1. Directed by Asif Kapadia
Amy
Directed by Asif Kapadia

2. Asif Kapadia

3. What are the main conventions of documentary film used?
Archival footage
Personal testimonies

4. What is the method of narration used in “Amy”
Amy’s story is narrated by her own voice and the voices of those connected to her.
This narration is constructed from the compilation of archival footage and personal testimonies. These have been selected and constructed to tell Amy’s story.
This is a participatory documentary. The film-maker has actively participated in the construction of the story.

5. How has Amy’s story been constructed to provide a dramatic arc.
Follows a chronological account of her rise to fame Builds tension and conflict to a “climax” Suggests characters who can be seen as the antogonists Uses Amy’s own testimony to foreshadow what happened to her and to support the film’s premise

6. What ideas did you take from this film
That Amy was destroyed by fame, something she didn’t really want
That those closest to her pushed her into being a celebrity without acknowledging what it was doing to her
In terms of our society the film reflects on the damage caused by this celebrity culture

7. It would be easy to spin the Amy Winehouse story as that of a ruined starlet, but this documentary gives us a more interesting one – of a woman who reacted to extreme pressure by trying to vanish.
Henry Barnes·The Guardian