Amy: Revision Guide

Amy
Film Movements: Documentary Film
- Film Form
- Meaning & Response
- Contexts
- Critical debates
- Filmmakers' theories

Documentary Films:
Documentary is a genre of film which is structured around a collection of image/videos/interviews involving a particular subject, in order to inform or manipulate a spectator

Documetnary films: strictly speaking, are non-fictional, 'slice of life' factual works of art - and sometimes known as cinema verite. For many years, as films became more narrative-based, documentaries branched out and took many forms since their early beginnings - some of which have been termed propagandistic or non-objective.

Possible responses to documentaries:
- Truth, - Reality, - Education, - Construction
- Subjectivity, - People, - Propaganda, - Information
- Genre, - Perspective, - Style, - Positioning
- Ideology, - Provocation, - Objectivity, - Narrator, - Entertainment Story
- Bias, - Events, - Seriousness, - Critical
- Non-Fiction, - Facts, - Viewpoint, - Reliability
- Mediation, - Conclusions

Amy - Viewpoint:
- Ordinary
- Victimised
- Sentimental
- Relatable
- Objective
- Vulnerable

Importance ranking of key elements in a documentary film:
- Editing & Sound (editing is crucial to a documentary)
- Cinematography
- Mise-en-scene
- Performance

Key terminology for documentary:
- Objectivity. - Non-Fiction. - Construction
- Truth. - Reality. - Manipulation
- Cinematic. - Fiction. - Spectator Positioning
- Cinema vérité (cinematic truth)


The Documentary Modes:
According got Bill Nichols, the documentary can be subdivided into six sub-genres or modes
These are:
- Poetic : common terrain with modernist avant-garde -> sacrifices conventions of continuity editing & sense of a specific location in time & place -> allusive & often surprise/challenge students into thinking what documentaries are -> use 'associative' editing in order to create mood/tone without making explicit argument about a subject
- Expository : Speak directly to viewer with voice-over -> use explicitly rhetorical techniques to explore points of actuality -> voice-over + have straightforward show & tell structure (with graphics/interviews/footage) where viewer is guided through material
- Participatory : Filmmaker interacts with participants -> relationship b/ween filmmaker & person filmed = more direct & complex as directly participate in shaping what happens before camera, esp in terms of conducting interviews
- Observational : Camera looks on as participants in film go on with their lives as though camera wasn't present -> film-maker steps back from material he/she is shooting, taking a 'neutral' stance from subject matter -> may & should open up debates about selection of material, lack of voiceover & editing devices
- Reflexive : Calls attention to conventions of documentary filmmaking in terms of a direct acknowledgement of filmmaking process
- Performative : Emphasises expressive quality of filmmaker's argument with subject of film & addresses audience in vivid way -> filmmaker not aloof from subject matter, actively engages with material where they are a seen participant

(Simplified) Bill Nichols:
1. Poetic - subjective, biased emotive tone or mood created (e.g. non linear archive footage, juxtaposition) - APPLY TO AMY
2. Expository - authoritative (voice over), POV speaking directly to audience, preferred readings linked with poetic
3. Participatory - filmmaker involvement as protagonist
4. Observational - uniterrupted hand held (e.g. Direct Cinema/Cinema Verite). More documentary objectivity
5. Reflexive - shows mechanisms of doc. making
6. Performative - personal view, 'take over' of the lens. Key difference to participatory, POV is crucial to the doc. maker - APPLY TO AMY


Documentation arguments:
For:
- All now potential filmmakers -> access to the medium
- May have been denied in past -> due to cost or lack of technical ability
- Filmmaking = capture our reality
- Document parts of lives -> esp key events
- Can reflect feeling at a particular time
- Potential for distribution
- Aesthetic decisions can be made on how films look + how received
Against:
- Use of memories - enough to document own reality
- Self-obsessed or narcissistic?
- What viewpoint of reality is this point of view acc giving?
- This sort of filming, ever truly objective?
- Who is going to want to see what we have filmed?
- Without technical manipulation (e.g. editing), can these films create a coherent narative?
- Digital technology too easily disposable to last? What's the ultimate value artistically?

Amy:
- 2015 British documentary film -> about life of death of British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, directed by Asif Kapadia
- Feb 2015: teaser trailer based on Winehouse life debuted at pre-Grammy event in build-up to 2015 Grammys. David Joseph, CEO of Universal Music UK, announced Amy would be released later that year. He stated: "About two years ago we decided to make a movie about her—her career and her life. It's a very complicated and tender movie. It tackles lots of things about family and media, fame, addiction, but most importantly, it captures the very heart of what she was about, which is an amazing person and a true musical genius.” 
- Distributed by Altitude Film Distribution & A24, released 3 July 2015 in UK/US. Amy = highest-grossing British documentary of all time, taking £3 million at the box office in its first weekend. The film received 33 nominations and has won a total of 30 film awards, including for Best European Documentary at the 28th European Film Awards, Best Documentary at the 69th British Academy Film Awards, Best Music Film at the 58th Grammy Awards, the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 88th Academy Awards and for Best Documentary at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards. The success of the film and the music from the soundtrack of the same name also led Winehouse her second posthumous nomination at the 2016 BRIT Awards for "British Female Solo Artist".

