American Independent CinemaBloomsbury Publishing, 2014 M09 8 - 304 pages The independent sector has produced many of the most distinctive films to have appeared in the US in recent decades. From 'Sex, Lies and Videotape' in the 1980s to 'The Blair Witch Project' and New Queer Cinema in the 1990s and the ultra-low budget digital video features of the 2000s, indie films have thrived, creating a body of work that stands out from the dominant Hollywood mainstream. But what exactly is 'independent' cinema? This, the first book to examine the question in detail, argues that independence can be defined partly in industry terms but also according to formal and aesthetic strategies and by distinctive attitudes towards social and political issues, suggesting that independence is a dynamic rather than a fixed quality. Chapters focus on distribution and relationships with Hollywood studios; narrative ('Clerks' and 'Slacker' to 'Pulp Fiction', 'Magnolia' and 'Memento') and other formal dimensions (from 'Blair Witch's' 'authenticity' to expressive and stylized camerawork and editing in work from Harmony Korine to the Coen brothers); approaches to genre and alternative socio-political visions. |
Contents
Narrative | |
Form | |
Genre | |
Social Political and Ideological Dimensions | |
Merging with the Mainstream or Staying Indie? | |
Other editions - View all
American Independent Cinema: Indie, Indiewood and Beyond Geoff King,Claire Molloy,Yannis Tzioumakis Limited preview - 2013 |
American Independent Cinema: indie, indiewood and beyond Geoff King,Claire Molloy,Yannis Tzioumakis Limited preview - 2012 |
Common terms and phrases
American independent cinema appears Araki’s art-house audience avant-garde Blair Witch Project Blood Simple Bordwell box-office budget camera camerawork Cassavetes central character classical Hollywood close comedy commercial conventional create culture dimension distribution distributors documentary dominant effect established Evil Dead example existence festival fictional figure film’s filmmakers footage formal devices frame genre Gregg Araki Gummo heightened Hollywood mainstream Hollywood Reporter horror Ibid images impression independent features independent filmmakers independent films independent production independent sector John Cassavetes Julien Donkey-Boy kind latter lesbian Living End low-budget major material million Miramax montage sequences motivated move movie narrative structure offbeat offers performance perspective play political potential presented Pulp Fiction qualities Queer Cinema radical relationship relatively release romantic screen sense sequence sexual shift shooting shot Stranger than Paradise strategy studio style stylized success suggests Sundance texture Third Cinema unconventional undermining usually vampire vérité viewer