Zac Walker

Rock & Roll Exposed is a mixed documentary using interviews and archive footage to look at the work of photographer Bob Gruen and his relationship with the emerging bands of the 1980s New York punk scene.The documentary is completely narrated by the answers given by those interviewed.

Themes

Narrative

We are introduced to Bob Gruen and his work alongside artists and professionals working at that time. The documentary continues to explore his work and his personal connections with many bands that allowed him to take images others would not have been able to shoot. The documentary finishes with the interviewees explaining how music began to change, and lose something, this lead Bob to decide he would retire from is work in photography.

The use of camera work in this documentary is fairly typical of the genre, mainly Close-ups and mid-shots are used those being interviewed are placed on one of the lines following the rule of thirds and look into the space.

Camerawork

Mise-En-Scene

The use of still images videos helps to explain visually what is being said, and represents the decade being discussed.The backgrounds chosen are all relevant but neutral, so as not to distract the audience from the people involved. The only person who is perhaps in a non-neutral setting is Alice Cooper who is placed in front of a tombstone, however this reflects his iconic persona well.

Non-diegetic sound is used to infer a feeling of 80s on the audience, using music by bands being discussed or featured in the photographs shown.There is no narrative voice used in this documentary, only the audio from the interview is what provides the exposition.

Sound

Editing

There are consistent simple transitions used throughout the documentary to cut between interviews and archive footage. A film-like effect is used, keeping with the theme of the documentary.A number of times we see a stereoscopic view of some of the photographs, beginning with a close up of the background and zooming out to show a 3D version of some of Gruen’s work, this makes the audience feel more like they are actually there.

Archive Material

The use of archive material is heavily relied upon in this film, as it is the basis for the whole project. Examples of Gruen’s work are necessary in giving the audience a real view at what the documentary is discussing.

The documentary uses graphics to show the names of those being interviewed, this is done with what looks like a piece of film in the corner of the screen, although the attention of the audience is taken away, it is effective as it reinforces the theme as well as the ‘big names’ who they have managed to interview.

Graphics