Amy Winehouse Documentary Analysis

AMY directed by Asif Kapadia. Analysis of the first 10 minutes. 

From the beginning of the documentary, real life footage from Amy Winehouse's youth is shown. The use of archive footage in the first 10 minutes is very prominent and is used o often that it gives the impression that rest of the film will purely consist of these type f videos. This technique is used to enhance  the validity of this documentary and allows the audience to believe that what is being told to them is true and factual. This is conventional to all documentaries as well as musical ones, as it give the audience a more personal and sentimental view on the subjects life (in this case the artist, Amy). By doing this, we get more of an inside look on the career path and lifestyle of Amy, and helps bond with her on an emotional level. 

Besides the fact that the archive footage provides validity, it is also a way to intrigued the audience. Gaining access into the personal life Amy Winehouse when she was younger was something wanting by many of her fans. Those who enjoyed listening to her music may have wanted to know more about her life, therefore adding real life videos into the documentary will make the audience want to continue watching to see more exclusive videos of her. 

Furthermore, the archive footage used int he beginning is chosen specifically to represent Amy in a certain way. The real life footage used in the film is footage of her singing and having fun doing so. This footage is of her in her youth and shows her looking carefree and happy. The direct/producer of this short film may have done this on  purpose to represent Amy as innocent, especially as her story is very well known and many know how her life developed later on in her life. Sadly Amy passed away later on in her life under the influence of drugs abuse, therefore showing Amy in her earlier days as innocent makes the audience empathise with her in an emotive way. This may also suggest to the audience that the music industry often affects peoples lives in a negative way and is trying to show the dangers of the industry. 

There is a lot of non diegetic music in the opening minutes as well. The music that is used and edited in over the visual content, is all material written and sung my Amy Winehouse herself. This is very common in music documentaries as it signifies how the documentary is all about them and helps illustrate the wide portfolio of music the artist has. In this case, when the non diegetic music is heard, it is after something is said by the voice over of Amy, which helps add more detail and understanding to what she is saying. As an audience, our comprehension of the text is developed further as the music aids the visual content and vice versa. 

Additionally, the non diegetic music also helps the audience understand what type of documentary it is. By having music ever present in the opening 10 minutes draws the audience's attention specifically to the music that is playing. Playing music right after showing a clip of Amy singing makes it evident that music is a key theme and is the base of all things in this documentary. 

Overall, the general vibe of the opening 10 minutes makes it clear that the subject of the documentary is  Amy and her music career. All of the real life footage shown is of Amy singing in some sort of way, whether it is at home, in a car, or in a bar doing an event. By showing all of these videos, it gives the audience the immediate impression that music was always important in Amy Winehouse's life and that she really did love singing and it was her greatest passion.