Undefeated

-Released in 2011
-Directed by Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
-Sporting documentary and displayed many different themes ; friendship, team-work, family, love, football, violence, race, neglection, loss, triumph, coming of age.
-Was able to win an Oscar and 3 other awards

Undefeated is a sporting documentary based in Tennesse following Mannassas High School football team. Since the school opened 100 plus years ago the school had never won a play off game, and Bill Courtney a volunteering football coach had started to build a footballing platform at Mannassas over the 5 years he'd been there and now he had the greatest team the school had ever seen and was giving hope to young men that they may be able to beat the school's duck, but also that football will give them a better life. Whether that was it would help them with a scholarship or to help change their mentality that there were things out there bigger themselves.

This documentary can be seen as a drama due to the way it's set up and how the use of interviews is at a low considering the amount of distinctive figures through out the documentary but because it displays the theme of coming of age which is consistently involved with dramas, this provides even more reason that it can be mistaken for a drama.

What is a Documentary ?

Google defines a documentary to be;

1. consisting of or based on official documents.
2. using pictures or interviews with people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular subject

Both definitions are correct but do not desrcibe what a documentary really is. Yes everything is true or official that happens in them, nothing is staged, but a documentary is still a genre of film. Which means the film still has features that create meaning and help the audience to relate to the people that are involved in the documentary.

Documentary's will film/picture every minute of every day during a time period or until they have enough footage to achieve the goal, whether thats to tell a story through other people's lives or to show the audience the struggle and battles they have to go through on a day to day basis which in a way could also rest in a story from how they live. Usually documentaries have a certain effect on an audience, that they walk away feeling grateful for what they have or they feel sympathetic towards the lives they have just witnessed as they did not realise how bad some people had it until a film maker had to show them.

50 Shades of Black


-Released in 2016
-Production companies
     -IM Global
     -Wayans Alvarez Productions
-Directed by Michael Tiddes
-Produced by Marlon Wayans
-The certificate of this film is 18, it has a younger target audience due to it being a spoof and a lot of the jokes are stereotypes that of a younger audience are more likely to find amusing.


-Genre is a spoof comedy
-It has themes of sex, relationships, race, violence, family


-50 Shades of Black is spoof based film on 50 Shades of Grey, it constantly has references to the original film but by using a sarcastic tone to show the opinion on the original is very low. The original is about a college student who meets a very wealthy businessman but his sexual needs causes friction between the two, the storyline is the same throughout the film but looses track during various parts due to it's relaxed and jokey approach. Throughout the film there are constant racial stereotypes being used as in an amusement form, making fun of negative stereotypes that others may be offended by.

Winter's Bone

- Released in 2010
- Directed by Debra Granik and starred Jennifer Lawrence
- Drama with themes of family, violence, drugs, disobeying the law
- Was a well respected film as it was nominated for 4 Oscars but went on to win 63 other awards

Winter's bone is a independent drama set in Missouri, USA, and we witness the struggles of people who live in the harsh conditions in their area. The protagonist is a courageous young girl, whom is played by Jennifer Lawrence, and we watch as she carries out a journey in a search for her drug dealing father who is due in court. If he was to miss his court date their home and assets were to be taken away from her and her family.

This film helped Jennifer Lawrence plant a foot firmly at the top of the pecking order as her popularity instantly grew, she went on to do the likes of; Xmen, Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. Very quickly she became a fan favourite.

As for John  Hawkes who also played a very key part in the film went on to do a big tent pole film called 'Everest,' but before Winter's bone he was already an established actor as he starred in the likes of 'lost' and 'CSI,' so Winter's Bone helped him jump from the small screen into the big screen.



 

An Auteur

An auteur is a director who influences their films so much they rank as an author

Spike Lee



Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.

Spike Lee visualises to audiences the life he grew up around or visualises anyone from the black community and their struggle, perfect films that show this are "Jungle Fever" and "Do the Right Thing".

I'd label the director as an Auteur because of his consistent films that show the struggles of an African American whether it was past or present.