Michael Moore is a contemporary and controversial American film maker. His films tackle issues at the forefront of American civil politics, such as 9/11, gun law and other issues he perceives as social injustices. We started watching 'Bowling for Columbine' which is one of Moore's documentary's on gun law in America, focusing on the shootings of a high school in Columbine on the 20th of April, 1999.
We looked at the opening of this documentary to see what techniques Moore uses. His documentary starts with archived footage, which is footage taken from pre-existing TV or film which is then re-used to enhance a narrative. This footage was from the rifle association in America, and was used ironically to show how guns were viewed compared to how they are today, and how the views haven't changed much.
The next shot comes with patriotic American music as a contrapuntal sound, which is when the music purposely doesn't match the image. This music is paired with images of America associated with the American Dream, and comes with a sense of pride as establishing shots, however Moore slips in a shot of a war torn country that's been bombed as a result of America, which quickly slips back into more patriotic shots, these are used as establishing shots. Over these shots, Moore uses a tongue-in-cheek ironic style in a voice over to show his opinion on American gun law. The documentary then goes into bespoke footage.
We looked at the opening of this documentary to see what techniques Moore uses. His documentary starts with archived footage, which is footage taken from pre-existing TV or film which is then re-used to enhance a narrative. This footage was from the rifle association in America, and was used ironically to show how guns were viewed compared to how they are today, and how the views haven't changed much.
The next shot comes with patriotic American music as a contrapuntal sound, which is when the music purposely doesn't match the image. This music is paired with images of America associated with the American Dream, and comes with a sense of pride as establishing shots, however Moore slips in a shot of a war torn country that's been bombed as a result of America, which quickly slips back into more patriotic shots, these are used as establishing shots. Over these shots, Moore uses a tongue-in-cheek ironic style in a voice over to show his opinion on American gun law. The documentary then goes into bespoke footage.