microcinema (my.kroh.sin.uh.muh) n.
A movie genre that features low-budget films shot mostly on digital video, edited on a computer, and then distributed via videotape or over the Internet. Word Spy

The term microcinema was coined in 1991 by San Francisco's Total Mobile Home Microcinema, where all the films are 'underground' because they're shown in the basement. The founders say they envisioned an alternative movement, a sort of cinematic microbrewery, and the word has come to describe an intimate, low-budget style of movie shot on relatively cheap formats like Hi-8 video, DV, and (less often) older do-it-yourself stock like 16-mm film. It's a flexible term that can cover anything; animated shorts, bizarrely impressionistic video manipulations, hard-hitting documentaries, and garage-born feature-length movies. A classic microcinema offering is a film that probably would not exist if new technology hadn't allowed its creators to cut costs or inspired them to try something different. Wired

Top of page

If you get lost, consult the map of this site

Back to the Proofmark Cinema page