Amy Winehouse:
- 14 Sept '83 - 23 July '11
- English singer & songwriter known for deep, expressive contralto vocals & eclectic mix of musical genres (inc soul, blue-eyed soul, neo soul, rhythm, blues, jazz etc)
- Debut album: Frank ('03) -> critical success, nominated for Mercury Prize
- 2nd album: Back To Black ('06) -> led to 5 2008 Grammys, tying the then record for most wins by a female artist in a single night + first British women to win five Grammys, inc 3 of 'Big Four' (BNA, ROTY, SOTY)
- Won 3 Ivor Novello Awards: 2004 (Best Contemporary Song -> Stronger Than Me), 2007 (Best Contemporary Song - Rehab), 2008 (Best Song Musically & Lyrically -> Love Is A Losing Game)
- Won 2007 Brit for Best British Female + nominated for Album with BTB
- Died of alcohol poisoning on 23 July '11, aged 27. BTB posthumously became, for a time, UK's best-selling album of 21st century

Conventional documentary genre tropes (& are they in Amy):
- Hand held camera - realism & 'truth' - YES
- Narrative voice over - preferred readings - NO
- Intercutting with archive footage - non linear. Investigative narrative building a picture. Vox pops & interviews, use of conflict - YES
- POV, mediation & subjectivity - exploration of themes & issues - YES
- Informing, educating & entertaining the audience - voyeurism - YES
- Use of hyper real stereotyping - audience identification - YES

Several narrative levels - innovative approach requiring almost a montage editing approach:
- Stock archive footage (news sources)
- Unseen footage released by friends & family
- Use of still image (juxtaposition important with a lack of traditional narrative voice over)
- Captioned present day indirect interviews
- Footage of aerial shots (London location)

When viewing Amy, consider:
- How film was constructed to create meaning
- How digital technology played a role
- Which documentary modes it falls under
- What are the key sequences in terms of how meaning is created
- Sense in which spectator is manipulated by filmmaker

Spectatorship - response to the films
- How we watch & respond to films - why we think/judge/understand/laugh/cry/scream (feelings) - the impact
- To inform/persuade/entertain/educate
- 'Surrendering to the film experience' -> the wilful suspension of disbelief
- where film has primary (cinema) and secondary audiences (online streaming, DVD etc)

Kim Longinotto:
- British documentary filmmaker
 A British director who works in observational documentary 
 Her subject matter has a primary focus on women’s lives 
 She favours long takes and she tries to capture the extraordinary in the lives of the subjects that she observes 
 The stories that she brings to the screen are often uniquely personal, mainly focusing on society’s outsiders 
 Her films shot in a calm, unobtrusive style, often centre on victims of discrimination and oppression and tell the stories of strong female characters fighting for change and justice
 She has worked in a number of different countries around the world for example Iran, Cameroon, Japan and the US 
 Her key films Dreamcatcher (2015), Rough Aunties (2008) and Divorce Iranian Style (1998) all expose the raw immediacy in her films 
 It could be argued that her perspective on the range of different cultures she encounters in her films gives a real sense of herself as an ‘outsider’ filmmaker
- Highlights plight of female victims of oppression or discrimination
- Films about: Female victimisation -> FGM in Kenya, Female rape victims
- Observational filmmaker (which usually excludes certain documentary tropes such as advanced planning, scripting, staging, narration, lighting, re-enactment & interviewing)
- Longinotto's unobtrusiveness, an important part of observational documentary, gives the women on camera a certain voice & presence that may have not emerged with another documentary genre
- Longinotto has said 'I don’t think of films as documents or records of things. I try to make them as like the experience of watching a fiction film as possible, though, of course, nothing is ever set up.' Her work is about finding characters that the audience will identify with – 'you can make this jump into someone else’s experience'. Unlike Moore and Broomfield, Longinotto is invisible, with very little use of voice-over, formal interviews, captions or incidental music. As the 'eyes' of her audience, she doesn’t like to zoom or pan. She says she doesn’t want her films to have conclusions but to raise questions.
-works well with Amy; links to watching a fiction film (Kapadia true fiction technique) -> finding characters you identify with
- Her films highlight female victims of oppression & have female central protagonists

- No traditional narrative voice over reinforces a fiction film tradition

Typical Traits: 
- Observational documentary: unobtrusive, observing reality
- Captures the extraordinary
- Uniquely personal stories often focusing on outsiders
- Centered on victims of discrimination & oppression
- Many films present raw immediacy
- Female victims & tragic stories
- Feminist perspective

