Bullet Proof Vest

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/insideindies/shortsfest/dl/bulletproof.m4v

Dir: May Lin Au Yong

Nine-year-old Jyeshria wants a bulletproof vest—and she's dead serious. In a city riddled with gun violence, fed up residents take action.

I like this above short, I think it is very powerful in making people aware of the violence in Richmond, California and how people live. The whole clip is in black and white and has voice over, and shows the area and the children, and their protest to stop the violence. I think it is very effective in its documentary form as it shows that it isn't fiction and that it is a serious issue worth considering.

The Camera angles portrays the neighbourhood through the people's perception; different cuts of the area as they are speaking about it, over the shots and it embodies how they feel about what is going on. Showing that it has potential, if the violence could stop, for instance the shot of the play area - it seems hostile and so perhaps they do not like playing there as it is dangerous, but does not look so different as others. Those speaking rarely look directly at the camera when they speak, which is a feature of documentaries. I think the black and white emphasises how they are feeling, there is no "colour" in their lives and I think this is an effective way of highlighting the point of the film.

The use of the documentary form is effective and goes well with the narrative; this would work well for my Short as it can be done in 5 minutes. If i were to chose the documentary genre I would also chose a contemporary issue that I wish to raise as the genre would enable me to raise awareness and highlight the elements I would need to through direct speech as well as shots to emphasise what they are saying.