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Information about Independent Film

An independent film, or indie film, is usually a low-budget film that is produced by a small movie studio. Additionally, the term is used to describe less commercially-driven art films which differ markedly from the norms of plot-driven, mainstream classical Hollywood cinema. These films are often produced by subsidiaries of larger studios, such as Sony Pictures Classics, as long as less than half of its budget comes from a major movie studio. In 2005, about 15% of the U.S. domestic box office revenue was from independent studios.[1] Independent films are often distinguishable by their content or style. The writer or director's original authorial intent or personal creative vision is usually maintained in the final film.

The independent film scene's development in the 1990s and 2000s has been stimulated by a range of factors, including the development of affordable high-definition digital video cameras that can rival 35 mm film quality and easy-to-use computer editing software and the increasing visibility of independent film festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival.

History

The roots of independent film can be traced back to when the early pioneer filmmakers in the 1900s who resisted the control of the a company called the Motion Picture Patents Company and the Edison trusts. Independent filmmakers built their own cameras and moved to Southern California where they laid the foundations of the American film industry as well as the Hollywood studio.

The studio system eventually became so powerful that some filmmakers once again sought independence as a result. Independent filmmakers around the world have created a diverse range of filmmaking styles that symbolize their own unique cultures and subcultures such as experimental film and underground film. Some independent filmmakers use digital video techniques. While most of the U.S. film industry is located in Los Angeles, one-third of all independent films in the U.S. are produced in New York City.

Technology

Enlarge picture
An independent film shot on MiniDV. Edited using Apple Final Cut Pro. The DVD was authored in Sony Vegas DVD Architect on Windows. The entire project only cost $300.


Until the advent of digital alternatives, the cost of professional film equipment and stock was a major obstacle to independent filmmakers who wanted to make their own films. The cost of 35 mm film is steadily rising: in 2002 alone, film negative costs were up 23%, according to Variety.[2] Studio-quality filming typically required expensive lighting and post-production facilities.

But the advent of consumer camcorders in 1985, and more importantly, the arrival of high-definition digital video in the early 1990s, have since lowered the technology barrier to movie production considerably. Both production and post-production costs have been significantly lowered; today, the hardware and software for post-production can be installed in a commodity-based personal computer. Technologies such as DVD, FireWire connections and professional-level non-linear editing system software make movie-making relatively inexpensive.

The first independent film released on HD DVD was One Six Right on November 1, 2006.[3][4][5]

Software

Popular software (including commercial, consumer level and open source) includes:

Mac OS X Windows Linux

Equipment

Popular digital camcorders, mostly semi-professional equipment with 3-CCD technology, include: Most of these camcorders cost between US$2,000–$5,000 in 2003, with costs continuing to decline as features are subtracted, and as models depreciate. Additionally, open source software holds the potential for increasing high-level editing capabilities being available for also increasingly lower prices, both for free and paid software.

Independent versus major: Indiewood

On the business side, the cost of big-budget studio films also leads to conservative choices in cast and crew. The problem is exacerbated by the trend towards co-financing (over two-thirds of the films put out by Warner Bros. in 2000 were joint ventures, up from 10% in 1987).[2] An unproven film director is almost never given the opportunity to get his or her big break with the studios unless he or she otherwise has significant industry experience in film or television. Films with "unknowns" in the cast, particularly in lead roles, are also rarely produced by the Big Six.

Furthermore, another key expense for independent movie makers is the music for the film. The licensing fees for popular songs can range between US$10,000–$20,000.

The increasing popularity and feasibility of low-budget (but not necessarily low-quality) films over the last 15 years has led to a vast increase in the number of aspiring filmmakers -- people who have written spec scripts and who hope to find several million dollars to turn that script into an independent film sensation like Reservoir Dogs, Susan Hero, or Little Miss Sunshine. These aspiring filmmakers often work day-jobs while they pitch their scripts to independent film production companies, talent agents, and wealthy investors. Their dream seems much more attainable than before the independent film revolution because these novice filmmakers no longer need to gain the backing of a major studio and access to perhaps a hundred million dollars to make their film. (See the filmmaking documentary Dreams on Spec, or BookWars.)

Independent movie-making has also resulted in the proliferation and repopularization of short films and short film festivals. Full-length films are often showcased at film festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival, the Slamdance Film Festival, the South By Southwest film festival, the Raindance Film Festival, or the Cannes Film Festival. Award winners from these exhibitions are more likely to get picked up for distribution by major film studios.

North American "independent" studios

The major commercial film industry in the United States is in Hollywood, while much of the independent film industry is in New York City. The following studios are considered to be the most prevalent of the independent studios (they are used to produce/release independent films and foreign-language films): Note that many of the above studios are actually subsidiaries of larger studios — for example, Sony Pictures Classics is owned by Sony Pictures and is designed to develop less commercial, more character driven films, and Fox Searchlight (which released the surprise hit Bend It Like Beckham in 2002) belongs to the same company that owns 20th Century Fox. Subsidiaries of major studios, as part of their larger, major studio parent companies, are not "true" independent film studios. Furthermore, companies such as Lucasfilm often co-finance their productions and partner with Big Six studios for distribution.