Amy:
- Amy is presented as a victim of the media & male patriarch + addiction
- Observational: home footage, Amy isn't acting for the camera
- Longinotto wanted to make audience feel involved & were there, watching what's happening through camera
- Kapadia possibly inspired by Longinotto's intention to attain a sense of justice through awareness

Focuses on women's lives -> female victims & tragic stories -> feminist perspective:
- Film encourages spectator to align with Amy & her story as a victim
- Women victims of abuse - male patriarch + media
- Filming of media suggests Amy as victim of media exploitation - spectator placed in position of a paparazzi (POV) photographing her - conveys how we as consumers of media exacerbated her condition (sense of guilt)
- Closing scene: still shots & videos (which become slow motion) of her growing up are shown, she is portrayed as an innocent young woman corrupted by the media/father/boyfriend/addiction. The sentimental/melancholic background music emphasises this -> not like Kim Longinotto but similar intention
- Feminist -> vulnerable women victimised by the media (exploited)
- Rubbernecking 
- Point of view -> Guilt

Observational Features:
- Digital film technology allowed the spectator to view Amy on a more intimate level & to see her from a personal perspective of being inside her house -> shown in the home setting
- For example when Amy's boyfriend is filming her inside their home - intimate footage - portrays her drug addiction - untidy apartment (hasn't been cleaned for the camera) -> pride?
- Filmmakers therefore unobtrusive & claim to be showing spectators the 'real' Amy (though it's arguable whether this is really the case - she can be said to still be playing up to the camera)

Nick Broomfield:
- Sense of personal involvement in his documentaries -> 'felt a need to look at things in a more immediate way'
- Works often confrontational
- Chaotic & eccentric shooting methods
- Found Britain 'a hypocritical & repressive country in terms of media freedom' -> made films with American filmmaker Joan Churchill often in the US
- After break-up with Churchill, developed less observational + more up-front style: 'if you're making a film, it's more honest to make your presence felt than to hang back furtively on the other side of the room as no-one really benefits from that. That approach really is voyeuristic. You're there with all your equipment, but pretending you're not there'
- Uses a more participatory approach as 'what's important is the interaction between the filmmakers & those being filmed, & that the audience is aware of that interaction so they can make decisions of their own'
- Broomfield, like Michael Moore, has developed a participatory, performative mode of documentary filmmaking. Broomfield is an investigative documentarist with a distinctive interview technique which he uses to expose people's real views. Like Watson, he keeps the filmmaking presence to a minimum, normally with a crew of no more than three. He describes his films as 'like a rollercoaster ride. They’re like a diary into the future.
- Later films: 'performative documentary'
- Nick Broomfield has made a number of interesting documentaries, much of his work focuses on the bizarre and/or darker side of life. Often he is attracted to interesting and difficult people and subject matter as challenging material. He has made a very diverse range of films from his portrait of the South African neo-Nazi Eugene Terreblanche (The Leader, The Driver and The Driver’s Wife 1991), his film on the Hollywood prostitute Heidi Fleiss (Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam 1996) and his investigation into the deaths of two well-known rap stars (Biggie and Tupac, 2002). 
 He also has tended to focus in on the notion of celebrity whether that is in terms of political figures such as Margaret Thatcher (Tracking Down Maggie, 1994) or Sarah Palin (You Betcha! 2011) or tragic figures from popular culture: Kurt Cobain (Kurt and Courtney, 1998) and Whitney Houston (Can I Be Me, 2017) 
 He appears in his films and we can often see the sound boom in the frame and we are also very aware of the camera. 
 What is interesting about Broomfield is the persona that he presents in his films. His films are completely told from a subjective point of view and you feel that you are forced to adopt a position in order to fully understand what he is trying to say or achieve in his films. Broomfield doesn’t seem to mind treading on peoples toes or upsetting his subjects. 
 He can appear to be really disorganised and haphazard in his approach to his work and this works well on two levels. 
 It establishes a link between Broomfield and the audience in a clear way. It is felt that the audience will like him as they will relate to his uncovering of the facts in the same way that they are trying to make meaning from what he is presenting them with. 
 The subjects that Broomfield talks to on-camera are often as disarmed by his seemingly easy-going, relaxed persona as we are and as a result often they are willing to give a great deal of really interesting facts. 
 In terms of film style a great deal of this is often down to the money (or lack of a secure budget). He often works with a small crew in one long take and his interview work is unscripted. The effect of the long takes attempts to create the feeling of spontaneity. His obvious fascination with his subjects is always apparent and his self-reflexive style means that he tends to intervene and question his subjects on the issues that he is curious about as well as addressing the audience directly. 
 He also uses devices such as voice-over and establishing shots to foreground his point of view.

