimental filmmakers: both believed images were more important to movies than words, and considered movies a form of entertainment. Their styles developed gradually over long careers, and both made the films that are generally considered their greatest during their late 50s and 60s. In contrast, Orson Welles and Jean-Luc Godard were conceptual filmmakers: both believed words were more important to their films than images, and both wanted to use film to educate their audiences. Their greatest innovations came in their first films, as Welles made the revolutionary Citizen Kane when he was 26, and Godard made the equally revolutionary Breathless when he was 30. Film thus provides yet another example of an art in which the most important practitioners have had radically different goals and methods, and have followed sharply contrasting life cycles of creativity.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: Z11
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Visual storytelling by experimental filmmakers (C99) | Audience engagement (O36) |
| Visual storytelling by experimental filmmakers (C99) | Viewer satisfaction (Y10) |
| Dialogue and thematic complexity by conceptual filmmakers (B29) | Audience education and thought provocation (A20) |
| Experimental filmmaking techniques (C90) | Higher viewer satisfaction (Y10) |
| Conceptual filmmaking techniques (C99) | Different kind of engagement (D16) |
| Success of one filmmaking style over another (C52) | Reception of their works (Y30) |