In addition to these higher profile "independent" studios there are thousands of smaller production companies that produce truly independent films every year. These smaller companies look to regionally release their films theatrically or for additional financing and resources to distribute, advertise and exhibit their project on a national scale. The direct-to-video market is not often noted as artistically fertile ground but among its many entries are ambitious independent films that either failed to achieve theatrical distribution or did not seek it. Moving forward, particularly as theatrical filming goes digital and distribution eventually follows, the line between "film," direct-to-disc productions, and feature-length videos whose main distribution channel is wholly electronic, should continue to blur.

Further reading

  • Lyons, Donald (1994). Independent Visions: A Critical Introduction to Recent Independent American Film. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-38249-8. 
  • Vachon, Christine (1996). A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-5630-1. 
  • Lyons, Donald (1994). Independent Visions: A Critical Introduction to Recent Independent American Film. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-38249-8. 
  • Redding, Judith; Brownworth, Victoria (1997). Film Fatales: Independent Women Directors. Seal Press. ISBN 1-878067-97-4. 
  • Levy, Emanuel (1999). Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-5123-7. 
  • Merritt, Greg (2000). Celluloid Mavericks: The History of American Independent Film. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1-56025-232-4. 
  • Biskind, Peter (2004). Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-86259-X. 
  • Pierson, John (2004). Spike Mike Reloaded. Miramax Books. ISBN 1-4013-5950-7. 

See also

References

1. ^ MPAA data from January to March 2005
2. ^ Sharing Pix is Risky Business variety.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
3. ^ HD DVD Digest: Indie Terwilliger Jumps Into HD DVD with 'Romance of Flying'. October 4, 2006
4. ^ HighDef Magazine: 34 to 24 on AJA KONA. Page 34, Jan/Feb 2007
5. ^ One Six Right ..1st indie film on HD-DVD. anybody seen this yet?. AVS.com user forum, March 9, 2007
6. ^ Sharing Pix is Risky Business variety.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007.

External links

Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects.
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A film studio is a controlled environment for the making of a film. This environment may be interior (sound stage), exterior (backlot), or both. In general parlance, the term is synonymous with "major film production company," due largely to the fact that the leading production
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art film (also called an “art cinema”, “art movie”, or in the US, an "independent film" or “art house film”) is a typically serious, noncommercial, independently made film that is aimed at a niche audience, rather than a mass audience.
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Classical Hollywood cinema or the classical Hollywood narrative[1], are terms used in film history which designates both a visual and sound style for making motion pictures and a mode of production that arose in the American film industry of the 1910s and 1920s.
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Sony Pictures Classics is one of two specialty film divisions of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the other being Screen Gems (which produces more genre-specific fare). Founded in January 1992, Sony Pictures Classics produces, acquires, finances and distributes independent films from
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall, or at a wicket.
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In film theory, genre refers to the primary method of film categorization. A "genre" generally refers to films that share similarities in the narrative elements from which they are constructed.
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auteur theory holds that a director's films reflect that director's personal creative vision, as if he or she were the primary "auteur" (the French word for "author"). In some cases, film producers are considered to have a similar "auteur" role for films that they have produced.
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High-definition (HD) video generally refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition (SD) video, most commonly at display resolutions of 1280x720 (720p) or 1920x1080 (1080i or 1080p).
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Digital film refers to cinema production and performance systems which work by using a digital representation of the brightness and colour of each pixel of the image.
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35 mm film is the basic film gauge most commonly used for both still photography and motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its introduction in 1892 by William Dickson and Thomas Edison, using film stock supplied by George Eastman.
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Computer software is a general term used to describe a collection of computer programs, procedures and documentation that perform some task on a computer system. [1]
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The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States.

It is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S. [1] Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, Utah as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is the premier showcase
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Events and trends

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The Motion Picture Patents Company (also known as the Edison Trust), founded in December 1908, was a trust of all the major film companies (Edison, Biograph, Vitagraph, Essanay, Selig, Lubin, Kalem, American Star, American Pathé), the leading distributor (George Kleine) and
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Thomas Alva Edison (February 11 1847 – October 18 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph and a long lasting light bulb.
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Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region,
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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The studio system was a means of film production and distribution dominant in Hollywood from the early 1920s through the early 1950s. The term studio system refers to the practice of large motion picture studios (a) producing movies primarily on their own filmmaking lots
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subculture is a set of people with a set of behaviors and beliefs, culture, which could be distinct or hidden, that differentiate them from the larger culture to which they belong.
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Experimental film, or "experimental cinema," is a term that describes a range of filmmaking styles that are generally quite different from, and often opposed to, the practices of mainstream commercial and documentary filmmaking.
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An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre, or financing. The first use of the term "underground film" occurs in a 1957 essay by American film critic Manny Farber, "Underground Films.
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Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. The final movie can be distributed via hard drives, DVDs or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector.
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City of Los Angeles

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Nickname: The City of Angels, L.A.
Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California
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New York City at sunset

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Nickname: The Big Apple, Gotham, The City that Never Sleeps
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35 mm film is the basic film gauge most commonly used for both still photography and motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its introduction in 1892 by William Dickson and Thomas Edison, using film stock supplied by George Eastman.
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negative may refer to three different things, although they are all related.

A negative

Film for common 35mm cameras comes in long narrow strips of chemical coated plastic.
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