13th Review
13th, directed by Ava DuVernay, won a total of 9 awards, all having to do with being the best documentary. This is fitting as this documentary is very moving. This documentary discusses topics such as the 13th amendment and the loophole involving incarceration, Jim Crow, and presidents and the laws they passed that led to segregation and mass incarceration. Historians, professors, mayors, and people who lived through it and fought for equal rights spoke, told their stories and truths about what happened in the 1900’s and why things happened in the fashion that it did.
While there wasn’t as much “acting” there were qualities from this documentary to note that I should try and do in my interviews. All of the interviewers were in different thirds compared to when the next person spoke. They all looked at the person who asked the question and not the camera. They had great posture and used hand gestures. At one point about halfway through the documentary, a video clip rolled and the sound carried over as the camera switched to the interviewee. Their face and expression was as if they were listening to it too, and once it ended, they began to speak again. I liked this as this embedded emotion instead of the facts and knowledge they were explaining.
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The background was always simple. It was often blurred out in the back if it was too distracting. The background was also noticeably symmetrical when people were sitting in the middle third. Along with the background, lots of the interviewee’s were sitting in front of a large amount of windows which produce natural light. Sometimes it helped to drown out the disruptive background, but other times shades were closed to have consistent lighting. Along with the amount of light, sometimes the corner of the screen would be darkened to help focus your attention on who was speaking. I noticed this occurred when someone was on one of the outer thirds but very tight to the edge of the screen, leaving a lot of room on the rest of the screen. The lighting style for most of the people was consistent with a bright background and the speaker was able to pop from the light background.
The story and music coincide in the perfect way. The story of this developed in a timeline effect. In the beginning as the documentary is establishing a base for the viewer to understand the topic, it starts off with almost ambient music which you don’t hear unless you are looking for it. It consists of very a light piano melody. As the timeline starts to take place, each decade has a song and it is displayed on screen in text. These songs help to derive meaning and a better understanding of life as a colored person in the 1900’s. Most of these songs had to do with being in jail.
Each person had 2 or more camera angles used. Whether it was moved in closer or a moving shot which was more dramatic. There was slight use of framing, but this was used when there was a moving shot. My favorite shot was of a woman, Liza Jessie Peterson, she is noticeably different from everyone else that has spoken before her. She is sitting sideways yet is still facing the camera. A moment later, it is from the direction most of her body is facing and with a brick wall background, it was my favorite shot of the film. This shot also includes the dark corners and had Liza looking off into the opposite direction than she normally would, but it makes sense since her body had already been turned.
B-Roll is very important for a film like this. B-roll for this is evidence to support their claims. This documentary does a beautiful job of using video, audio, and pictures. One of the things I like about the B-roll was that it was sometimes just word that someone graphically designed. They used graphs, pictures that were edited to have the focus on one part, and words to help move from one thing to another.
I would recommend this movie to everyone. I think it is an important topic to know and care about. I also believe that this documentary is very cinematic and has a lot that we can learn from. I have certainly learned a lot from this about what I should consider in my interviews. I think that this documentary was put together in a very beautiful way and I hope that more people watch it.