13th

'13th,' released just this year (2016) is a Netflix original documentary which gives a very in depth insight to America's prison system and reveal's the nation's history of racial inequality.

It was directed by Ava DuVernay, who also co-wrote this documentary with Spencer Averick.

This doc highlights significant events and how they all link together and having an end result of racial inequality. The title of this film is based upon the 13th amendment, where it's illegal for the use of slaves unless it's a form of punishment from crime. This one law caused a spiral of events, which has most recently lead to the current state of America and the movement of 'Black Lives Matter'.

This doc is in the expository format due to the subject that is talked about. The use of talking heads is through out the film, as well as clips and images that weren't taken by the film makers themselves. This doc is definitely an eye opener and keeps you engrossed through out due to information that is now put in front of you and you would not have known about it unless you went searching for it.

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. 

La Haine




This film is a foreign language Social Realism Crime/Drama about the lives of three friends, Vinz, Hubert and Saïd. An argument can be made for which character is the protagonist since a pecking order can be deciphered through the films narrative and cinematography, although the film is most likely intended by the filmmakers to follow a multi-protagonist storyline in order to increase diversity amongst the plot. The three friends represent three minority areas of French society, African, Jewish and Arab, all are immigrant cultures that have made their way into society. This character design choice helps influence the audience’s thoughts towards the film as they can better relate with the ‘underdog’ complex that each of these characters has. The linear driven story progresses over the course of a single day, the filmmakers use time stamps throughout in order to show the passing of real time and how much chaos can occur in a single day. Rather than taking place over the course of multiple days, weeks or years, a single day gives a better frame of reference for the events that the film is alluding to. The film is based around the riots and police brutality that were very common at the time. This insight into the lives of three diverse young men is a way to provide French culture with knowledge of the effects that these riots and vicious events have. This film explores themes of police brutality, violence, poverty, hierarchy and power.

The origins of all three characters, the projects, is looked down upon by middle class society in France, therefore they face discrimination from those about and around them every single day. This is one of the conflicts in the film that they must overcome, this is where the ‘underdog complex’ comes in to play The audience are further attached to these characters because they have much more motivation for their actions since they are hanging on by a thread. We see the state in which they live, in very cramped small spaces. In Vinz’s case he lives with his sister, mother and grandmother and has to share a room with his sister. This already provides into his thirst for masculinity being surrounding by women at home but also boosts his state of mind, having to feel like he needs to prove himself and provide for his family.

The cinematography plays a massive part in the film as it is used to highlight power, poverty and the pecking order between the three main characters, it is a subtle technique but works very efficently. Constantly Vinz is questioned due to him being all 'talk,' and this is showed very disticntly on two occassions. The first being when him and Said get Hubert to speak to the girls for themselves as they lacked confidence, then the second was when he said he was going to shoot the skinhead but ended up bailing once again and almost throwing up.

Further into the film’s cinematography, we can see various out of body shots, creating a surreal situation by having the character’s look directly into the camera. This happens several times mainly with Vinz and Saïd, particularly at the very start of the film. This is used in order to connect the audience with the characters by removing the barrier of the screen, creating an effect as if the characters are in the room with the audience. Often in the film, objects and characters are pointed directly at the camera. One repetitious example is the gun, whether it is Vinz with his fingers or the actual gun, it is a symbol of power that is constantly played around with by accentuating its destructive features. Its action and sound is used twice as a scene transition in order to create a more fluid experience in the film.