Introduction. Across the spectrum: from improvisation to psychodrama -- And I hate actors: the new American cinema -- Let's not phony it up anymore: the films of John Cassavetes -- Place-based realism: Mackenzie, Loden, and Burnett -- Experiments in psychodrama: Mekas, Warhol, Clarke, and Mailer -- Human life isn't necessarily well-written: the films of William Greaves: symbiopsychotaxiplasm: take one and take 2 1/2 -- Beyond the method: Abel Ferrara and Harvey Keitel -- Tied to a machine: the films of Gus Van Sant -- Like how you talk: the films of Joe Swanberg -- Improvisation and place: Putty Hill, Stand clear of the closing doors, and the films of Sean Baker -- Rediscovering psychodrama: Frownland, Heaven knows what, and Stinking heaven -- The line between reality and staging: Actor Martinez, Actress, and The witness -- Conclusion: blending fiction and documentary.
Summary:
"J.J. Murphy analyzes the shifting role of the screenplay in the history of modern American independent cinema. He argues that in moving away from the traditional Hollywood approach of using a script developed in pre-production, key independent filmmakers used psychodrama and improvisation to create a new kind of cinema that allowed for more complex characterization and pushed dramatic interaction to the point where the boundary between the fiction and reality begin to dissolve. Murphy begins with filmmaking in the 1950s and 1960s and the works of John Cassavetes, Shirley Clarke, Norman Mailer, Jonas Mekas, and other independent directors. In reading key films and analyzing the techniques of these directors, he demonstrates how their divergence from the script, to varying degrees, created a new American cinema. Murphy then turns his attention to the twenty-first century when filmmakers, influenced by the freedom afforded by digital technology, explored many of the same strategies. Films by Gus Van Sant as well as those associated with mumblecore helped set a new precedent for this second wave of unconventional scripting practices. In his focus on improvisation, psychodrama, and a new approach to scripting, Murphy provides a new history of American indie filmmaking and how it challenged Hollywood industrial practices and performance styles"-- Provided by publisher.
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