Title works as establishing who she is via montage
Foreshadowing - ''I don't think I could handle it [fame]'
Music is used to highlight the point being made - song about dad not being there after talking about it, which shows how close her music was to herself - 'she had one of the most pure relationships to music' (Sam Beste, her piano player)
Interview about being hounded by press, says she's not up for it, foreshadowing
As soon as she turns to drugs, the music stops, voices are focused on to show how serious it is, less in touch with music
Cuts to flashing cameras every now and then to remind us that she never got a break
Only song Kapadia plays all the way through is 'Love is a Losing Game' to highlight Blake's villainy
Puts traditional media onto new media, layering
Snapshots shows that it's similar to crime and espionage - not right
Still shots taken at home the most powerful - drug use, very personal images
End footage shows her being happy and innocent - juveniles her
Doesn't show her cheating or any detail about it, skips her wrong doings
Showing posts with label Documentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Documentary. Show all posts
Monday, 7 January 2019
Thursday, 4 October 2018
Senna
Made immediately before he made Amy, by Kapadia
Similar to Amy:
All new visual footage
Kapadia has no onscreen presence, verbally and visually, makes it seem like there's no mediation, watching it unfold naturally
Is Kapadia's skill taking controversial figurers and making them appear better - Senna as noble and Amy as a victim
Footage used is far less personal than Amy, get less of a bond with him - know Ayrton Senna the racing driver not him as a person, opposite for Amy
Would Kapadia argue that the documentaries were made like that because that's where the story was - Senna with his controversial career and Amy with her controversial life
Can relate to Amy more than this because we were alive at the time
Could be argued that he's a documentary editor/compiler instead of a creator
John Grierson - documentary is the creative treatment of actuality
Finishes like Amy, return to innocence - starting quote and end quote are the same
Similar to Amy:
All new visual footage
Kapadia has no onscreen presence, verbally and visually, makes it seem like there's no mediation, watching it unfold naturally
Is Kapadia's skill taking controversial figurers and making them appear better - Senna as noble and Amy as a victim
Footage used is far less personal than Amy, get less of a bond with him - know Ayrton Senna the racing driver not him as a person, opposite for Amy
Would Kapadia argue that the documentaries were made like that because that's where the story was - Senna with his controversial career and Amy with her controversial life
Can relate to Amy more than this because we were alive at the time
Could be argued that he's a documentary editor/compiler instead of a creator
John Grierson - documentary is the creative treatment of actuality
Finishes like Amy, return to innocence - starting quote and end quote are the same
Monday, 1 October 2018
How far have developments in digital technology had an impact on your chosen documentary film?
Download form for research
Mark in red pen
Marked /40
Mobile technology - citizen journalism - availability of phones and other transportable/accessible recording hardware means
Advantage Kapadia takes with digital technology isn't the same advantage Broomfield and Moore uses it. Kapadia and Moore both push an ideology but Broomfield doesn't
In Amy (2015), Asif Kapadia takes advantage of the development in digital technology by accessing home video/personal clips, TV broadcasts and other footage to be able to create his trademark 'True Fiction' narrative structure.
This is perfectly shown by the very beginning of the documentary, as it starts with a home video of Amy Winehouse and her friends, having fun and singing. This short clip sets the audience's expectations for the rest of the film - showing them that this is documentary about the personal life of Amy Winehouse, from before her fame, and also shows Winehouse as a fun person who is immeidiately personable and relatable. It starts to construct a narrative via a connection to the audience by establishing time, place and character, an essential part of story. Another examples of this is the use of previously unseen footage of Winehouse on the way to her first recording session, recorded by her friend and manager at the time Nick Shymansky, which also showed her personality, as well as setting up our understanding with some of her relationships with people. The candid, unprofessional look of the videos is instantly relatable as something we all create and share (especially recently on social media), which helps to create an informal more realistic theme to the videos. So Kapadia uses digital technology to create an emotive story that explains her personality and makes her relatable, which can be seen from the beginning until the end of the film.
Building on my previous point, Kapadia uses the home videos from family and friends (available due to advances in digital technology) to push his ideology/opinion on the subject. Footage showing Winehouse's spiral into drug addiction, self harm, bulimia etc. is shown in almost graphic detail. This gives the audience the idea that she was a victim of fame and people around her; not to be blamed for her death, which is clearly what Kapadia himself believed while contructing the documentary. In addition, editing is also used to reinforce this ideology, with interviews being placed over the top of the emotive home video imagery to create an overall feeling of empathy, especially as the interviews were often from family and friends expressing sadness at the position she was in, and also viewed her as a victim. Kapadia uses footage not available without advancements in digital technology to enforce his own ideology, which effected the film in that it was able to show Kapadia's ideology easily and subtly.
