AS Film Studies

What is independent cinema? -           Independent cinema explores subjects considered taboo in the mainstream film industry and are usually created on a low budget. History The roots of independent film can be traced back to when the early pioneer filmmakers at the turn of the century resisted the control of the Motion Pictures Patents Company, when filmmakers built their own cameras to escape the Edison trusts in order to relocate to Southern California where they laid the foundations of the American film industry as well as the Hollywood studio system. Conventions: studio vs independent Independent ·          It faces a series of topics that conventional films don’t take in consideration such as prostitution, drugs, homosexuality etc. ·          Aesthetics, it includes different formats and ideas, they use different techniques such as black an...

In the scene where Ree is walking her siblings to school the first frame shows them all walking with the dogs who walk freely without collars or leashes. This shows the pack like nature of the family and how close knit they are as a group. Linking them to animals represents their struggle for survival, just like animals in the wild. We also hear Ree giving her sister a spelling test which she struggles with, this relies on an understanding of social context because represents the lack of education and opportunity these children face in their situation. The close up shot of Ree behind the closed door watching her little sister in school shows her isolation from her own childhood. She lost it when her mother got too ill to look after her and her siblings and there is no way she could get it back. This is followed on by Ree looking in on the parenting classes. I felt here that she had the natural learning process of parenting ripped away from he. She had to grow up very quickly to become...