History of Cinema

The underground

Alongside the Hollywood tradition, there has also been an underground film tradition of low budget, often self-produced works created outside of the studio system and without the involvement of labor unions. Student films such as Dan O'Bannon and John Carpenter's Dark Star should be included in this category, but are also considered Independent film (see main article and addendum).

Experimental film that used cinema as a vehicle of fine art had been produced since the 1940s, for example the work of Harry Everett Smith and Maya Deren, but social movements of the 1960s produced a larger and more receptive audience for this type of work and more contributors to the field, such as Kenneth Anger. Pornographic movies also avoided union involvement and appealed to an alternative, underground, audience. Melvin Van Peebles's Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is an example of an independently created, underground movie that used post-classical plot devices -- Van Peebles touted this film as pornography project during its production to avoid complications with the Screen Actor's Guild.