Advancements in digital technology mean that the ability to record video is widespread. As a result, it's easy to find, and as Kapadia has shown use, multiple recordings of an event to show different perspectives. For example, at the famous Belgrade Concert where Winehouse was too intoxicated to perform, multiple sources were used, e.g. videos from the crowd where you can hear people complaining, to official TV footage of the event. This allowed the viewer to get different opinions on the event (ie the complaining in the crowd), which may shape the opinion of the spectator. These perspectives may differ from the dominant ideology of the film and/or society, which gives the documentary more depth and detail than it may first appear. In addition, combining these alternative perspectives with various interviews overlayed on top (as seen in the documentary in this scene, with friend Lauren Gilbert and Winehouse herself) about the event, it serves to create an even more varied view of the sitation, and as a result allows the audience to make up their own mind on it. Advancements in digital technology affected the documentary in that it allowed the filmmaker to show, and let the audience debate between, various perspectives quickly and easily.
In conlusion, advances in digital technology have allowed Asif Kapadia to develop Amy Winehouse's 'character' in the documenatary, making her more relatable and to the audience, while also giving the audience the choice to make up their own decision based on varied sources.
Mark in red pen
Marked /40
Mobile technology - citizen journalism - availability of phones and other transportable/accessible recording hardware means
Advantage Kapadia takes with digital technology isn't the same advantage Broomfield and Moore uses it. Kapadia and Moore both push an ideology but Broomfield doesn't
How Far have developments in digital technology had an impact on your chosen documentary film?
In Amy (2015), Asif Kapadia takes advantage of the development in digital technology by accessing home video/personal clips, TV broadcasts and other footage to be able to create his trademark 'True Fiction' narrative structure.
This is perfectly shown by the very beginning of the documentary, as it starts with a home video of Amy Winehouse and her friends, having fun and singing. This short clip sets the audience's expectations for the rest of the film - showing them that this is documentary about the personal life of Amy Winehouse, from before her fame, and also shows Winehouse as a fun person who is immeidiately personable and relatable. It starts to construct a narrative via a connection to the audience by establishing time, place and character, an essential part of story. Another examples of this is the use of previously unseen footage of Winehouse on the way to her first recording session, recorded by her friend and manager at the time Nick Shymansky, which also showed her personality, as well as setting up our understanding with some of her relationships with people. The candid, unprofessional look of the videos is instantly relatable as something we all create and share (especially recently on social media), which helps to create an informal more realistic theme to the videos. So Kapadia uses digital technology to create an emotive story that explains her personality and makes her relatable, which can be seen from the beginning until the end of the film.
Building on my previous point, Kapadia uses the home videos from family and friends (available due to advances in digital technology) to push his ideology/opinion on the subject. Footage showing Winehouse's spiral into drug addiction, self harm, bulimia etc. is shown in almost graphic detail. This gives the audience the idea that she was a victim of fame and people around her; not to be blamed for her death, which is clearly what Kapadia himself believed while contructing the documentary. In addition, editing is also used to reinforce this ideology, with interviews being placed over the top of the emotive home video imagery to create an overall feeling of empathy, especially as the interviews were often from family and friends expressing sadness at the position she was in, and also viewed her as a victim. Kapadia uses footage not available without advancements in digital technology to enforce his own ideology, which effected the film in that it was able to show Kapadia's ideology easily and subtly.
Advancements in digital technology mean that the ability to record video is widespread. As a result, it's easy to find, and as Kapadia has shown use, multiple recordings of an event to show different perspectives. For example, at the famous Belgrade Concert where Winehouse was too intoxicated to perform, multiple sources were used, e.g. videos from the crowd where you can hear people complaining, to official TV footage of the event. This allowed the viewer to get different opinions on the event (ie the complaining in the crowd), which may shape the opinion of the spectator. These perspectives may differ from the dominant ideology of the film and/or society, which gives the documentary more depth and detail than it may first appear. In addition, combining these alternative perspectives with various interviews overlayed on top (as seen in the documentary in this scene, with friend Lauren Gilbert and Winehouse herself) about the event, it serves to create an even more varied view of the sitation, and as a result allows the audience to make up their own mind on it. Advancements in digital technology affected the documentary in that it allowed the filmmaker to show, and let the audience debate between, various perspectives quickly and easily.
In conlusion, advances in digital technology have allowed Asif Kapadia to develop Amy Winehouse's 'character' in the documenatary, making her more relatable and to the audience, while also giving the audience the choice to make up their own decision based on varied sources.
Monday, 24 September 2018
Documentary Theorists
Michael Moore
Bowling for Columbine - 2003
Farenheit 9/11 v- 2004
Sicko - 2007
Left Wing filmmaker
Appears in his films
Clear bias against capitalism
Bowling for Columbine - capitalism create fear for profit
Confused narrative, all over the place
Emotive but irrelevant points
Finishes on a low, manipulates you into fearing the system, if it was a narrative film would've finished on K-Mart banning the bullets
Nick Broomfield
Broomfield shows everything but doesn't really shape into a narrative - shows his investigation to make it genuine, not to make points.
E.g. in Bowling for Columbine - argued against guns, racism etc. but didn't focus on the event
Asif Kapadia
'True fiction' narrative structure, coined by him
Bowling for Columbine - 2003
Farenheit 9/11 v- 2004
Sicko - 2007
Left Wing filmmaker
Appears in his films
Clear bias against capitalism
Bowling for Columbine - capitalism create fear for profit
Confused narrative, all over the place
Emotive but irrelevant points
Finishes on a low, manipulates you into fearing the system, if it was a narrative film would've finished on K-Mart banning the bullets
Nick Broomfield
Broomfield shows everything but doesn't really shape into a narrative - shows his investigation to make it genuine, not to make points.