Peter Watkins:
- again can be applied to Amy; both he & Kapadia stylistically broke new ground in the form, Watkins challenges notions of mainstream documentary with docudrama
- Pioneer of doc-drama (think Kapadia's 'true fiction')
- Interested in interaction, the media & the role of the spectator

John Grierson:
- 'the creative treatment of actuality' as a starting point - promoting a set of values linked the heroism of ordinary people. Sonically focused documentaries often as ideological propaganda (e.g. Nightfall - 1936 or Housing Problems 1935 or Churchill's Island 1941) produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB)


Amy Key Scenes:
- Recording booth scene
- Addiction to crack cocaine
- Blake scene
- Dad/Mitch - camera crew scene/Jamaica
- Amy's death scene

Opening Scene:
Cinematography:
- Shaking, handheld camera
- Amy centre frame
- Whip pans to Amy
- Home video footage - grainy; shot on film (video tape)
- POV
Editing:
- Two cuts in opening sequence
- Use of captions - where it takes place (Southgate); who's in it (Juliette, Lauren), when (1998)
- Elliptical editing just before whip pan - used to cut out 'unnecessary' footage (what's necessary + who determines it?) - harvested from how many hours of footage? who chose it? why? what points were made?
Sound:

- Singing – Amy interrupting conversation, monopolising situation – clearly a passion from a young age; unfiltered, natural, raw (diegetic)

- At the very start, over the title cards and the initial home footage, there is a single, repeated piano riff/leitmotif – mood is sombre, nostalgic in a melancholic way; foreboding; these were happier times for Amy, though fleeting, as if her childhood had been truncated by her talent

- At the end of the sequence, there is a sound bridge to Amy’s performance of Moon River with the National Youth Orchestra; bridging to a montage of stills of Amy and famed jazz singers of the classical jazz era (Ella Fitzgerald, for example)

Mise-En-Scene:

- The sucking of lollipops

- Amy, Lauren, Juliette and unidentified male

- Suburban house in hallway

- Because this is home footage, it has not been elaborately staged, nor costumed, nor professionally lit – BUT this has been carefully selected by Kapadia

- Use of mirror hanging in hallway – sings in front of mirror, as if to an audience; does this foreshadow her ego, craving fame, attention?

How this scene creates meaning & response:

- Sutures spectator into the diegesis of Amy’s early life; Kapadia wants spectator to align with Amy, possibly empathise with her

- Kapadia wants us to see that Amy is an ordinary person??? She does, however, have extraordinary talents that clearly set her apart – apparent as everyone falls silent – our response mediated through diegetic audience

- Spectator response: she’s an ordinary teenager enjoying the company of a group of friends; could foreshadow her relationship with the paparazzi; how she feeds off them, and vice-versa, albeit in an ultimately destructive way

- Captions signpost to the spectator on whom we should focus – clearly setting out who the protagonists are – Kapadia is making this decision for us, and it could be argued that he starts manipulating (influencing) the spectator from the outset

- The major issue is WHY this footage exists – why do people feel the need to capture the minutiae (minor details) of their lives? Presumably, this is a small part of much longer footage – presumably part of a pattern of self-filming amongst the group, and the generation as a whole. The use of home footage also helps us to identify with her; it’s her in a domestic setting, something to which we can all relate

- Representation – the deliberate selection of material to portray people and events in specific ways – who is the ‘real’ Amy? The home footage has clearly been selected, and the cuts demonstrate a deliberate selection process within the selected footage – these layers of selection create meaning through elliptical editing

- Portable, digital cameras enable spectators to see Amy in a more natural way – she did not know this footage would ever be seen by the wider public (though this necessarily begs the question, why film it in the first place?) so she’s not acting up (though you could argue that no-one is ever ‘natural’ on film – film creates different personas) – we have no way of knowing who the ‘real’ Amy was, so we become reliant on myth-making devices like film – different people will have different perceptions of Amy; could we therefore argue that there is a sense of reality to this persona she’s created? That she becomes the person in the public eye? People’s perceptions vary depending on the relationship/context. Lots of deliberately conflicting representations of her. Distinction should be made between the mass media/tabloid representation, and this film (and what it’s trying to achieve) – in terms of spectatorship, the film invites a negotiated (alternative?) response

- Spectator response will be shaped by pre-existing notions/preconceptions of Amy Winehouse; context is key

- This film is revisionist rather than contemporary

Back To Black Scene:

Cinematography:

- Slow zooms of Amy in recording studio

- Slow motion in CU at end of first session – vignette effect used of Amy smoking w slow zoom

Flashbacks of grainy holiday footage

- 2^nd recording session = low angle, claustrophobic/intimate/intrusive

- Natural lighting – not professionally lit

- Grainy – lacking in focus, definition

Editing:

- Ronson session – slow pace, long cuts

- Continuity editing throughout session – flashbacks (forming montage? Effect = family album/scrapbook) – then elliptical editing flashing forward 3 months (prolepsis) – what has happened in those three months?

