#nasdoc

[mediadesignspring2017]

I have loved Nas and Illmatic for many years and it was great to see all the work, hopes, dreams, work and pain that went in to the making of this iconic record. The insight and breaking down of the different pieces of the album and how it came together made was very good.

Visually this film juxtaposed images of hope ( Nas going back to QueensBridge, A bird flying over the projects, childhood pictures, Nas performing in front of giant crowds, etc.)  with stories and images of struggle ( Archival footage of NYC and police brutality, The story of Ill Will’s death, Nas’ brother discussing the group picture from Illmatic) This juxtaposition creates a very melancholic mood that mirrors Nas’ lyrics and Illmatic’s song content. Also, the effect on the 2D images in this film give them a very lively cinematic feel and enhances the story-telling in the film. 

The pacing of the imagery seems to be rhythmic and fast to go along with the music from the album. The movie’s pace moves quickly and inserts live concert footage between many of the interview scenes.  

[mediadesignspring2017]

As a lifelong Nas fan, it was a pleasure to sit through this.  Granted, the linear storytelling didn’t make for challenging viewing.  But I was glad One9 stuck with a snapshot tale of Nas’ upbringing to his critically acclaimed debut (with a fast forward to today’s Harvard Fellowship recognition). 

The images spoke for themselves.  Rarely did Nas crack a smile in those formative teenage years, which were an accurate reflection of his mentality and what drove his lyrical ambition.

That first image (Illmatic picture with guns for eyes) was a symmetrical view of what a young Nasir saw growing up.

Frank Larson (DP) did a great job of those aerial shots of Queensbridge.  A quick glimpse of how an entire neighborhood seemed identical in despair (through the projects landscape).

I liked the quick shot of the chessboard from old footage.  As Nas fans, my friends and I always loved dissecting his conscious lyricism and how it reflected the intellect he never got in school.  Nice touch.

But my two favorite shots were of Das and “Noah Nasir” (which.... seemed very staged) and the group shot of all the kids/teens that didn’t make it out of the ‘hood.  I dug how the screen changed to a grainy film aesthetic when Nas gave some fatherly advice to “Noah Nasir.”  It alluded to a pep talk he probably wished he (and his friends) had at that kid’s age more often.

Overall, while the storytelling was rather conventional, it was cool to gain some insight on how a precocious teen from Queens made it but never really left home.

[mediadesignspring2017]

[mediadesignspring2017]

I must first concede that this documentary shed so much light as it pertains to one of the greatest works in Hip Hop history, illmatic.

Loved the narrative by which the documentarian told the story, weaving in elements of the things that made the artist along with the artist himself.

Really great what they did with photos on this project, especially with effects of moving still images around. After watching they piece awhile back, Ive seen these techniques used quite often.

Strong close ups added to the feel of the film.

[mediadesignspring2017]

There are two moments that were particularly beautiful. The first was when we see a close up shot of a fence and then the lens switches its focus to the bridge far off in the distance past the fence. The patterns seemed to align in process. It almost seemed as if the fence became the bridge. Not only was it beautifully executed, it also stands as a stunning metaphor for Nas’ life trajectory from being stuck in the hood to attaining superstar status, from feeling imprisoned to a life rife with bridges out of the hood. The second moment that I found particularly beautiful was the b-roll during his Harvard visit. We look upward toward the edge of a stone fence and we see the leaves of the tree overhead as Nas waxes poetically about having made it to Harvard. It captured the mood very well. But apart from these two moments, I really enjoyed the director’s placement of Nas and his brother in the hood. In fact, we rarely get glimpses of his life now. I think it was exceedingly important to put Nas in the place where Illmatic took form, watching Nas and his brother’s live reactions as they walked through the hood and recounted stories from their childhood gave this film a sense of authenticity.

[mediadesignspring2016]

Nas: Time is Illmatic

I really enjoyed the storytelling; how he grew up, his family and the neighborhood; how everything relates to his music style.

I also liked how they used B-Roll to illustrate everything Nas was telling —like pictures or videos. I though the effect in the pictures (like blurring the background and bringing the subject to the front) really helped to emphasize the story. These effects made the story more vivid and interesting to follow.

Music plays an important role in this documentary, which I believe it makes it so intense and entertaining. Whether it is in the background or explicitly shown, it is present the hole time and goes along with the different moods or sensations during the film.

[mediadesignspring2016]

The director of Nas: Time is Illmatic, One9, used various interview styles to portray Nas’ amazing story of victory in the midst of struggle. From a structural perspective, One9 utilizes wide shot and close-up shot PBS style interviews throughout the film, both newly shot and archival (of Nas’ Dad at a younger age.) Further on that note, throughout the entire documentary there is a mix of new and archival footage, whether it be new interviews or recent performance footage or archival interviews of Nas’ parents and old performance footage of Nas’ come-up. When discussing Queensbridge and the struggles along with growing up/raising children in NYC, a lot of NYC landscape panning was used, mainly aerial shots of  the Queensbridge homes. Toward the end of the film, moving cinema verite was used to follow both Nas and his brother, Jungle, as they walked through Queensbridge today, reminiscing on the place they both once called home. The use of audio in the film is also relatively unique. From the opening credits, the use of sound effects in connection with the film's narration creates very palpable moments. In the beginning, when the film focused on Nas’ father, also a musician, his music was played behind the narration. All through the film, when Nas discusses old school rap, that he grew up on, and rap battles between the various NYC boroughs, the director uses a mix of live rapping (from Nas, while being interviewed), live performance footage from the group he’s talking about, as well as just the studio-audio while the camera is on present-day Nas (interview style) as he vibes out to the music. Nas: Time is Illmatic is one of my favorite music documentaries, through the use of music and the various bits of  footage and cinematography used to depict Nas’ struggle growing up in NYC (and specifically Queensbridge,) the viewer feels deeply connected to Nas’ story and ultimate victory.

[mediadesignspring2016]

What I liked the most about Time is Illmatic’s structure was that it set up the circumstances behind why the album and Nas’s career was the way that it was. The sound design was excellent. Instead of just using it as background music or to move scenes along, the music seamlessly worked with the narrative to help tell the story.