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American Independent Film Dead Man Production Timeline

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American Independent Film Dead Man Production Timeline English 345: American Independent Film Dead Man Production Timeline Jim Jarmusch on independent film in the mid-1990s: “The whole idea of independent is very perplexing to me. I don't know what it means anymore. It used to be that small films could be made without a lot of money and therefore without as much interference from people who were interested solely in making money off the movie. There's a place for business in cinema. It is, to a large degree, business. Smaller films—which used to be called independent—used to be a place for people to express their ideas, and a lot of the strongest or newest ideas came from them. But, recently, I don't quite understand what it means anymore, because a lot of „independent‟ producers are interested in making a name for themselves—to get money to launch their careers. So, I see people making films for $500,000 with producers and people telling them to change the script, whom to cast and how to cut it and I don't understand what independent is any more. People who are called independent make films for large studios. Miramax—owned by Disney—which is going to release this film in North America is called an independent distribution company or production company. Consequently, I don't know what that word means any more.” “A Neo-Western on Life and Death.” Film International 3:4 (Autumn 1995). Reprinted in The Jim Jarmusch Resource Page. Production Timeline 1990: Jarmusch begins collaborating with novelist and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer on Western titled Ghost Dog. Pair disagree over Wurlitzers‟s script, ending the project and the pair‟s friendship. 1993/1994: Jarmusch writing Dead Man alone after completing Night on Earth (1991). 1994: Film shot for $9 million budget in multiple locations, including Phoenix soundstages (office and train interiors); Western town south of Phoenix; forests and lava beds outside Flagstaff, in northern Arizona; Nevada (factory); southern Oregon (trading and Native American village film crew constructed); and northern California (redwood forest and ocean). Neil Young partially improvises score, playing multiple times to 2 ½ -hour rough cut of the film. 1995: Dead Man premiers at Cannes and is nominated for the Palme d‟Or; Jarmusch later cuts 14 minutes from the film. Miramax, the film‟s U.S. distributor, requests additional cuts, but Jarmusch refuses. 1996: Dead Man opens in U.S. after playing in several other countries. 1996: Cinematographer Robby Müller wins New York Film Critics Circle Award for his work on Dead Man. Jarmusch accepts award on Müller‟s behalf and blames Miramax for poor US performance of the film (in other venues, he implicates the distributor‟s lackluster promotion of Dead Man for low U.S. box office returns). Elements to Focus on During Screening In addition to elements of film technique, narrative, and genre highlighted in the questions for Tuesday‟s Dead Man electronic response, consider the following: o Effects of black-and-white cinematography—why this choice to shoot a Western? o Significance of characters‟ and place names o The relationship between Blake and Nobody—how does it subvert and comment upon white/Native American interactions in classic Westerns? o Protagonist William Blake‟s costume as it changes throughout the film (as well as his makeup) o Music, particularly the relationship between a score that uses modern instruments (electric guitar) and a story set in the nineteenth century o The function of a “foreign” character (such characters frequently appear in Jarmusch‟s films)— who is the “foreigner” and what perspective does this character provide? o Requests for tobacco—why is Blake repeatedly asked if he has tobacco? .
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