Tuesday 23 October 2012

Biggie and Turpac - Nick Broomfield

The documentary itself starts off with just music. It has a high pitched and a fast beat. This connotes that it is beginning to build up the suspense and that something important is about to happen. We then start to hear the police sirens come in over the top of the music. This allows us to know for certain that something big has happened. Also, throughout the 30 minute clip, non-dietetic sounds seem to be frequent. During the music, a lot of information is presented in some big, bold white writing. This therefore makes it to stand out against the black background. We can then also know that the series of events are all documented very accurately. Something else we see, later on, is that Broomfield always stays in character throughout. This is made apparent because even when the police turn up he still continues to make his documentary. We can also see that he is just using Normal people in their own natural backgrounds. We can tell this when he continues to walk into barbers and supermarkets to gather their opinions. It is also very informative, ‘and it was just around the corner where he started rapping’.
A variety of shot types have been used. To start with we get close up’s of all the surroundings and the Crime scene for Turpac. This is good as it means that they will get a good overview of what has happened. There are also a number of quick cuts all the time which means that they are keeping the story going and fluent. Zooms are also common. This is when they are zooming in, in order to focus on an object that may even be in the middle of the frame. A medium shot is used when interviewing Tupac’s father’s questions... it gives it a more relaxed feel. Whereas when he first started the interview it was a close up... which made it feel a bit more serious.
When we see Broomfield interviewing, we can see that the camera has put him at the side of the shot; therefore we can see that he is the one directing all the questions. It also tells us for sure that he is paying attention and listening to what the interviewee is saying. There are even long shots to see the person even when he is not really being interviewed yet... just on the phone a little while away. This allows the audience to know that he is still the focus at the current time, but he is just not being talked about just yet.
The use of the hand held camera seems to be common throughout. This is because they were following the subject around. It sort of connotes that they are following them at all times and therefore following their journey. The use of the hand held cameras have also helped them to gain the same shots from many different angles… therefore making sure that they gain sufficient footage. It also means that the camera is always with them, even when they are in cars.
A voice over is common, which is something that I have found common in all the documentaries I have watched. Also the camera seems to jump slightly when they are interviewing. This happens when he is interviewing his father and other rappers from his time. This seems to be a regular technique throughout. This could be to emphasis the shot.

To see this documentary, click on the link two posts above.

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