Film Studies Blog

What is independent cinema? + Winter's Bone social and production context. An independent film is a film produced outside of the mainstream usually about problems in a real  setting with long takes that lack action. Verisimilitude is used to make the film feel realistic, this is also helped by the aesthetics and visuals. Another difference is that compared to mainstream films, independent films have a much smaller budget, for example, Winter's Bone's budget was $2 million, while La La Land's budget was $30 million. On top of this independent films are filmed on location without a long time to shoot - Winter's Bone was shot in 25 days. The film maker Debra Granik has a neo realistic style, which is why the film focuses on the rural poverty of the Ozarks, as well as their lack of opportunities and education. The majority of the social context comes from kin based patriarchal power and the dependence on strong women, as shown by Ree and Merab's resilience. Throu...

How far does 'Winter's Bone' rely upon an understanding of it's social context. Refer in detail to at least one sequence from the film. [20] Winter's Bone is an neo-realistic, independent film on a young member of the Ozark community looking for her father. The sequence I have chosen is when Teardrop shows up to collect Ree from the garage, where she has been attacked. I'm starting from the moment, when the garage door opens with close-ups of each of the people in the room, then a tracking shot of the door as it opens and stops at a mid-shot of Teardrop. Through this scene there is only the diegetic sound of dialogue, the garage and of the rain outside. When Teardrop walks into the garage there is a long shot, which shows how the surrounding people respond - the men act and speak first. There is then a mid shot of Ree, curled in a ball with blood on her face behind the women, who take up part of the screen, which highlights how weak and powerless she is, which...

Checkmate FADE IN: EXT. ALLEY - DAY Two people sit in an alley with a chess board between them. MARA, a teenage girl dressed in white/grey clothing is controlling the white chess pieces, while an unidentified FIGURE dressed in black is controlling the black pieces. The game is nearing the end, with the FIGURE only moving one chess piece to win and put her in checkmate. When the chess piece hits the table, an upbeat song begins to play. CUT TO: INT. TABLE AT COLLEGE The song continues to the next setting, and is revealed to be MARA’s alarm. MARA sits up and turns her alarm off. Then, she looks around at the homework she was completing and sees the FIGURE at the top of the staircase next to her. She gathers her papers and leaves briskly.  CUT TO: INT. CLASSROOM MARA sits at the front left side of the room, with the FIGURE at the back right side. TEACHER, a strict teacher stands at the front of the class teaching Maths. The TEACHER is going over th...

In our film we emphasised the battle between Mara and the figure through framing, for example the opening shot was made symmetrical to highlight the feud between the main characters as it showed their opposition. In many shots we used negative space, such as in the close-up shots of Mara and the figure, to create an uneasy tone and make the audience uncomfortable. We used a graphical match cut to transition between her dream and reality conveying how her anxiety has an effect on her life. However, we had to remove possible ideas due to time constrictions and the inability to film in a bedroom, therefore we had to adapt by having her wake up in college. This lead to us getting rid of a scene of her walking to college which put more focus on the represented anxiety. For future reference, we will make our plan achievable.