- Latter recording session – long cut

Sound:

- Ronson session – sound mixes between her acapella vocals and the backing track, which periodically fades in; scene is predicated by Ronson praising her talents – mediating spectator response; she is professional, respectful (persuasive language – use of professional opinion) – sound matching – blends diegetic and non-diegetic to demonstrate how successful the song eventually became – meaning is created by contextual/retrospective knowledge

- Use of voiceover – main way in which meaning is created in the film is through the juxtaposition of sound and image – some of the VOs feel more rehearsed, whilst others (her friend crying at the end, for example) feel more impromptu; also raises the question of which bits of interview have been selected, and for what purpose

- Silence punctuates the end of 1^st recording session; enables the spectator to align with her as she is moved by the song

Mise-en-scene:

- Drinks (whiskey and coke) and cigarettes

- Claustrophobic studio – highlights how lonely life as a singer could be – she’s also surrounded by males – the studio itself is quite rundown 

How this scene creates meaning & response:

- Kapadia uses elliptical editing with flashbacks to manipulate the spectator into assuming that Amy’s spiral into drug abuse, alcoholism and bulimia is the result of her grandmother’s death – WHO has edited the footage; therefore, how do we know who is responsible for creating meaning? Flashbacks – are these edited by the family or the director?

- Juxtaposition – placing the flashbacks between the two recording sessions suggests the above

Ronson session – have more positive sequences been selected? And vice-versa, have negative sequences been used in the latter session as a means of justifying Amy’s behaviour and subsequent addictions?

- When we cut to the latter session, Amy is mid-conversation and quite combative – however, we don’t know to whom she is speaking, nor the cause of her ire. Therefore, editing has been used to manipulate the spectator.

- Editing during drinking sequence seems to have been reordered – we don’t know at what point the camera was even rolling; clearly this has been reassembled to create meaning – exaggerates the amount she is drinking – splices use low angle BCUs in slow mo as she drinks – all signposting that the grandmother’s death was the root cause – is this just the director seeking an excuse for her behaviour later in her career? Is he absolving her of all blame?

Crack Scene:
Cinematography:

- Amy interview whilst high – XCU; details of her unfocused eyes

- Handheld, natural lighting

- Still photographs, often CU or XCU, w camera (very) slowly tracking in; use of high angle in one specific shot exaggerates the size of her eyes, making her look very childlike, vulnerable – combines with her pale skin

- CU of Amy w hand outstretched to camera w slow track in – Amy’s vulnerability/cry for help

Editing:

- Paparazzi cameras flashing – combines with freeze frames and elliptical editing/jump cuts to disorientate spectator/replicate Amy’s increasingly fragile mental condition/represent panic – encourages empathy

- Juxtaposition of moving and still image – often lengthy cuts are used for the still images, with post-production track-ins used

- Concert footage, stills, grainy home video, professional interviews, news footage, paparazzi footage

Paparazzi footage places the spectator amongst the throng of photographers – positions the spectator in an uncomfortable position – we might question why we’re watching this film; do we enjoy Amy’s increasing degradation?

- Use of captions for lyrics and locations and times – roots the film in fact; highlights that this is a ‘true’ story, not a fiction; also documents her life for posterity (this is the equivalent of a history book); makes it relatable for the spectator (makes us feel close)

Sound:

- Use of VO operates in conjunction with editing

- VO seems to have been edited itself to create more of a sense of fluency

- Approx. 25s of silence during still images of drug abuse – much of this sequence uses silence or minimal VO with very little non-diegetic music – creates an eerie, foreboding, uneasy atmosphere; for a film about music and making noise, the silence gives the spectator ‘breathing space’ – the chance to reflect on this cataclysmic spell in Amy’s life and realise the devastating impact of her drug abuse

- Concert footage – home video – flattens the sound and makes it ‘tinny’ – warps her vocals – sound bridge to following cut (boos and jeers in audience are pronounced) – why use this footage, when professionally-produced footage would have been available? Example of Kapadia manipulating spectator response?

Mise-en-scene:

- Flat - clutter reflection of unorderly life - filmmaker showing this

Ending:

Cinematography:

- Scene starts w helicopter shot over London; establishing shot; identifies Amy with time & place - immortalises her - though she's dead, she lives on through her music

Editing:

- Slow motion used extensively, often with freeze frames of key characters; slow motion used during funeral footage – camera is clearly at a high angle from a great distance but is heavily zoomed in; makes the footage grainy, unsteady – sense that the spectator is intruding; asks uncomfortable questions about spectatorship – about the need to view this kind of event

- Still images of Amy are of happier times – dissolves between them; slow zooms into pictures

Intercut with news footage (?) – could be home video – also with paparazzi in background – layers of spectatorship

-Very long cuts – unfiltered

- Final shots of Amy = close ups; linear (from childhood); slow zooms in; often in slow motion; all end with freeze frame

- Caption – when and where – highlights that this is reality

Sound:

- Music – same as at the start – initially a single piano key - intensifies/crescendos as you realise that Amy has died

- Music noticeably increases in volume when the stretcher is brought out – minor key with piano and strings – nostalgic, elegiac, sorrowful, uplifting (?), beautiful (to represent her life), celebratory (?)

