Independent Growth
Independent film is generally associated with creativity and originality, the auteur theory (the concept of the director as author), and lower budgets. However, these characteristics are not inherently founded in American cinema. The writers of the French film journal Cahiers du Cinema, many of whom are credited with leading the French New Wave, actually pioneered the filmmaking methods that would dominate The American Independents from the 1960's on. In his book Celluloid Mavericks, Greg Merritt points out the effect the French New Wave had on American cinema. "The French New Wave impacted American independent films through such techniques as improved dialogue, handheld camerawork, and deliberately rough editing, but its more important legacy was to put into practice the philosophy of "Do your own thing"" (Merritt, 155). This freedom in filmmaking is what directors to this day strive for; it is the fundamental reason that cinema continues to evolve so that new stories can be told in different ways. Among the writers for Cahiers du Cinema were Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Goddard, Eric Rohmer, and Andre Bazin. Throughout the sixties the Cahiers writers redefined film theory. They attacked traditi
The revolutionary spirit had already reached its peak and was on the way back down, the economy dwindled, unemployment grew, but Hollywood managed to set new standards in box-office film production. Hence, independent filmmaking, without the confines established within the studio system, served as a better means to such ends. Merritt understands the Cahiers to be in favor of original ideas throughout the cinematic world while realizing the necessity of the independent sector. The independent films as well as filmmakers of the eighties built upon the past and have helped carry the non-studio sector into the present. A giant, hungry shark officially marked the end of the American New Wave. "Such "small" films need nurturing to reach selective fans" (Merritt, 261). The festival steadily grew in influence. The late sixties and early seventies America experienced a state of turbulence. In 1981 it moved to Park City and by 1984 it was purchased by Robert Redford. The Cannes proved that growth in cinema was not limited to the studios, but rather shared with the independents. Actually the truth is quite the opposite. The mid seventies and early eighties involved another set of changes in America. Familiar names such as Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Jim Jarmusch, and Kevin Smith are still producing new, original films, proving that there is still something that viewers want to see outside of the studio blockbusters. The extremes of sex, gore, politics, as well as cinematic techniques were tested during these years.
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Acceptance Essays
