Documentary Flashcards
Amy: Intro
Amy (Kapadia, 2015) is an observational documentary about the tragic life and death of famous jazz and blues artist Amy Winehouse.
The documentary was made on a budget of $3.4 million, but made at he global box office $23 million. The documentary was a strong success due to the audiences interest in Amy’s struggle and her life behind closed doors.
Similarly, Longinotto too makes documentary’s on the struggles women face; Longinotto’s use of an observational style, of letting them tell their story, contradicts Kapadia’s ‘true fiction’.
Kapadia has become known as a celebrity portrait documentary maker. Contrarily, Longinotto focuses on everyday women, trying to capture the extraordinary out of the ordinary; aiming to give a voice to the voiceless
Amy Scene pt.1
One scene that is important to understanding Amy is the ‘Crack cocaine and Blake’ scene. Similarly to longinotto, Kapadia is an invisible film maker in this scene and throughout the documentary.
Kapadia uses archival footage, taking up 90% of the film. In order to create a unified image King and Kapadia manipulated the digital images by adding layers of effects in order to create something ‘that felt like a single film’, rather than a collection of random clips.
In this scene Amy’s boyfriend at the time, Blake uses a hand held camcorder to capture Amy in her Camden flat; it acts as a hidden camera technique, giving us an insight into her life = use of digital technology is significant as it offers an intimate insight to Amy’s life.
A voice over of an interview of Blake, a frankienbite of him saying ‘Then Amy tried it quickly and it got a grip of us’, plays over the top of footage of drug paraphernalia, making us as the audience feel uneasy and uncomfortable.
Amy scene 1- pt.2
The scene finishes with a close up of Amy, her pupils look dilated, and we assume she’s on drugs, and is high, we also hear her say “pass me a little fag” which is barely distinguishable, saying she’s completely out of it.
This scene hold significance, as all together it makes us as the audience dislike Blake, as he first introduces Amy to drugs, knowing her vulnerability, reinforcing the toxicity of their relationship.
Furthermore, this scene being placed next to stock footage of the Eden project performance 2007, highlights her private and intimacy life fading into the public eye.
Similarly to Kapadia, Longinotto’s work is about finding characters that the audience will identify with, expressing ‘you can make this jump into someone elses experience.’ Which is ultimately the effecr Kapadia creates, as we easily sympathise with Amy.
Amy Scene two - pt.1
Another scene thats important to understanding Amy is the last scene, which reflects on her death. Unlike Kapadia who uses archival footage, Longinotto uses shot footage by her own crew.
In this scene, it is one of the few times we Kapadia using new footage, having a captioned establishing, aerial shot of London. These few shots are very clearly digital and offer a brief counterpoint to the rest of the film style, this also adds to the verisimilitude and truth of her story, this is furthered by a single minor piano note playing over the top, drawing emotion.
Archival footage of Andrew Morriss walking with police is slowed down as his emotive interview is played over the top, recounting Amy saying “If I could give it back, just to walk down that street with no hassle.” This statement is a frankienbite used to make us as the audience have sympathy for Amy. It incriminates both the public and the paparazzi, close ups of fans outside, too capture fans raw reactions, illustrating Amy’s profound impact.
Amy scene two - pt.2
The shock and grief many round the country experienced.
The music becomes louder, intense, and dramatic as her montage begins; showing early footage of Amy happy and healthy, prior to drugs, leaving the documentary on a emotional ending.
Similarly to Kapadia wanting us to make our own conclusions about Amy, Longinotto too says she doesn’t want her films to have conclusions but to raise questions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both Longinotto and Kapadia use an observational mode, which allows us as the audience to build our own views off their footage.
However, Kapadia often uses frankienbites to draw emotion, making us sympathise with Amy through out.
