Constructed from a variety of
archival footage and stock
footage like what was shown in
the news and magazines and
also interviews from Amy's
family, friends and from
people that worked for or with
her
Kapadia used this archival and
stock footage to gain an insight
into her troubled life
Home footage was also used where
you could see Amy's real
personality and brings you closer to
her
The use of still images was also used in the
film which created a uneasy atmosphere
because the pictures that were mostly shown
were from the news of her on drugs or drunk
The use of real footage is used to provide
extra information about the setting -
swooping aerial shots of London
MISE EN SCENE
COSTUME
Normal clothes but Amy talks about how her manager and
stylist had tried to style her in a different way but she
wouldn't have it - later on we see that style coming through
then assuming that she had been persuaded
MAKEUP
Because it is a documentary no one has any dominant
makeup that has been done but we assume that
during the interviews they would of had light makeup
to make them look more presentable - Amy's makeup
was always how she wanted to do it and was well
known for her over exagerated winged liner
SETTING
The main setting is in London and often in
London, Camden where she lived or most of the
time period that was filmed - we also see footage
of her at her events and on holidays e.g. St Lucia
STAGING, MOVEMENT
AND FRAMING
Movement, staging and framing - As Amy is
a documentary and uses stock footage,
archival footage and home video's etc it
doesn't have much structured staging and
movements but in some of the interviews
the interviewee has been put in shot and
framed so it is aesthetically pleasing
This makes a more
naturalistic effect and
encourages the spectator
to interpret their own
opinion on whats being
said or done
EDITING
Captions of lyrics are edited over footage
alongside Amy's songs to impact the
spectator and help them realise what her
songs were about
The film is in chronological order and
is linear - expcept from a couple of
times were the past is reflected upon
with the use of home video's
Montage - they have pieced together a
narrative by using a variety of source
material like photo's and video's
This makes it clear to
the spectator where it is
going and does not
confuse them about the
timeline order of it all
SOUND
During the scenes of archival footage
they're is less voiceover so that you get to
focus of whats going on in the footage
itself and interpret it yourself - this is also
to encourage the spectatator to be guided
by the juxtaposition of images and sound
rather than direct point of view
the background music that is often played is
Amy's songs that she has recorded - the
captions alongside it give the spectator a
better understanding of what she was going
through, thinking and feeling at that time
Incidental music is used in particular scenes
to align the spectator with the subject matter
Spectator then
feels connected to
the subject and
understands it
more
Voiceovers that sometimes support the images and footage
are carefully chosen to create a certain atmosphere and
effect - these are indirect interviews and are usually
captioned if the voices are unclear - usually they are not
talking directly to the camera