The Golden Age of Independent Cinema
By Bill McClain
Contributing Writer

In the twilight of the nineteenth century, dozens, perhaps hundreds of visionaries, inventors, and dreamers worldwide focused their imaginations on the ultimate union of science and art. The final result exceeded expectations: they had. in the form of cinema, captured life itself.

Yet despite its fantastic pedigree, the cinema always had a troubled relationship with the concept of "art." Although in its century of existence, it has inspired vast eulogy and criticism, it has somehow remained suspect as an art form. No one doubts the potential of cinema; indeed, most critiques end up prophesizing its possibilities. Still, an art form that requires such vast economic and social resources may seem suspect. One might concede that independent cinema has artistic value, but can one still claim that the output of vast corporate or government bureaucracies is anything but a formulaic unit of mass production? The debate is almost as old as the moving picture itself.

The problem has always been the same: cinema has been tied so closely to the power of the rich and influential that it appears impossible to make allowances for artistry beyond bourgeois, middle brow, or government-sanctioned values. Even today, the modern independent film movement seems doomed to become a sort of “off-Broadway” to the major studios, as corporate sub-divisions drain the indepentdents' life-blood. But this is hardly a new system, independent production companies have emerged and been absorbed or destroyed for decades. Only today do we see the seeds of a new revolution in cinema, a complete rebirth that promises to redefine cinematic art forever. The emergence of a true independent cinema: a cinema as democratic and multi-faceted as the written word.

Truly independent cinema has always faced three obstacles: production, distribution, and exhibition. Generally accessible production equipment started as early as the introduction of 8mm film and continues today in the form of digital video recording and editing technologies. However, despite early access to the basic materials of production, the barriers to distribution and exhibition still impeded the independent spirit. Only so many prints could be made. Borders couldn't be crossed. Censorship could not be avoided. Only so many theaters could be rented, borrowed, or stolen. However, the emergence of a vibrant film culture on the Internet has at last overthrown these last two onstacles.

Only now, through the mass use of the Internet, can a film, video, or animation made in St. Nowhere, Idaho be viewed by thousands, or even tens of thousands of internet users. Even in Lawrence, Kansas, hardly where one would expect to find a vibrant film colony, a group of young filmmakers combined to form Senoreality Pictures, distributing their short films both through traditional festival circuits and the Internet.

They are hardly alone. This renaissance of short film and video work, a cinematic form condemned to relative festival obscurity since the end of the multi-film program in the 50s and 60s, suggests the distinct character and infinite possibility of online media. Already, online media challenge traditional concepts of audio-visual artwork, rendering age-old ideas of film and video almost irrelevant.

Experimental Internet artwork on sites such as hell.com combine traditional audio-visual material with the possibilities of hyper-text and interactivity. Of all the purely Internet-based, audio-visual movements, Flash animation appears to be the most widespread and vibrant, ranging from professional animation/graphic designers seeking to advertise or test their skills on worth1000.com, to the fierce plebiscite of the now (in)famous newgrounds.com. As broadband connections and new compression formats spread and advance, the possibility of entire features produced cheaply and distributed entirely online becomes more and more of a tangible reality.

One may argue that the current state of Internet culture does not appear to suggest any grand artistic destination, but can one truly say that Strong Bad's E-mails on homestarrunner.com are any worse then the Keystone Kops, or that ifilm.com in 2003 is any less a theater then a downtown nickelodeon in 1909? Although our culture currently looks down on Internet media, it helps to remember that the protectors of high culture once considered film little better than a carnival novelty or a social disease. As technology spreads across borders and classes, the day may soon come when guerrilla video-makers and abstract, experimental artists will stand toe–to–toe with Hollywood big-shots in a global electronic exchange without having to bow down to conventional power structures. As such, it is really no surprise that the current online generation seeks to offend and challenge–they are ultimately a counter-cultural movement that could one day decentralize, democratize, and transfigure the world of "cinema" beyond recognition.

However, the exact shape of this new world remains uncertain, and it is not difficult to foresee the dangers that lay ahead. For example, the recent RIAA actions against music sharers could become part of a larger attempt to contain the spread of media, legal and illegal, on the Internet, stifling local innovation with bureaucracy and copyright laws designed to protect the product, and more importantly, the business model, of the existing media giants. Further expansion of the government's ability to monitor Internet communications for economic or security reasons (such as contained in the USA Patriot Act) will also have an inevitable chilling effect, although this must be weighed against the necessity of law enforcement. Of course, the most obvious and most daunting obstacle facing the new Internet audio-visual movement will be the sheer enormity of the Internet itself. With so many options, publicity will become vital for individual artists and sites to develop and maintain a viewership over time, let alone realize any sort of profit. For the amateur who merely wants to get his projects out to the public, this poses little threat. The descendants of the guerrilla video movement, however, who seek to propagandize larger audiences or at least amortize their expenses, will find a critical need for publicity and capital.

In the last few years we have lived through the primordial age of the Internet, and the future social and political structures that will develop in response to and out of the online world are already emerging. Now more than ever, everyone concerned with the ultimate destiny of American, and indeed world, culture must be alert to the dangers and possibilities of this newborn revolution, a revolution of which the transformation of cinema is but a small part. And yet, despite these concerns, the fact is that we have reached a turning point for cinematic art. Now, at last, in the 21st century, the miracle of the 19th has a chance to come of age.