So. Our documentary received an Honorable Mention in the C-SPAN StudentCam. A few others in our program did, as well. I think I'll do it again next year, and I definitely know a few things I'll change. I'm proud of the outcome, but I feel maybe we could've done better with a few minor changes to our entire process.
Exit Through the Gift Shop
is a documentary about the life and ideas of street artists around the world
from a firsthand point of view. It starts with a man, Thierry Guetta, being
introduced to street art by his cousin. He films everything. He eventually
claims he’s going to make a documentary on street art and starts to make some
connections. He meets popular artists around the world and helps them with
their adventures. He’s grown to be a friend of many. He has hundreds of tapes
filled with everything he’s ever filmed, but he still lacks meeting or having any
footage of Banksy, one of the most famous street artists from Britain. By
complete luck, Banksy ends up staying with Thierry in Los Angeles. Banksy
allows Thierry to follow him around anywhere he goes and invites him back to
Britain with him. This starts Thierry’s new life. He starts working on the
documentary, but it ends up being awful. Banksy tells him to try some of his
own art. Thierry Guetta creates his own styling and goes by the name of Mister
Brainwash. He eventually produces one of the largest, most advertised showcases
ever before he’s developed a name for himself with help of a large staff. He
loses some respect due to this (including mine). He makes millions and attracts
the attention of thousands.
Exit Through the Gift Shop
is a strange and unique documentary. It has all the normal aspects of film:
literary, dramatic, and cinematic, but not in the usual way.
Literary: Exit Through the Gift Shop was not a scripted documentary. The
characters were themselves. It was shot by Thierry Guetta, and artist himself. It
was set wherever the artists went (mostly California). The movie had the
intentions to inform viewers about street art and its motives. However, these
motives weren’t exactly conveyed by the main character himself. The main mood
of the film is curious.
Dramatic: The actors in this documentary were nothing out of the norm. They
wore normal street wear and didn’t have any make-up on other than unintentional
paint. The actors were the artists, so they were mostly a bit secretive, but
layed-back. This film was shot mostly in Los Angelees with footage in a few
other countries as well as some archival footage.
Cinematic: Nearly the entire documentary was shot handheld with a normal video
camera, not some $50,000 cinema camera that shoots at 4k. It was shot by just an
average man from Los Angeles. Most angles are from below or behind due to the
artists wanting to remain mostly anonymous or the art being on a roof. There
wasn’t much in the ways of editing: not much color correction, etc. The
lighting was pretty much what was provided throughout the shot. The music and
sound effects are mostly what’s given in the background of the shot. It was a
pretty basic film that wanted to communicate an idea, not be a work of art (get
it?).
I enjoyed this documentary
somewhat. I’m interested in street art and graffiti: I like the way it
expresses yourself, but forces you to express yourself in a risky way. It shows
that they truly care about what they’re communicating. I think most of the
people were doing it for this reason and not do be some rebel and anarchist, or
a looked-down-upon figure of society. I actually respect them for what they do
now. However, the main character, Thierry or Mr. Brainwash, started to bother
me in the second half of the film. He became to full of himself. I would
recommend this documentary to anyone. I feel it expresses the perspective of
these frowned-upon figures, and I think most people would probably even be able
to relate to them. Many people are quick to judge, and this documentary makes
you pause and think. This film is powerful for viewers. It’s one of the few
films about the subject of street art and really tells the viewer what these
artists truly mean.
Exit Through the Gift Shop, 87 minutes, Rated R, 8.1/10 (IMDB)
*As you can see, this wasn't really written for the sake of being well written. I don't entirely feel a review is the most effective way to learn about media. Experiencing it, I'd say, is simpler, and likely achieves the objective. I watched this documentary, formed my own opinions, learned about street art, and paid attention to how the film was made. So basically, I think I learned what I needed to. I also think I have a general knowledge of how to make a video at this point, as well. Often times, video-making can be quite formulaic, especially a documentary. The ones that aren't, I've found, are usually some of the most interesting, however.
For my documentary I plan on working with Max. We both have recently become really fascinated with all aspects of video. We plan on doing the C-SPAN documentary contest that requests a response to the question: "What’s the most important issue the president should consider in 2013?" The $5,000 prize was quite attracting. That's a new camera and a few lenses for each of us. After watching some of the past winners, runner-ups, first prizes, etc., we think that getting some level of recognition is quite feasible. Two kids at our school received honorable mentions last year.
Our main idea was the declining level of education in the United States and to elaborate on some of the causes. It's an issue that's extremely relative to us as students and leaves us many resources, such as our teachers, principals, other students, and school board members that may hopefully be willing to speak with us.
While briefly discussing this topic with one of our teachers, who comes from another country. She said that the standards for education are much higher in her former country. She's spoken with friends who still live there and teach there who are amazed by some of the things that are part of or provided in our education. We have increasing class sizes. She said that just about a decade ago kindergarten class sizes were limited to 12 students maximum if there was a teacher's aid present. Her son's class in 2012 is 28 children, over two times what the limit was just a few years ago. There's no doubt that the number of students affects the quality of education being provided. One small thing her friends were amazed by was the fact the teacher provides notes here in the United States, while in that country, students had to simply pay attention and take their own. This obviously seems like a way to keep students' attention and ensure that they're learning, because if not, it's easily seen in their scores on assignments. Even the small stuff counts when it comes to a child's education. We, the children of today, are the future leaders, business-people, etc. Our education is what will help us make wise, educated choices on important issues as to help the world progress.
Other than this, we don't really know what we want to make it about. There's always the possibility of making the documentary about global warming and the environment or maybe disease, poverty, etc. both around the world, and in the streets surrounding the President's home. These issues will always be important and relevant to our nation.
