Analysis of existing products
This is a documentary style film made produced by Thrasher Magazine and posted to their website and YouTube channel. The documentary focuses on the skateboarding scene in Kyiv, Ukraine. The footage was filmed in 2021, before the Russian invasion and before the city of Kyiv was evacuated. The film mentions the impact skating has had on the city of Kyiv, particularly Kyiv Square, and how skating has improved the scape of the city and brought to energy to a lifeless and dull city. It tells the story of a group of Ukrainian skaters from the late 1980s overcoming poverty, hunger and war and finding community to escape oppression. I like the message of this documentary as i can relate to finding a sense of escape and freedom in skateboarding, it speaks to me personally and that is what i want to try and replicate in my documentary.
The segment on Andrei Shevchenok, who is considered the 'father of Ukrainian Skating', talks about how he overcame the typical preordinated future of a Soviet born teenage boy which was to put aside education, individualism and freedom to work, raise a family and become another cog in the system. He said he found freedom in skateboarding that helped him escape the clutches of oppression he and many other people born into the Soviet Union era and how he inspired others to chase their own individualism and seek freedom.
The black and white image in the foreground indicates to the audience that this is a historical documentary and the shadow of the skateboarder hints toward the main focus of the film. The colour of the text on the is derivative of the colour scheme from the Ukrainian flag. The title of the documentary 'Revolution on Granite' is a reference to the protests which took place in Independence Square, Kyiv. In October 1990, a group of students organised a protest in the centre of Kyiv which quickly grew throughout the city. Their goal was to make the chairman and council of ministers of the USSR and to prevent the singing of a treaty which would essentially reform and salvage the Soviet Union and turn it into a confederation with a common president and military. Ukraine was the only Soviet country not to sign the treaty. The treaty was eventually prevented on August 19th by The August Coup a day before it was scheduled to be signed, eventually leading to Ukraine's independence. The title of the documentary pays homage to the strong history of Kyiv's Independence Square, a popular meeting place of Kyiv's skaters. This is sometime i would like to replicate in my documentary, paying homage to Sunderland's history such as coal mining, ship building, brewing etc.
This documentary uses a lot of archival footage from many years ago which was mostly filmed in black and white, which i think the producers have tried to reflect while filming their own footage for the documentary by adding shallow and colour deprived backgrounds during interview sections to keep the feel of a historical documentary. They achieve this using focusing techniques which drowns out the background behind the person being interviewed
To conclude, this documentary is heart warming and interesting and does an excellent job at painting a picture of a community of people using their collective love of a common interest to overcome pain and hardship.
Da Ali G Show (2000-2004)
Another reason i think people enjoy this because it is entertaining to observe how people act towards the character not knowing that they it is just somebody acting. This is due to a technique called 'dramatic irony' which is useful at creating a connection between the actor on screen and the person watching. Dramatic irony is where the audience are aware of something that the people on screen are not. This is used in many stories such as the ending of Romeo and Juliet where the audience know that Romeo is not dead, yet Juliet kills herself so she can be with him. This is really effective at provoking certain emotions in the audience whether that is humor, sadness, tension or excitement. It really makes an audience feel as though they are part of the story and engages them in the storyline.
While Ali G or any of Cohen's work has nothing to do with the main focus of my project, it does follow a very similar structure to the one i am planning on using. This is why it is important to analyse some of the key components used in Ali G.
The way music is used in this show is very effective at entertaining and engaging the audience. Music is used during the transition between scenes, characters and interviews. The music used indicates to the audience what they are about to watch without verbally telling them. For example, if the show plays a drum and bass/techno track, that usually indicates that it will be an Ali G sketch or interview that you are about to watch. This is because that type of music tracks for his character. However if the show plays a Middle Eastern type tune, then you are often about to watch a Borat sketch. This music fits the Borat character as he exhibits multiple Kazakhstani/East European stereotypes, shown in his voice, manor and nativity. These features are of course exaggerated by Cohen for the purpose of comedy.
Cinematography plays a big role in entertaining and engaging the audience, specifically the use of camera angles. An angle used often is the 'under shot', a technique used to exaggerate a character dominance. In this case, Cohen uses the technique to exaggerate Ali G's ignorant and ironic manor. A lot of quick shots are used in the show. going around the character while he is standing in place. This is used to exaggerate his stature and create the image of him being strong and assertive.
References-
Comments
Post a Comment