- Over credits, segues into Valerie. More upbeat, more celebratory; idea of her living on

- VO – Juliette very powerful – voice cracking – can hear her emotion – telegraphs the death to come

- VO – Andrew Morris – Amy would have taken it all back; pause before he says “I would” – at this point, the music builds – there‘s an idea that the spectator is responsible for her death; though we are consuming a film as culturally-enlightened spectators, we’re also part of the problem

How this creates meaning & response:

- What is the director trying to express? What are the debates?

- Even when dead, Amy was not left in peace – paparazzi and news teams swarming around – sound of flashbulbs

- Director wants to leave a positive image of Amy at the end – juxtaposition acts as an antidote to the hard-hitting images of her body being carried out – leaves the spectator with the impression that her life was positive

Extra analysis for above 3 scenes: http://resource.download.wjec.co.uk.s3.amazonaws.com/vtc/2016-17/16-17_1-15/eng/pdf/documenatry-resource4_amy-case-study.pdf

EXAM:

- The documentary film in its contemporary form has become a much freer form, utilising cinematic techniques in ever more creative ways to tell ‘factual’ stories while problematising the divide between fact and fiction. Each offers much insight into a more creative kind of contemporary documentary practice - one which is as much concerned with the cinematic as it is with its subject.

- Amy takes a different approach to exploring the life of a singer; the film is composed almost entirely of home video footage, brought together to offer a compelling portrait of its subject.
- All the set documentary films, which frequently make the division between fact and fiction ambiguous and exploit digital technology, allow learners to explore the debates about the impact of digital technology on film and filmmaking including understanding and applying ideas and theories from key documentary filmmakers.

The Significance of Digital Technology in Film:

- The degree of the impact that digital has had on film since the 1990s is a developing debate. Some film commentators argue that although digital technology could potentially transform cinema, so far films, especially narrative films designed for cinema release have changed very little from pre-digital times. Others consider that the impact of digital filmmaking is only beginning to emerge, both in high concept Hollywood filmmaking and in much lower budget experimental work. What this section hopes to explore is how we can look at this debate in relation to documentary film. All five films in this section of the specification have utilised digital techniques with a wide variety of results. What the tasks here will set out to achieve is a recognition and reflection of these digital techniques and their influence on the documentary filmmaking process.

- Documentary has always responded to the possibilities afforded by new technologies. The growth over the years of more portable cameras and sound equipment have greatly added to the way that documentaries can show real innovation when reporting on their subject matter. In many respects the recent boom in digital technology has further added to this and this can be seen in all the films offered in this unit.
Amy 
o In Kapadia’s film there is very little actual original footage shot. This seems to largely consist of captioned establishing shots of London – either with a helicopter or a drone. These few shots are very clearly digital and offer a brief counterpoint to the rest of the film’s style.
o Amy is clearly the work of a number of film-makers and Kapadia’s skill as a filmmaker is really seen in the editing room. He has amassed a great deal of archive footage from media sources and placed these alongside more personal filmic insights into Winehouse’s life.
o The combination of both analogue and some early digital recordings of Amy Winehouse from her friends and in some cases her family do offer a revealing perspective on her childhood, adolescence and the early part of her career.
o Where interesting debates may be developed is on the more controversial aspects of her life – her bulimia, her addictions and her ill-fated relationship with Blake FielderCivil. This may well focus on the selection and use of particular footage.
o Interestingly we also only hear the interviewees and never see them. Kapadia would have spoken to these people and recorded their thoughts digitally and then used them to underscore his images.
o The manipulation and crucially the montage effect of the using the footage alongside the interviews is what give the film its power.
o What it also exposes is the way that even before Winehouse became famous, her existence was being documented. The key debates here are to do with Kapadia’s focus in telling the story that he wanted to tell. Might have he done this differently? How would this have changed the emphasis of the film?

Most obviously students will correctly identify the wealth of archival footage that is used in the film. They should also be encouraged to differentiate between the different types of footage utilised by Kapadia – stock footage (mostly from example news sources/interviews), unseen footage captured on video or DV by people close to her, mobile phone footage.
- They should also be clear on the variety of still images that are used in the film and the different impact of these.
- The lack of the authorial voiceover is also important encouraging the spectator to be guided more by the juxtaposition of images and sound, rather than a direct point of view.
- The selection of voices to support the images/footage which are carefully chosen. These are examples of indirect interviews and are captioned. The interviewees are not seen speaking directly to camera – unless (in Amy Winehouse’s case) as part of stock footage.
- The montage effect of the editing – piecing together a narrative based on the huge variety of source material.
- The use of real footage to provide expositional information about setting in most cases in this film London. This often takes the form of swooping aerial shots.
- The use of captions is most interestingly used in the form of lyrics from Amy Winehouse’s songs.
- Incidental music is used in particular sequences of the film to align the spectator with the subject matter.

