Amy back to black scene analysis

Recording Back to Black:

Cinematography:

Slow zooms in on Amy and zooms out

Slow motion and close up.

When Amy receives the news of her grandmother, there is a vignette effect used of Amy smoking with a slow zoom.
Flashbacks of grainy holiday footage.
2nd recording session = low angle, claustrophobic / intrusive.
Not professionally lit. Raises the question why it was filmed.
EPK.
Focus on Amy. Grainy quality.


EDITING

The elliptical editing suggests that the death of Amy's grandmother was the reason for the spiral of her drug and alcohol abuse.
Kapadia has edited the footage and is therefore responsible for creating meaning. The flashbacks are therefore either edited by the family or by the director.
Placing the flashbacks between the two recording sessions suggests the above.

Ronson session - have more positive sequences been selected? And vice versa, have negative sequences been sed in the latter session as a means of justifying Amy's behaviour and subsequent addictions.

- Continuity editing is used  in the mark Ronson sequence; therefore the jump from this section to the recording session later
This comes into the editing in that idea of how the footage is being manipulated. Uses a series of shots in juxtaposition to highlight this idea. Forms a montage.
The footage that was used for the Mark Ronson session suggests that Amy was not troubled by alcohol due to the selection of clips used.
The idea of eleptical editing is important in terms of what is being left out.
Montage effect = family album / scrapbook of "granny".

In the latter recording session.
Fast paced editing during drinking seems to have been recorded. We don't know at what point the camera was even rolling.
They are making it look like a continuous sequence of Amy drinking more and more, but Kapedia has chosen the shots of Amy drinking and teamed them together, giving the overall effect that Amy is a heavy drinker.

Mr boon: Editing during the drinking sequence seems to have been recorded we don't know at what point the camera was even rolling; clearly this has been reassembled to create meaning - exaggerates the amount she is drink
Splices use low angle Extreme close ups in slow mo as she drinks - all signposting that the grandmother's death was the root cause is this just the director seeking an excuse for her behaviour later in her career? Is he absorbing her of all blame?

Spectatorship:
we're watching the film knowing that Amy was suffering from Bulimia, which changes the spectatorship of the scene.
As Amy is a girl / woman she has more vulnerability and is treated differently.

Sound: Ronson session - sound mixes between her apace vocals and the backing track, which periodically fades in; scene is predicated by Ronson praising her talents- mediating spectator response; she is professional, respectful (persuasive language - use of professional opinion) sound matching blends diegetic  and non-diegetic to demonstrate how successful the song eventually became meaning is created by contextual / retrospective knowledge

- use of Voiceover

- Silence punctuates the end for 1st recording session

The main way in which media is created in the film is the interaction between voice and footage. Some of the Voice overs feels more rehearsed whilst others for example her friend crying at the end feel more impromptu; also raises the question of which bits of the interview have been selected and for what purpose
silence punctuates the end of the 1st recording session; enables the spectator to align with her as she is moved by the song. - a sense of the humble brag.