#banksydoc

[mediadesignfall2015]

I’m still trying to figure out if this documentary is real or not but I digress. It seemed very real to me, especially with all of the old footage that was shown. Also, was this documentary about Banksy or about Thierry aka Mr. Brainwash? ( I think he is a genius in his own way.) I enjoyed all of the “cinéma verité” footage that was shown, It felt real. I’m a big fan of the work of Banksy and how all of his adventures and creations seems so effortless. Still mysterious in his own right, it was interesting to see how some of his work was done thanks to Thierry’s obsession. 

[mediadesigns15]

Exit Through the Gift Shop by Melinda Jeune

I enjoyed watching this movie and thought Banksy’s reputation was interesting.  

I liked how during his interview his face wasn’t shown and how they distorted his voice.  

I liked the viewpoint of some of the shots that were taken in the movie and I liked the angle the camera was at when they were doing close ups on some of the characters, they really got in deep.

They used a lot of interesting footage for the b-roll.

[mediadesigns15]

I love that the song at the beginning of the film is ‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPFr1K3LnqA) - it is not an obvious choice for a film about street art and graffiti - and the film itself is not an obvious telling of this story - but the message is perfect. The footage captured on the go highlights the excitement of this movement and makes the viewer feel like they’re in the thick of it.

The portrayal of Banksy himself is very iconic but at the same time rough and understated - you can see the lights being used. It’s interesting to compare it to this almost comedic image of Thierry Guetta, trying to be this character Mr Brainwash - posing in the screenshot above for a photoshoot.

[mediadesigns15]

Exit Through The Gift Shop: 

I enjoyed Banksy’s’, “The Exit Through The Gift Shop.” One quality that each documentary has had this semester is the art of telling its story with a realistic perspective; which I have enjoyed.

I especially love the backdrop of making this documentary, because Banksy was originally not into even being filmed and later talks Thierry into using the footage to make the successful documentary that it ended up being and still is today.

I also love Banksy's’ silhouette. It gives a feel of the artists not wanting to be exposed in the midst of his artistic element.  

[mediadesigns15]

This is the third time I’ve watched this film and just like every other time, by the end I felt like I’ve been duped by Banksy. Thierry Guetta is set up as this sleazy former clothing storeowner who obsessively stalks and overruns his own and others’ (cohorts and celebs) personal space with a video camera glued to his hand. There’s one point in the doc where the filmmaker explains the reason behind Guetta’s obsession while earning viewer empathy, but this identification of Guetta was later replaced by a maniacal caricature of a street artist on a mission to brainwash the art world.

Despite Guetta’s outlandish antics and inflating self-promotion throughout the doc, he was undeniably an intrepid cameraman and was able to capture footage from dangerous and difficult angles. Shepard Fairey corroborates Guetta’s willingness to face these hazards and calls Guetta his accomplice. We see one of these shots where Fairey is shown putting up work on a rooftop from an even higher viewpoint.

In the beginning of the film there was also some B-roll footage that established the gutsy nature of graffiti and street art. Many of these shots provided a good behind-the-scenes look for how graffiti gets to the high places they live on, including this highway sign in Vancouver.

Street art like Invader’s can be interpreted from a lot of interesting angles. Placement of work may sometimes be chosen by convenience but often it’s strategic. The eye lines of these Pac-Man ghosts are drawn to another subject on the lower left corner, telling an interesting photo story.

Banksy’s silhouette makes a great shape for his talking head shots. This frame in particular is eye-catching because of the surrounding negative space and silhouettes around him (the rats to his left). There’s also the image of the larger piece to his right where the subject’s eye line is drawn towards him.

[mediadesigns15]

I absolutely loved this film. To me it did feel more like a mockumentary, but regardless of whether it’s “real” or not it’s amazing, and certainly has some true journalistic/investigative elements in it as far as giving the audience an inside view of street artists, especially via Guetta infiltrating and becoming himself a street artist himself. From the first frame of the film, with the satirical logo that is in jest representing Paramount Pictures as “Paranoid Pictures”, you know that it’s going to be a wild ride. The narrator really helps give the film a BBC-like quality to it, like as the audience we are going on safari and seeing wild human beings in the urban concrete jungle environments where the desire for self expression and freedom seem to burst onto the screen in vivid explosions of paint and frustration. 

[mediadesigns15]

Exit Through the Gift Shop by Ashley Cartagena

I’ve seen Exit before and while it didn’t have the same “shock” factor upon second viewing, it was still incredible to witness how Banksy was not only able create a dynamic, surprising, and dramatic story, but also integrate Thierry’s early footage (Image 1) with the later Banksy-directed footage (2) seamlessly to make it seem authentic and yet still cynical. It leaves the audience wondering if and who is actually a farce - is MBW real? Is the film real? Is street art real?

With careful editing and sometimes-whimsical direction (Images 3 & 4), Banksy quickly deconstructed the man who we previously thought would be the storyteller and repainted him as not much more than an ego-driven, mess of a joke. Juxtaposed to the guerrilla-style footage, we see the talking head interviews placed throughout to lend a formal credibility to the story; the interviews culminate with the ever-illusive shrouded Banksy (5) who emerges as the master puppeteer. It’s quite an impressive rouse and the entire film serves as a lesson in the power of the edit.

[mediadesigns15]

1st one I like it because this is really shocked me, they use an elephant to paint and the color is pretty good,fits in the room.

2nd one I didn’t realize their works really can be sold and can be sold by 12,000$.In my mind,street art is just paint whatever you want and sometimes really annoying because they will paint on my wall some days.

3rd This expression really sad,after he broke his leg, he feels hopeless and sad,because he has many things undone.Just like fall down from heaven to hell.