Documentary Analysis: Skateboarding in Madagascar

Skateboarding in Madagascar:

This documentary has been produced following conventions most akin to the Performative mode. This film appears to favor subjective experiences, of both the local Malagasy skaters and the professional skateboarders visiting Madagascar, over objective facts; these experiences are portrayed to the audience on a personal level in order to evoke an emotive response.

The film appears to explore the local culture and customs of Madagascar, portrayed through the viewpoint of the foreign skaters who are visiting the country. The juxtaposition between the two demographics (foreign professionals and local Malagasies) initially highlights the differences between the two, but over the discourse of the film a theme of unity through the common act of skateboarding emerges.

Visually, the cinematography and mise en scene of the film follow several techniques in order to achieve effectively achieve it’s function. The footage has been colour corrected to match the dusty tones present in the locations being filmed. This connotes that the locals there may struggle to engage in the act of skateboarding, due to the rugged surfaces and lack of equipment, which is later documented in more detail. Various shots of locals engaged in normal activities, as well as establishing shots of indigenous trees and the architecture of the city streets, are present throughout the film. This allows for the portrayal of a more authentic feeling representation of the Malagasy skaters and donates information to the audience regarding their cultural heritage.

These camera shots paired with the high key lighting and handheld filming technique further emphasizes the ‘authenticity’ of representation in the film. This allows for a more personal connection between the audience and the skaters shown on screen through the strong verisimilitude. Another repeated camera technique is the inclusion of a great deal of camera movement. A great deal of the skating is filmed with the cameraman riding a skateboard. This POV style shot effectively makes the depicted scenes far more immersive and conveys the subjective experience of riding a skateboard to the audience.

The discourse of the text is conveyed through the use of interviews, voice-overs and a mix of continuity with non-continuity editing. The beginning of the film features a large number of establishing shots, serving the purpose to introduce the viewers to the location of the film. The following shots introduce the primary theme of skateboarding to the text, juxtaposing the foreign day-to-day practices of the local Malagasy populace.

The mixture of continuity and non-continuity editing within the text allows for the film to both convey a loose narrative following a chronological order of events, as well as generating a mood reflective of Malagasy culture. Interviews with skateboarders carry on across shots of skateboarding as voiceovers offering the audience greater insight into the activity, as well as effectively conveying the skateboarders subjective experiences, as is conventional of the Performative mode.

Mind Mapping Final Project Concept

Of our four initial ideas our group has made the decision to produce the concept of a documentary exploring the growing skateboarding scene in Doha. We brainstormed another mindmap displaying more detailed ideas involved with the production of this documentary to display visually, as shown below;

We have written out our basic plans for the production of this documentary. It will likely be filmed in the performative mode, in order to effectively convey Kamel's subjective experiences to the the audience and evoke an emotive response. This would involve interviewing Kamel speaking about how he has seen skateboarding develop and change in Doha, including shots of him speaking and also narrating over other shots of skateboarding. This will require a mixture of both continuity and non continuity editing in order to generate a narrative that serves the dual purpose of generating an emotive response from the audience and effectively conveying the films diegesis.

Mind Mapping Initial Ideas

Our group began the creative process by brainstorming ideas and concepts for our project. We displayed these concepts visually through the use of a mind map as shown below:

Our initial idea was to film a documentary exploring and capturing the issues involving sea life on the coasts of Qatar, primarily sea turtles. These issues involve the large amount of pollution and littering in the country and their effects upon the sea life of the nation. The nature of this project would likely be very time consuming as it would involve journeying out to coast lines where sea turtles nest and scuba diving in order to capture underwater camera shots.

A documentary exploring health and fitness among students in Doha was also considered. This would involve exploring the country's high obesity rates and other statistical information, whilst also including a personal element portrayed through interviews with those involved in fitness groups such as 'Crossfit'; exploring their motivations and troubles they have encountered in their pursuit of a healthy lifestyle. Whilst this project would logistically more practical and less time consuming when compared to the sea life concept, it features a somewhat duller subject matter, which may hurt its success.

Next, we contemplated documenting the mistreatment of tradies in Qatar. The film would primarily explore the poor living and working conditions involved in their occupations. The aim of this documentary would be to expose these factors to the audience and evoke an emotive response. This would be achieved through the use of narration over images in order to emphasise their harsh conditions and personal interviews with the construction workers to further humanise them and allow for the audience to experience a personal connection with the interviewees.

Our final concept is based around the developing skateboard scene in the city of Doha. this documentary would be portrayed through pro skater Kamel Zara, as he has been throughly involved in the scene for a great deal of time and has experienced personal troubles with pursuing skateboarding, donating a personal element to the films narrative. In order to stress this characteristic of the film, we would film a casual interview that includes voiceovers with Kamel, detailing his background and involvement with skateboarding.