Amy opening scene analysis

Editing in the first scene of AMY

By Asif Kapadia

Micro Feature	Meaning and response
Cinematography: -POV shot of Amy -Shaking, handheld camera. Amy center frame. Whip pans to Amy Home video footage	-Scene sutures the spectator into Amy’s early life -Kapadia wants the spectator to align with Amy- possibly empathise- she does however have extraordinary talent
Editing: -Two cuts in the opening sequence -Use of captions – where it takes place, and who is in it. -Elliptical editing (a type of editing that cuts unnecessary actions from a sequence. This means the sequence is shorter than real time and so doesn't last as long. This can be a positive because if a scene last (for example) a few hours it would cut it down to only a few minutes.) – used to show what is necessary and who determines it. -This has been harvested from how many hours of footage, who chose it? Why? What points are they making?	-Spectator response- either an ordinary person, or an attention seeker who needs to be the centre- could foreshadow her relationship with the paparazzi -Main issue is why this footage exists- why do people feel the need to capture the banal occurrences of their live? - Why was this footage chosen for the opening scene – is possibly a short part of longer footage
Sound: -Singing – Amy is interrupting conversation, monopolizing situation- clearly a passion from a young age; unfiltered, natural, raw (diegetic). -At the very start, over the title cards and the initial home footage, there is a single repeated piano riff/leitmotif – mood is somber, nostalgic in a melancholic way; foreboding; these were happier times for Amy though fleeting, as if her childhood had been truncated by her talent. - At the end of the sequence, there is a sound bridge to Amy’s performance of Moon river with the National Youth orchestra; bridging to a montage of stills of Amy and famed jazz singers of the classical jazz era.	-Representation- deliberate selection of material to present people and events in specific ways- who is the real Amy? -Filmed at home so possibly more natural- this is enabled by digital technology -Different people will have different perceptions of Amy- could it therefore be argued that there is reality in the way we see her/the persona she has created- peoples perceptions of each other depend on our relationships/context -this film is revisionist rather than contemporary
Mise-en-scene: -Amy, Lauren, Juliette and unidentified male -Suburban house- hallway -Not elaborately staged or costumed