 There is a plot – the film follows Amy Winehouse from being a talented North London teenager with a powerful voice, through to her recording contract with Island, her first album Frank and the transformation in her artistic development which resulted in her hugely successful record Back to Black. The film also reflects on her traumatic relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil and her eventual death as a result of her addictions.
o The film is largely chronological and linear. There are a couple of instances where the past is reflected upon with the use of home video footage. The interesting issue in approaching the narrative is that as it is based on real-life events (and given the earlier work on context), it is clear where it is going.
o Certainly the way that dramatic situations are captured by Kapadia can be commented on and this is enhanced by the way that the film is structured – especially around the intervention to stop Amy taking drugs, the imprisonment of Fielder-Civil and most obviously her death.
o Kapadia certainly clearly aligns the spectator with the central protagonist through his choice of interviewees and by using footage with people who admired her talent such as Tony Bennett. This is also reinforced with the overarching sense of tragedy that engulfs the second part of the film. In many respects the spectator can be seen to be aligned with her friends who seem powerless to help her. o The notion of ‘true fiction’ is an interesting one as it can be seen to suggest a number of things in relation to representations of what might be considered the ‘truth’. Kapadia’s wide-ranging access to all of this material and his subsequent selection and positioning of all this footage, alongside the recorded sound interviews is worth evaluating closely in terms of how he represents Winehouse’s life. It is of course his version of what he thinks is true. Also the use of the word ‘fiction’ raises a number of issues about the nature of Amy as a documentary itself. If this is in fact a ‘fiction’ what should we believe and what shouldn’t we? Is this important?

- Archival Footage: Also called ‘Stock Footage’, this is film or video that can be used in other film productions and it is commonly used in documentary. Stock footage can come from a variety of sources, mostly obviously archive news footage or interviews from the past. That said it can also establish setting and situation as well by focusing in on specific subject matter that supports the filmmakers point of view. This wider footage can also take in personal footage (Super 8/16, video, DV, CCTV, mobile phone material). With access to this growing amount of footage a much broader sense of the subject matter can be examined. Of course the selection and construction of all this material in the final cut is crucial to establishing meaning.
- Use of Still Images: This will use photographs of relevant subject matter to construct meaning or support points made by the filmmaker. This will be produced in a studio with the use of a rostrum camera. This is different to using a still shot of an image say within an interview.
- Voice Over Narration: The use of a non-diegetic (not part of the narrative) voice that assists in explaining information, primarily in a documentary or news feature. The use of the voice positions the spectator to the point of view of the filmmaker. This can be the filmmaker themselves or someone used to convey a sense of meaning behind the images. The narration can also be interviewees whose testimony is crucial in constructing meaning and engendering a response. That said not all documentaries need to have a voiceover.
- Music: This is important within scenes or through scenes to complement visual images. The broader soundtrack, any recurring musical theme, the use of a montage of music has to be applied external (asynchronous) to the visuals. Equally there is no reason why music can’t be employed contrapuntally as well.
- Ambient Sound: This is sound that is present, or available, in the context of the scene being filmed. It may consist of the background sounds (of traffic, birds, wind, planes flying overhead, machines working, children playing, etc.) It is always applied synchronously; that is, the sound emanates from within the scene (not external to the scene). If we hear music, for instance, we hear it because someone is playing a car radio or is attending a performance or is present in a scene where music is playing.
- Establishing Shots: Used in filmmaking to set up the context for a scene by allowing the audience to see where it is taking place, and the relationship that the characters have within it. This is also fundamental in establishing place and situation in documentary.
- Point-Of-View Shot: By using the camera in a specific way, usually after a shot of a character or person, the camera is able to film a short scene that is exactly what that character or person would be looking at – it shows their point of view. This may well be the direct point of view of the filmmaker themselves.
- Reaction Shots: Usually a cut-away shot to indicate the reaction of a particular character. This is usually in response to a specific action or emotion, and is used primarily to show the audience the full traits of a particular character. This might be employed in a variety of situations in a documentary film within interviews or even within stock or archival footage.
- Montage: Selecting and carefully editing of selected pieces of film to form a continuous whole. This final selection of material is crucial in constructing meaning and generating an appropriate response.
- Cross-Cuts: Used to establish action occurring at the same time, cross-cutting involves the camera cutting away from one action to another to give the impression of the action occurring simultaneously.
- Jump-Cuts: A cut in film editing that gives the impression of the subject “jumping” forwards in time. This is done by showing almost the exact same shot in successive frames with only a slight variation in the subject.

Sample Q's: 
Possible questions:
- 'the power of a documentary film relies on techniques that make it feel as real and as truthful as possible'. Discuss this in relation to examples from Amy
- Apply one filmmaker's theory of documentary you have studied to your chosen documentary. How does it increase your understanding of the film?
- With reference to Amy, how far can different kinds of documentaries offer different kinds of spectator experience>
- What is the impact of digital technology on the documentary genre?