E.g. in Bowling for Columbine - argued against guns, racism etc. but didn't focus on the event
Asif Kapadia
'True fiction' narrative structure, coined by him
Thursday, 6 September 2018
Documentaries
Some documentaries as entertainment and education when they're just entertainment - i.e. Undateables. Real life imitating art
Good documentaries to watch:
Grizzly Man
Supersize Me
When We Were Kings
The Act of Killing
Spellbound
Sicko
The Future is Unwritten
Amy
Features a lot of intertextuality (referencing other media), i.e. having celebrities on it to talk about her. Doesn't rely on prior knowledge of people, unlike The Future is Unwritten.
Focuses on personal life not music to create an ideology of tragedy - mediation
Amy Vs The Future is Unwritten
Amy felt constructed, attempts to add verisimilitude
Lift
Purely negotiated reading, not lead down any path.
What we take away from a documentary is not what we see, but what we feel and think about, how it effects our outlook, which is the opposite of narrative film.
It's arguable that we can only capture our own reality for documentary - as reality depends on the perceiver. This brings up the question 'can documentary show the truth of a situation?
John Grierson - documentary is the creative treatment of actuality (what's actually happened)
Not easy to get an accurate representation of someone in 30 minutes, people are a lot more nuanced than that
History
Pre 1900: films that showed events taking place
1920s onwards: the romanticized form of documentary. Staged scenes, director controlling action
1940s: propaganda documentary
So ideology is present, even when someone is trying to represent 'reality' - we all define our own reality
Night Mail
Made in 1936 - documents overnight delivery
Huge work of artistic merit, but how accurate? Some studio use and set ups means it's not accurate
As time has gone on, the need to inform and educate has been, to some extent, overtaken by the need to entertain
Cinema Verite
Relies upon technological advancements
Edited into the finished product
How much of this is 'real'? How much is the creation of the editor
Modern Age
Rise in digital technology
Everyone has a camera - we have more footage of every event
Also can switch from different types of footage with digital editing where we couldn't before
Change in form from verbal to visual
Editing is now the most important aspect - where ideology is formed. Process of focusing, organizing (putting them in order to create narrative) and selecting material (where does the camera want us to look)
Media being used is documentary film - the way we work within its limits and how they affect the way we choose our material is called mediation, which = ideology
How does this use of technology - clips, assist Kapardia in getting his preferred reading across for Amy?
Broomfield shows everything but doesn't really shape into a narrative - shows his investigation to make it genuine, not to make points.
Good documentaries to watch:
Grizzly Man
Supersize Me
When We Were Kings
The Act of Killing
Spellbound
Sicko
The Future is Unwritten
Amy
Features a lot of intertextuality (referencing other media), i.e. having celebrities on it to talk about her. Doesn't rely on prior knowledge of people, unlike The Future is Unwritten.
Focuses on personal life not music to create an ideology of tragedy - mediation
Amy Vs The Future is Unwritten
Amy felt constructed, attempts to add verisimilitude
Lift
Purely negotiated reading, not lead down any path.
What we take away from a documentary is not what we see, but what we feel and think about, how it effects our outlook, which is the opposite of narrative film.
It's arguable that we can only capture our own reality for documentary - as reality depends on the perceiver. This brings up the question 'can documentary show the truth of a situation?
John Grierson - documentary is the creative treatment of actuality (what's actually happened)
Not easy to get an accurate representation of someone in 30 minutes, people are a lot more nuanced than that
History
Pre 1900: films that showed events taking place
1920s onwards: the romanticized form of documentary. Staged scenes, director controlling action
1940s: propaganda documentary
So ideology is present, even when someone is trying to represent 'reality' - we all define our own reality
Night Mail
Made in 1936 - documents overnight delivery
Huge work of artistic merit, but how accurate? Some studio use and set ups means it's not accurate
As time has gone on, the need to inform and educate has been, to some extent, overtaken by the need to entertain
Cinema Verite
Relies upon technological advancements
- Small crews - in modern documentaries there's usually camera/director, sound/editor and presenter
- Portable equipment
- Quiet equipment
- Cheaper film stock
Edited into the finished product
How much of this is 'real'? How much is the creation of the editor
Modern Age
Rise in digital technology
Everyone has a camera - we have more footage of every event
Also can switch from different types of footage with digital editing where we couldn't before
Change in form from verbal to visual
Editing is now the most important aspect - where ideology is formed. Process of focusing, organizing (putting them in order to create narrative) and selecting material (where does the camera want us to look)
Media being used is documentary film - the way we work within its limits and how they affect the way we choose our material is called mediation, which = ideology
How does this use of technology - clips, assist Kapardia in getting his preferred reading across for Amy?
Broomfield shows everything but doesn't really shape into a narrative - shows his investigation to make it genuine, not to make points.
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