I rarely post actual documentaries or films here but this is definitely worth the watch. Whether you are into hip hop or not, this documentary has many stories, levels, morals and structures that kept me interested. Following the emotional stories of the individuals as well as keeping fresh scenes and music flowing toward the viewer really made this an enjoyable watch...inspirational stuff.
Plot:
The Hip Hop Project is the dynamic and inspirational story of a group of New York City teenagers who transform their life stories into powerful works of art, using hip hop as a vehicle for self-development and personal discovery. The film traces the evolution of this award-winning outreach program developed by Kazi, a formerly homeless teenager turned youth mentor. After four years of collaboration, the group produced a powerful and thought-provoking album that provides a revealing look at their lives. In contrast to all the negative attention focused on hip hop and rap music, this is a story of hope, healing and the realization of dreams.
Last Friday was Chase and Status at Komedia - Bath.
Rather disappointingly there was only status there leaving chase out. I presume they are double booked so that there can only be one Dj at a time, therefore they make double the money for the one name!
It was an amazing night none the less and I had a great time filming on stage and around the venue. I will be posting a short promo video soon for Komedia so keep posted.
On Friday 19th a big new Urban event called 'Entarain' was born. Specifically this time for club Xl(Formerly known as Cadillac). I was asked to Dj as well as take photographs and video for the event which as expected turned out to be a challenging task. I played everything from Funky house, UK funky, UK garage, Oldskool RnB and some Reggae.
While I was taking the photographs & video my mate Ram took the place on the decks in the second room. I then took video of the events going on in the main rooms such as Mcing. The night was a huge success and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I hope to see another Enta-rain-ment event soon in the future.
It’s been too long since my last blog post! This month I have been working on various projects and portfolios. For this we decided to produce a behind the scenes documentary. Finding the subject proved harder than expected.
Our initial ideas included: Aardman Liquid soap(A student led, acted and filmed production along with the help from tutors and professionals working at the university)
Top Gear This was simply an idea we had as Laura was going to watch the show live in the audience. Obviously on such a big production that has millions of viewers, they do not need any additional advertising or promotion therefore we decided not to pursue this idea any further. Music video in Portugal This was a friend of Chris’ video shoot that we were going to cover, another complication with flights, time and confusion over when it was going ahead left us uneasy so we collectively decided not go for this as we all knew that it wasn’t a solid choice.
Eventually our most recent conquest resulted in filming a behind the scenes documentary on a music video shoot. The shoot consisted of 18 bands that had a mere one hour slot for complete filming. With just two days of studio time the heat was on. The director and crew did very well to stick to schedule as well as they did.
Various other companies were contacted via well constructed emails from each member of our group yet still failed to yield any results for our behind the scenes production.
After more desperate searches I managed to land on a lucky break when I caught ear of a music video shoot going on at Bath Spa’s university theatre. The commercial music students were producing videos for their newly recorded tracks so I thought it would be a great idea to cover this for a Behind the scenes style doc. I will upload the final product once the edit and audio levels have been finalised.
Documentaries attempt to bring real life into people’s homes. Although the film is carefully edited the characters in the films are not actors and often portray themselves. The narrator/ voice over describes the film as it plays, putting opinions, often in a humorous way into what can be a very serious visual.
The word documentary has its roots in the Latin word ‘docere’ which means to teach or instruct. The word was first used by John Grierson who is known as the founder of the classic British documentary movement from the 1930s. He coined the phrase ‘creative treatment of actuality.’ The documentary is one of the earliest sorts of films known as ‘actuality films.’ Propaganda films were also early forms of documentary often portraying people such as Hitler as a Hero.
Today, the documentary film is very popular. To make a documentary film there needs to be a message or artistic point of view. The film maker may try the ‘fly on the wall’ or observational style .Recording a documentary is not about pointing a camera at a real situation but it is a demanding process of recording, selecting and editing.
Although the viewer feels like the real life scene is unfolding and happening in front of them, the raw footage could be shot out of order. It is then cut and edited in a specific way for a particular style whether to shock, inform or humour the audience.
Sometimes the TV documentary uses professional actors to re-enact scenes in order to make the viewer understand how something may have happened.
My taste in documentaries is varied. I particularly like the role that comedy dialogue and a tongue in cheek manner can put over a serious subject.
Dom Jolly’s Happy Hour is a prime example of this. They make fun of clichéd documentary styles by adding humorous montages (see video below) and add witty comments throughout. As a ‘Brit’ and a presenter from another country he is able to poke fun at other cultures without offending the interviewee. This has a similar premise to Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Borat’ film.
I also enjoy Louis' style of presenting in ‘Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends’ as it can be both obtrusive and innocent at the same time when interviewing subjects.
They take serious subjects and inject humour and often elements of sarcasm into the programme which is obviously is a great mix due to the programmes’ success.
I also like the way the camera is known to the audience unlike any other type of film making. The camera and its crew are obvious in the shots making the filming process and subject feel especially real. Documentaries such as this really involve the audience. Small comments to camera makes the audience feel like they are with the character like Louis or Dom and are in on the joke really giving a sense harmony between the audience and the programme.
I also like nature and travel documentaries like Ray Mears - bushcraft, Coast, Life on Earth, Globe Trekker. I love travel series such as Long Way Round and Long Way Down that take you on a journey to places that you wouldn’t usually be able to go to visit. The documentary also contains a story element that unfolds weekly really making the viewer yearn for more. The audience gets to know the narrators and characters in the documentary and follow their intimate journey as it unfolds making them feel part of the journey without even leaving their settee, lovely!
Dom Jolly's Happy Hour - Belgium
Check out Ray Mears here Check out Globe Trekker here Check out Long Way Down here Check out Long Way Round here Check out Dom Jolly here See Dom Jolly's Happy Hour in Prague here Check out Louis Theroux here
I rarely post actual documentaries or films here but this is definitely worth the watch. Whether you are into hip hop or not, this documentary has many stories, levels, morals and structures that kept me interested. Following the emotional stories of the individuals as well as keeping fresh scenes and music flowing toward the viewer really made this an enjoyable watch...inspirational stuff.
