Amy scene analysis

In the first scene, Kapadi uses home footage to show how young and happy Amy was as an adolescent in 1998. We see a clip of her singing happy birthday to one of her best friends. It then skips forward to January 2001 and then six months later we see her in a rehearsal studio in North London. Kapadi again uses old footage that was shot of her in the studio. He uses voiceovers to give context to the home footage clips. He sometimes slows down the clips for it to fit with the voiceovers. This technique creates a more intense atmosphere especially towards the end of the film. Kapadi tends to display the lyrics of Amy’s songs on screen as she is singing, with more home footage playing in the background. The way he displays her lyrics on screen help the audience to understand the meaning of the song and perhaps how Amy was feeling at the moment in her life. The lyrics also tend to fade in and out as they are displayed. This technique is used multiple times throughout the film. Most of the clips that Kapadi uses at the beginning show that Amy was happy, she was always smiling. The way Kapadi structures the film is important as he does it chronological order. The clips and footage that Kapadi decides to use is quite vital as he uses clips where we see her happy and having fun as she starts recording her own music. He could’ve easily used clips where Amy was miserable and unhappy. The way that we see how happy Amy is at the beginning contributes to the how the audiences’ feelings change throughout the film.  

About an hour and a half into the film, 2008, Amy is doing a concert as Bestival in the Isle of Wight. In this scene it is clear that Amy is not well. The mise-en-scene of her holding a drink in her hand shows that she can’t cope without it. Her facial expressions during this concert are a lot different to the beginning of the film where she was smiling whilst recording. It seems as if she has fallen out of love with her music. It also just looks as if she doesn’t want to be there. She looks exhausted throughout this concert. Whilst we see her performing, there is a voiceover of Sam Beste who was her pianist. He talks about how she needs help and how she also knew she need help, she wanted to get better. Sam Beste says that she was exhausted and tired about the whole situation of the media. Throughout this voiceover, we can still hear Amy performing in the background. I think this is a really interesting technique that Kapadi uses as it is like the voiceover is telling a story whilst its happening. After the voiceover, the volume goes back to normal where we hear Amy singing again. At the end of the concert Amy throws her drink that is slowed down. This again is a technique often used by Kapadi throughout the film.  In this scene, the lighting can be seen as a symbol of how she feels. There are hints of red and orange tones that can be seen as danger, especially because at this point in the film the audience know how much Amy is suffering.  

Asif Kapadi’s style of documentary is observational. He interviews friends and family members of Amy’s, which shows his engagement in observing her life.  This style of documentary often uses an unobtrusive camera; candid shots, object is unaware that they are being photographed or filmed. Elements of candid shots object is unaware that they are being photographed or filmed. Elements of candid shots are shown during this film when Kapadi uses old footage given to him by friends of family. In some of the clips, Amy doesn’t know she is being filmed.