January 20th

1. After the 1947 Paramount Decree, many Hollywood players started their own production companies. Through these companies, they made films meant to be distributed by the major studios. Avant garde filmmakers were also "independent" in that their films were not meant to be widely distributed, nor were they in search of the type of finance a feature length narrative would be. In the 50's and 60's, John Cassevetes made films outside of Hollywood out of his frustration with the studio system and its conventions.
Independent cinema of the 80's and 9o's is typically characterized by different (and sometimes less dramatic) stories, lack of starpower, special effects, or genre elements, distinctive styles of
camerawork, editing, or narrative organization.

2. New Line, New World, Vestron, and Goldwyn all tried to exploit the video rental market. The continuum he describes is about putting together very different kinds of films under the same heading of "independent production."

3. Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotape (1989) and Pulp Fiction (1994) were the two defining moments after winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes. This blurred the line between mainstream Hollywood productions and the "independent fringe." The Hollywood industry took advantage of Pulp Fiction's critical and commercial success by the acquiring smaller studios under their name and branding films as independent as commercial appeal. Miramax was bought by Disney,
New Line/Fine Line were taken over by Turner Broadcasting, which was taken over by Time Warner.

4. Since its starting out in the 80's, Miramax made increasingly larger profits until Pulp Fiction finally put them over the $100 million mark. Owned by Disney, Miramax has had the financing available to produce high-budget films and savvy marketing strategies to sell them. A film like Pulp Fiction, with stars like John Travolta and Bruce Willis, would not typically have been considered "independent", but due to its bold subject matter and storytelling, Miramax benefited from the unconventional, non-studio appeal of the film.

5. He calls it the incorporation into the mainstream. He reassess this point by illustrating Van Sant's return to his "indie roots" with films like Gerry and Elephant.

6. Post-classicism is characterized by "auteurs and the media conglomeration of the film industry" with high-concept being perhaps the central development within this cinema.
Thompson disagrees and says that what Wyatt is describing is an "intensification" of Hollywood's conventions. A film like Jaws is an example of how Hollywood's strength in telling a good story with fast-paced action and characters with clear psychological motivation was used to make New Hollywood work.

7. Unity: A series of causes and effects which the spectator can easily follow, unified narratives, story motivation, character traits which cause those motivations, characters' desire, a series of question to develop momentum, deadlines.
Clarity: Opening scenes with distant framing to establish time and place, compositions usually favor the main characters in scenes, quick-editing for action sequences, "dialogue hooks".
Films use motifs to reinforce central themes which help unify the story as one clear idea.

8. Set-up: Initial situation is established, protagonist makes goals. Complicating action: Protagonist pursues goal but is presented with a need to change tactics. Development: Protagonist encounters main conflict in pursuit of goal. Climax: Asks whether or not protagonist will achieve goal. Action is straightforward progression to the resolution.
Thompson analysis of Terminator 2 as being structured in 4 parts more clearly outlines the plot-points as being more than just a series of chases. The 4 part structure allows Thompson to look closer at the Terminator's transformation as being the central focus of the turning points.

9. Setup: Sissy's birth-defect, her discovery of hitchhiking, meeting Julian, and the Countess sending her to The Rubber Rose.
Complicating Action: The cowgirls act in order to save the crane.
Development: Sissy and Bonanza Jellybean fall in love, Sissy gets a normal thumb but finds that her hitchhiking abilities are weakened.
Climax: The third vision comes, Bonanza Jellybean is shot, whooping crane leaves.
Epilogue: Sissy decides to be a cowgirl.