Description
Book SynopsisIn
Rewriting Indie Cinema, J. J. Murphy explores alternative forms of scripting and how they have shaped American film from the 1950s to the present. He traces a strain of indie cinema that used improvisation and psychodrama, a therapeutic form of improvised acting based on a performer’s own life experiences.
Trade ReviewJ. J. Murphy's love and passion for U.S. indie cinema is evident on every page. His in-depth dissection and analysis of trends in the cinematic arts show us that the medium is still evolving, and different approaches to screenwriting, directing, and producing films are what keep it alive. -- Sean Baker, director of
The Florida ProjectRewriting Indie Cinema exemplifies one of the best things cinema scholarship can do: it demonstrates an important continuity within a wide range of interesting films while providing the general film-interested reader as well as the academic film historian with a new list of accomplished filmmakers to explore. Murphy is the person to mine the considerable territory between comparatively big-budget indie filmmaking based on screenplays and the free-form experimental filmmaking of Warhol. -- Scott MacDonald, author of
Avant-Doc: Intersections of Documentary and Avant-Garde CinemaRewriting Indie Cinema demonstrates that independent U.S. films since the 1950s have explored many paths between pure improvisation and the script-based pre-production of classical Hollywood cinema. Murphy wears his erudition lightly, and the continuities and distinctions that he establishes between methods of improvisation in cinema and theater are lucid, convincing, and well-informed, without the author ever over-theorizing for the sake of it. -- Steven Price, author of
A History of the ScreenplayA fascinating new look at the role played by psychodrama and improvisation in American independent cinema, past and present. Grounded in detailed case studies,
Rewriting Indie Cinema provides a wealth of insights into alternative scripting and production practices that place spontaneity and performance center-frame. J. J. Murphy’s deep knowledge of art and independent cinema shine through on every page. -- Kathryn Millard, author of
Screenwriting in a Digital EraRewriting Indie Cinema sweeps from the 1950s to recent films like
The Rider and
The Florida Project. By looking for alternatives to the fully prepared screenplay, it posits a fresh way of thinking about American film artistry. -- David Bordwell * Observations on Film Art *
Lively and knowledgeable text, coupled with excellent frame grabs as illustrations, makes this a sharp, illuminating book. * Choice *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction. Across the Spectrum: From Improvisation to Psychodrama
1. And I Hate Actors: The New American Cinema
2. Let’s Not Phony It Up Anymore: The Films of John Cassavetes
3. Place-Based Realism: Mackenzie, Loden, and Burnett
4. Experiments in Psychodrama: Mekas, Warhol, Clarke, and Mailer
5. Human Life Isn’t Necessarily Well-Written: William Greaves’s
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One and
Take 2 1/26. Beyond the Method: Abel Ferrara and Harvey Keitel
7. Tied to a Machine: The Films of Gus Van Sant
8. I Like How You Talk: The Films of Joe Swanberg
9. Improvisation and Place:
Putty Hill,
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, and the Films of Sean Baker
10. Rediscovering Psychodrama:
Frownland,
Heaven Knows What, and
Stinking Heaven11. The Line Between Reality and Staging:
Actor Martinez,
Actress, and
The WitnessConclusion: Blending Fiction and Documentary
Notes
Bibliography
Index
