>
> Actually, it was an attempt to understand why a collaborative process such as
> filmmaking could come to bear the stamp of one individual so completely. No
> matter the collaborators, Hitchcock, Altman, Mankiewicz, Ford, Scorsese, Renoir,
> Bergman, Kurosawa etc always made films that were unmistakably theirs.
> You cannot watch a frame without knowing who has directed the film. If
> filmmaking is a corporate process, how did so many films come to bear such
> unique and identifiable markings?
>
> Brian
But many aspects of filmmaking are unique and identifiable, not just direction! Examples: Gregg Toland's cinematography, the Coen Brothers' writing, Katharine Hepburn's acting, Edith Head's costume design, Henry Mancini's scores, etc. Saying a director "makes" a film is like saying that the flour "makes" the cake: you need all the ingredients, or it's not a cake.
Miles