- May consider any of the set filmmakers' theories of documentary film Watkins, Broomfield, Longinotto or Moore. They may take any aspects of their theories but will be expected to clarify the central ideas they are applying to their chosen documentary. Any theory can be applied to any chosen documentary.

• an understanding of the chosen filmmaker's theory demonstrated through highlighting its key features 

• a discussion of how the chosen theory relates to the relevant documentary and its approach to documentary making or filmmaking in general. 

• a discussion of the techniques used in the documentary to convey representations of the real in terms of the claims of filmmaker's theory 

• a conclusion that the application of the filmmaker's theory is likely to have increased understanding of the chosen documentary. 

• Band 5 responses may claim that documentaries can only convey an ideological representation of their subject which may be highlighted through application of a theory. 

'Portable, digital cameras, digital sound recording equipment and non-linear digital editing have had a very significant impact on documentary film.' How far has digital technology had an impact on your chosen documentary film? [20]

- Candidates may consider any aspect of digital technology in relation to their chosen documentary and may reach any conclusion in terms of its impact.

• an understanding of digital technology relevant to the chosen documentary (which may include the role of portable, digital cameras and digital sound recording equipment which facilitate a closer connection with subjects) or non-linear digital editing (which may lead to conscious manipulation of material or the blurring of 'fact' and 'fiction' in some documentary filmmakers' work) 

• some discussion of the significance of the move from film to digital in the production of moving image work in more general terms 

• some discussion of the impact of digital technology on documentary style, for example, a particular kind of observational intimacy or a sense of mobility and improvisation. 

• Band 5 responses may recognise that some aspects of digital production (e.g. handheld cameras) may be used to convey an illusory sense of the real (i.e. that they are coded to give the impression of reality to spectators).

To what extent can it be said that your chosen documentary is shaped by the filmmaker's approach? Refer to at least one filmmaker's theory you have studied.

Candidates will identify some of the key characteristics underpinning their chosen documentary – such as, for example, the choice of mode (observational, poetic, selfreflexive, etc.); the choice of cinematic style; mode of address to the spectator. From these they will be able to discuss to what the filmmaker have a specific approach to a key aspect of their film. The key aspect may, for example, be to do with representation or narrative or aesthetics or the address to the spectator. The aspect will be appropriate to the chosen documentary film. Candidates will make some reference to documentary filmmakers' theory (one or two from Watkins, Broomfield, Longinotto, Moore) identifying points of interest that relate to their chosen film. 

Candidates will address the question, and in the process, develop a position on the importance of the filmmaker’s approach to a key aspect of their chosen film. The limited time available to the candidate means the expectation is for two or three relevant points to be made and developed, supported by film detail. Candidates may take their discussion in one or more directions, always referring to appropriate detail in the process. For example, arguing: 

• that the film is highly conceptual with the chosen key aspect highly determined by the filmmaker’s approach or 

• that the filmmaker adopts a pragmatic approach using whatever techniques are appropriate in relation to the subject matter and the circumstances in which the film was made 

- Reference to another filmmaker’s theory need not be detailed, but sufficient to demonstrate a productive baseline for discussion. 

- Band 5 responses are likely to be characterized by their confident grasp of ideas and theories and show a willingness to consider the filmmaker responsible for their chosen documentary to have a theoretical approach independent of the filmmakers’ theories studied.

‘The significance of digital technology is overrated in contemporary filmmaking.’ To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement in relation to your chosen documentary?
Candidates may consider any aspect(s) of digital technology in relation to their chosen documentary. For example:
• an understanding of digital technology relevant to the chosen documentary (which may include the role of portable, digital cameras and digital sound recording equipment which facilitate a closer connection with subjects) or non-linear digital editing (which may lead to conscious manipulation of material or the blurring of ‘fact’ and ‘fiction’ in some documentary filmmakers' work)
• some discussion of the impact of digital technology on documentary style, for example, a particular kind of observational intimacy or a sense of mobility and improvisation or a blurring of the distinction between the ‘real’ and the digital effect.
- Candidates will engage directly with the question. Clearly, the choice of documentary will determine the line of argument. For example, Sisters in Law will demonstrate a different kind of digital determination than Amy or 20,000 Days on Earth. The limited time available to the candidate means that the expectation is for two or three relevant points to be made and developed, supported by film detail.
Candidates may argue:
• that the digital is very significant in determining the overall ‘look’ of the film and its impact on the spectator, possibly pointing to digital post-production as being particularly significant or
• that the digital is still much less important than long-established aspects of filmmaking to do with micro filmmaking choices (such as the framing of a shot) and macro filmmaking choices (such as narrative organization).
- Band 5 responses are likely to be characterized by their very confident grasp of the digital debate and a very well-informed understanding of the qualities of their particular film, leading to a mature consideration of the question.