Amateur, Auteur, Novice, Pro

We once believed we were auteurs but we weren’t. We had no idea, really. Film is over. It’s sad nobody is really exploring it. But what to do? And anyway, with mobile phones and everything, everyone is now an auteur.” –Jean-Luc Godard

Auteur is a filmmaker: a filmmaker who has a personal style and keeps that creativity under control over the work; and the filmmaker’s impact is felt in every aspect of the movie unlike dominated by the music director or by the cast.

Auteur comes from the French meaning author, and it was populariased by the Francois Truffaut through an essay. Auteurism is a film theory: a film theory that considers the work as that of the director, not influenced or dominated by an actor or actress.

Auteurist is a proponent of auteurism, and auteurship is the work of an auteur.

Amateur is used interchangeably but there is a difference.

Amateur is non-professional.

Amateur pursues a study, a game, a sport…as a pastime.

Amateur is a person who plays a game for the pleasure of it, and not for money.

Amateur lacks that professional skill, ability, expertise.

The derivatives of amateur are amateurish (adjective), amateurishly (adverb) and amateurism (noun).

Novice is a person who is new to something such as a game, study, activity; novice is a beginner.

Novice is a beginner in something: are you a novice or pro in golf? A novice is yet to learn about a subject or a field of sport in a competent and professional manner, and he or she could end up becoming a pro.

If you are novice, you are learning the game but if you are pro, you are a professional.

Novice also refers to a person who enters a religious order but yet to take the final vows; and, noviciate or novitiate is the period during which one is a novice.

“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” –Socrates

Amateur pursues something without intending to become a professional but in the case of a novice, he or she may intend to become a professional (pro).

Unlike an amateur and a novice, pro is the personal who does things for professional reasons: for money.
PRO is an abbreviation for Public Relations Officer, and Pressure Retarded Osmosis.

Pro also refers to being in favour of someone or something.

Are you pro-war or anti-war person?

By: Kovuuri G Reddy