Film analysis - josh exley

Film Analysis

Peter Doherty News Night Interview

I chose to analyse this interview because it is very similar to the style of interview I wanted to do for my film. It is about Pete Doherty who is very iconic in the music industry for being a drug taker and has had a bad past but much of what is said about him in the media is very negative and never really about his music.

The scene first starts with an overview about Pete Doherty with a woman sat in a news room with a big image of Pete Doherty in the background this is an establishing shot showing where about she is. The camera is panning to the left while she speaks the camera then begins moving towards the interviewer, which is most likely, a dolly shot, the dolly shot eventually stops and leaves the woman in a medium shot.

The woman then says that ‘Pete is giving news night his first major television interview’ and then it cuts to a scene on London with animated televisions moving around which is like the start of the show or the title scenes. The televisions have lots of iconic pictures such as Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

After the title sequence it shows the Libertines in a Medium Shot singing into the microphone together while playing on stage. The scene carries on but the camera changes to a low down medium shot, the camera is down at Pete’s feet and then pans up towards the top of the microphone. It cuts again to a close up of Pete and Carl Barrat’s face, then cuts again to a medium shot of the drummer playing the drums, this is when the voice over begins, then cuts back to another close up of Pete and Carl. The camera then zooms out of the close up and leaves them in a medium shot, it then cuts to a shot of the drummer in medium close up but the camera is behind the drummer. It then cuts to a handheld shot of Carl being hugged by some girls with the camera up above, it then cuts to a shot of the crowd and then to a shot of Carl on Pete’s shoulders with the camera panning from the bottom of Pete to the top of Carl. The voiceover still continues while headlines about the band come up on the screen such as ‘is this the end of the libertines’ these headlines bombard the screen with Pete Doherty in the background. It then cuts to a medium shot of Pete dancing around. It then shows footage of the bands first single ‘ time for heroes’ which starts with Pete in a medium shot and then a medium shot of Carl the medium shots continue with different members of the band. You then begin hearing the interviewer interviewing Pete while the footage is still being played. It then fades to red and the interview begins.

The interview starts with an over the shoulder medium shot of the interviewer looking front on to Pete, in the background are guitars and drums which looks like it is in a rehearsal room, Pete is dressing in a suit and is smoking while the interviewer looks a lot more casual. It then cuts to a close up of Pete’s face while he begins to answer the interviewers question across the bottom of the scene a caption bar comes across the bottom while he is speaking and says ‘ Pete Doherty: Musician’. It then features some more close ups of the interviewer and Pete. It then cuts to a high shot from behind the drum kit with the camera placed for you can see Pete the interviewer and also two cameramen who are sat on a camera tracking. As Pete begins talking about stories in his house when he was a child it cuts back to a close up this shot continues for a few seconds, the camera then cuts back to an over the shoulder shot from behind the interviewer looking to Pete. As the interviewer begins asking Pete another question and talking about his creativity in his teenage years it goes back to a close up of the interviewer talking. Then cuts back to another close up of Pete listening to the question and nodding to indicate he is listening. It then cuts to an establishing shot, which shows the whole room including lighting and cameramen. It then cuts to another close up of Pete when he is reciting a poem from when he was younger while the poem continues the shot changes to an over the shoulder shot then back to another close up. As the poem finishes and the interviewer begins asking Pete another questions the camera goes back to behind the drum kit, which is kind of an establishing shot showing the area. As Pete begins answering the question the camera changes to another over the shoulder shot and then back to another close up of Pete and the interviewer these four shots including the high drum kit one are continued throughout the scene. It then cuts to an establishing shot and then back to the close up while he is talking before cutting to a clip of the Libertines singing ‘ Can’t stand me now’ on the Jonathon Ross show, the music to the song begins playing quietly as he answers the question and then begins getting louder.

The Jonathon Ross show starts with an establishing shot of the band on stage, then cuts to a medium shot of Carl then to a long shot of all the guitarists from the side and then to a medium shot looking up at the drummer. As the lyrics to the song start it cuts to a medium shot of Carl singing which eventually zooms into a close up of his face. The next shot is a long shot of the band from side. The voiceover begins talking about the Libertines new album. It then cuts to close ups of Pete and Carl and then headlines about the band begin coming up on the screen again.

That is my five minute analysis of ‘New Night Peter Doherty Interview’ which I found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGmBmb2Jjkc