Yannis Tzioumakis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748618668
- eISBN:
- 9780748670802
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748618668.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This introduction to American independent cinema offers both a comprehensive industrial and economic history of the sector from the early twentieth century to the present and a study of key ...
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This introduction to American independent cinema offers both a comprehensive industrial and economic history of the sector from the early twentieth century to the present and a study of key individual films and film-makers. Readers will develop an understanding of the complex dynamic relations between independent and mainstream American cinema.The main argument revolves around the idea that American independent cinema has developed alongside mainstream Hollywood cinema with institutional, industrial and economic changes in the latter shaping and informing the former. Consequently, the term ‘independent’ has acquired different meanings at different points in the history of American cinema, evolving according to the impact of changing conditions in the American film industry. These various meanings are examined in the course of the book.The book is ordered chronologically, beginning with independent filmmaking in the studio era (examining both top-rank and low-end independent film production), moving to the 1950s and 1960s (discussing both the adoption of independent filmmaking as the main method of production for the Hollywood majors as well as exploitation filmmaking) and finishing with contemporary American independent cinema (exploring areas such as the New Hollywood, the major independent production and distribution companies and the institutionalisation of independent cinema in the 1990s). Each chapter includes a number of case studies which focus on specific films and/or filmmakers, while a number of independent production and distribution companies are also discussed in detail.Less
This introduction to American independent cinema offers both a comprehensive industrial and economic history of the sector from the early twentieth century to the present and a study of key individual films and film-makers. Readers will develop an understanding of the complex dynamic relations between independent and mainstream American cinema.The main argument revolves around the idea that American independent cinema has developed alongside mainstream Hollywood cinema with institutional, industrial and economic changes in the latter shaping and informing the former. Consequently, the term ‘independent’ has acquired different meanings at different points in the history of American cinema, evolving according to the impact of changing conditions in the American film industry. These various meanings are examined in the course of the book.The book is ordered chronologically, beginning with independent filmmaking in the studio era (examining both top-rank and low-end independent film production), moving to the 1950s and 1960s (discussing both the adoption of independent filmmaking as the main method of production for the Hollywood majors as well as exploitation filmmaking) and finishing with contemporary American independent cinema (exploring areas such as the New Hollywood, the major independent production and distribution companies and the institutionalisation of independent cinema in the 1990s). Each chapter includes a number of case studies which focus on specific films and/or filmmakers, while a number of independent production and distribution companies are also discussed in detail.
Yannis Tzioumakis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748618668
- eISBN:
- 9780748670802
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748618668.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
While top-rank independent filmmaking was absorbed by Hollywood and its major studios, low-end independent filmmaking persisted but it was reinvented, especially once exploitation cinema techniques ...
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While top-rank independent filmmaking was absorbed by Hollywood and its major studios, low-end independent filmmaking persisted but it was reinvented, especially once exploitation cinema techniques started making their presence strongly felt both in the narratives of these films and in their advertising and marketing. The chapter argues that the introduction of television put an end to low-end independent cinema of the 1930s and 1940s as television delivered a similar type of cheap entertainment for free, while the double bill was gradually being phased out. However, the emergence of the youth audience in the 1950s as a key demographic and the studios' persistence in providing entertainment for a mass audience gave low-end independent filmmakers a new, clearly defined market in which they have operated successfully. The chapter then explores the ways low-end independent producers and distributors exploited the youth market with specific reference to American International Pictures, and other key players such as Roger Corman and William Castle. Case study: Rock around the Clock (Sears, 1956).Less
While top-rank independent filmmaking was absorbed by Hollywood and its major studios, low-end independent filmmaking persisted but it was reinvented, especially once exploitation cinema techniques started making their presence strongly felt both in the narratives of these films and in their advertising and marketing. The chapter argues that the introduction of television put an end to low-end independent cinema of the 1930s and 1940s as television delivered a similar type of cheap entertainment for free, while the double bill was gradually being phased out. However, the emergence of the youth audience in the 1950s as a key demographic and the studios' persistence in providing entertainment for a mass audience gave low-end independent filmmakers a new, clearly defined market in which they have operated successfully. The chapter then explores the ways low-end independent producers and distributors exploited the youth market with specific reference to American International Pictures, and other key players such as Roger Corman and William Castle. Case study: Rock around the Clock (Sears, 1956).
