Independent filming gives viewers an alternate look into realty. It caters to a niche market that wants to get more out of a movie than expensive popcorn, graphics, and a bunch of explosion. These independent films put more quality into the characters as well as the story line for a much more artistic look into filming for its viewers.
Many say that the actual independent cinema industry had it’s early start with Melville Webber’s version of Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Ralph Steiner’s “H2O.” It was actually Webber that started the mainstream trends of creating slower camera movements as well as other little camera tricks to create more atmosphere to the filming. A lot of these different styles of filming and messing around with the camera did not really come to fruition nearly 50 years later. He was definitely ahead of his time in that regard.
A lot of independent films do not have the same big budgets like mainstream films from big name studios such as the Warner Bros, Walt Disney, Columbia, 20th Century Fox studios. The focus is on creating more of a creative scenario. John Cassavetes was a well known actor that started to become known filming a sort of avant garde, gritty kind of filming using his handheld camera and a bunch of actors to help create the mood. This right on the spot, improvisational acting gives more of an edge and realistic feel to the film. A lot of times this makes up for the lack of budget from independent studios. These types of films have been in what’s now the Sundance Film Festival, which showcases the different independent filmmaking. A lot of Hollywood studios look at these independent films and get ideas for new concepts and even actors for future creations.