Forms and conventions
- 2. InfluencesAfter extensive research into satirical and mock documentary comedies including ‘The Office’‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and ‘The Boondocks’my group decided to film the opening to a musical mockumentary, in the vein of Rob Reiner’s cult classic ‘This Is Spinal Tap’. We decided to implement many of the codes and conventions of the mockumentary genre including the documentation of fictitious past events – in this case, a documentary to promote upcoming musicians “Bluetooth & Toothpick”.
- 3. Adhering to cinema-verite conventionsWe decided to mirror the new wave cinema-verite form in which there is a constant interaction between the filmmaker and subject – evident within the opening shots where a voice is heard off camera asking the characters to introduce themselves and the subsequent wide shot of the characters breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience. This displays the group’s incorporation of cinema-verite conventions, with the provocation from the director leading to the subsequent action of the film. This was a style inherent in the new wave films ‘Alfie’ and ‘Darling’ which we studied in AS and wanted to emulate.
- 4. Amalgamation of mockumentary form and cinema verite styleThere are a number of shots in which the filmmaker attempts to depict the characters and events in an observational, fly on the wall style with the hopes of capturing the subject matter in an objective and unbiased manner. However the artificiality of the characters allowed us to parody the documentary form itself as the subject’s constant recognition of the filmmaker’s presence results in the blurring between reality and fantasy – the character Toothpick puts on a facade to impress the audience “I left all my grands in the car”. The themes of facades and objectivity that pervade the chicken shop scene were initially inspired by Aristotle’s theory of narratology which hugely influenced the narrative structure of the entire film. After establishing the equilibrium in the previous scene, we filmed a two shot of Toothpick informing Bluetooth he is short of funds. Upon noticing the presence of the director and camera crew, he pretends to have left thousands of pounds in the car and the fatal flaw (hamartia) of the character is revealed and the first signs of disequilibrium are hinted to the audience. These shots are combined with the self referential shots of the documentary itself as the camera captures the characters talking to the audience in an exaggerated and facetious manner – demonstrating the amalgamation of the mockumentary form and cinema verite style.
- 5. Adhering to mockumentary form and cinema-verite conventionsMy group utilized a shaky handheld filming technique to further adhere to the conventions of the mockumentary and cinema verite form. The cinematographic style suggests an unplanned, unrehearsed filming of reality and provides the film with a sense of dynamics and immersion while helping to establish a pseudo-documentary appearance to our film. This filming technique was integral to the naturalistic elements of our film as the handheld camera follows the characters parading down the street and arguing in the chicken shop, in the previously mentioned ‘fly on the wall’ style. This gives the film a sense of verisimilitude which helps to immerse the audience in a way that encourages them to question meta and cultural narratives inherent in the film, a thematic concern that pervades the entire cinema-verite genre concerned with anthropological cinema (the social implications of what is captured on film).
- 6. Incorporation of narrative devices and manipulation of mise en sceneThe quick cut and jump editing in our film opening is used to create a sense of urgency and plot propulsion and allowed us to exhibit a wide range of shots to create different meanings. (Very important in relation to adhering to conventions of teaser trailer through montage/collage editing style). For example, there is a static group shot of the antagonists “B-Dubz” making inflammatory comments about the protagonists “Bluetooth & Toothpick” followed by a tracking shot of Bluetooth commenting on how he is always prepared with a gun (although the audience never actually sees a gun). This not displays a foreshadowing action code, but demonstrates our group’s implementation of binary oppositions, the exaggerated and hyperbolic nature of the protagonists juxtaposed with the no nonsense demeanour of the antagonists. However, even this narrative structure is parodied as the antagonists are later revealed to be extremely similar in nature to the supposed rivals (humorous and over the top), thus upsetting the conventions and classic structure of narratology and binary oppositions. This is an important stylistic element of our film further encouraging the audience to question, not only the meta narratives and cinematic conventions, but also grand narratives and cultural conditioning within society.
- 7. Implementation of non sequiters and other postmodern techniquesThe use of non sequiters contains huge thematic and stylistic significance to our film opening. The title itself ‘I Shot Biggie Smalls’ is used as an enigmatic non sequiter as its apparent lack of meaning relative to the film seems absurd to the point of humorous. The group’s audience research showed varied emotional response to the title idea including laughter, shock, disconcertion, bemusement etc. The title emanates from the exaggerated and hyperbolic nature of the main characters and is also an intertextual reference to the cult indie film ‘I Shot Andy Warhol’ – as our film contains many thematic and stylistic similarities, the title can be seen as a homage. During the ‘B-Dubz’ introduction scene, there is a quick cut to a close up of the protagonists Bluetooth making a humorous facial expression (supposedly mocking the antagonist) which proceeds to a jump cut back to the antagonist’s embarrassed displays of anger. This editing technique provided the film with an abrupt and unexpected manipulation of cinematography and helps to symbolically represent the humorous reaction generated in the audience (a postmodern editing technique which encourages the audience to question the relationship between reality and cinema).
- 8. Implementation of non sequiters and other postmodern techniques continuedOur final scene encompasses all these elements as one of the actors breaks character to slap an extra while simultaneously providing us with a final visual gag we could use to finish the sequence. The breaking of character and narrative effectively parodies the documentary and cinema verite form in which the sense of realism and verisimilitude implied by the documentary form is destroyed by the actors and re-establishes the film as a satirical mockumentary not to be taken seriously. The high pitched laughter and reaction from actors to the slapstick humour generates a final sense of happiness and amusement within the spectator, adhering to elements and conventions of comedy films such as ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ in which the members are constantly laughing at the expense at one of the other band mates.
- 9. ConclusionIn conclusion, my group incorporated many postmodern stylistic techniques, heavily influenced by the new wave cinema-verite form, in order to create a wide range of symbolic meanings within our mockumentary. The implementation and subsequent deconstruction of narrative devices, including binary oppositions and non sequiters, have aided my group in generating a wide range of emotional response within the audience.