Zero Day and Lonely Boy Documentaries - Movie Review Example

Documentary Analysis The documentary analysis focuses on two films. The films are; Zero Day and Lonely Boy. The Lonely Boy documentary was produced in 1962, and it entails a documentary concerning Paul Anka, who was a former teen sensation. The title of the film was borrowed from the “Lonely Boy” hit and popular song that was performed by Anka to hundreds of screaming fans. The Zero Day is a documentary that was produced in 2003 by Ben Coccio. The documentary illustrates a school shooting incident. Production of the documentary was motivated by the Columbine high School massacre that occurred in 1999. The Lonely Boy Documentary Wolf Koenig and Roman Kroitor co-directed the documentary, and the film illustrates pop idol development. Paul Anka is a popular artist, who is at the top of his career. The directors apply several strategies to show the performer as a lonely and isolated individual who is considered by his handlers as merchandise. The level of his success is also viewed with a lot of suspicion. The handlers achieve this by countless interviews that concentrate on the rise of the performer, continuous illustration of the merchandise activities he concentrates on, editing that enhances the hysteria or freakiness shown by the fans during his performances, and the frequents shots which concentrates on his isolation. The film developers also illustrated Anka as a figure who is tragic. However, this view is uncharacteristic because the 19 year old performer is very rich and famous. In 1961, the artist was the most famous pop star in Canada. The musician had eight to singles in the top ten, as from 1957. “Lonely Boy” was the number one music hit, and the 1957 music “Diana” has been re-played by more than 300 musicians and the international sales of the music copies is approximately 10 million. Anka was considered a very popular music prodigy who was also very genuine. He developed his songs, and also had great interest in the show and performing business (Crow, 2013). The focus of the documentary is the transformation of Anka from an ordinary performer, to an entertainment idol. Transformation is clearly shown when Anka explains that he intends to be the star that he desired, thus he had to appear as a key player in the lucrative and prestigious show and entertainment business. As part of the transformation process he embarked on losing his weight by 35 pounds, he also took more than a year to achieve the desired hair shape. Irvin Feld, the manager of the artist extensively discussed the facial feature of the artist. He explains that to achieve the idol image, Anka got a nose surgery. The manager groomed the artist to shift from the present teen audience, and appeal to the more mature nightclub fans. The merchandising concept was effectively applied in the documentary. The film illustrates several hawkers in the business of selling the concert programs. Anka supporters are shown in numerous occasions purchasing the Anka related commodities and services. A teenage supporter declared that she hanged 555 images of Anka around the walls of her bedroom. Feld applied effective marketing tactics, which ensured suitable idol image. His image was sold like a product, just like the music records and related souvenirs. Feld always stresses that Anka the entertainment idol does not belong to himself, but the audience and the entire world. Anka is always in a state of isolation and marginalization. A key scenario is when the performer stripped and remained with only the underwear, while other individuals in the room had their clothes on. His stage performances are usually a lonely affair. His image is mainly shot from a low angle, and thus he towers above the girls that are invited to perform with him. The ending scenes of the documentary show a close view of the tired face of the idol, while his handlers engage in loud chats of the next year’s performances. The tired face clearly shows his lonely nature, and the disconnection that he has from the surrounding environment. The Zero Day Documentary Calvin Robertson, the teenage student has a mantra that he sarcastically uses: “These are the best years of our lives.” The tone illustrates the drama that is illustrated in the documentary. Cal and Andre engage in organizing a school assault. In the planning sessions, they flex and chant to indicate their excitement and army illustrations. The director applies loose and low key documentary to explain the 1999 murderous attack, which took place at columbine High School. The documentary has rambling course. It is developed through video diary format that has segments from two camera; Cal’s and Andre’s. Thus certain segments illustrate more weight. The documentary is very compelling; due to the individual moments in the scenes as the attack date nears. The documentary is powerful, because the relatively innocuous scenes possess dreadful effects. The documentary is also relatively insubstantial due to the medium applied. The videotape application provides it with exploitative shallowness that is a component of the reality show genre. The reality show movies use the scenes to develop the instances of guilt and also innocence. The film illustrates the strangeness of Cal and Andre. They have the same demeanor of teenagers, but communicate as if they are the stars of a sitcom broadcast. The Zero Day also illustrates the lonely characteristic of the documentary. Cal and Andre illustrate loneliness through creating a barrier between themselves and other individuals. This middle class suburban separation is aimed at mistakenly separating them from other teenagers. The wise guy communication approach illustrates the inability of the two key actors to talk about heartfelt issues. Coccio effectively describes minute complications in the documentary. The joking and loving relationship is illustrated by Andre and the parents. The all joke during the 18th birthday ceremony of Andre. The smart-alecky behavior of Andre was passed to him through his parents, who continuously make fun on passing out. The easy relationship between Andre and his parents, explains the trust, respect and belief that they have on each other (Roeder, 2012). The resonance shown in the documentary is relatively disturbing. This is because Mr. Coccio effectively addresses the interest of all the characters in the documentary. The parents of Andre to not give him love through the ordinary or normal approaches, as done in the standard film genres that aim at illustrating the horrors to be experienced. The horror scenes are illustrated when Andre and Cal are shown purchasing pipes that are used for bomb casing, and happily illustrating their ammunition. The phrase “Zero Day” describes chilling events at the end of the documentary. The chilling scene is when the teenage group goes to the memorials of the violence victims, as a result of the actions of Andre and Cal. The group describes their revenge by having the memorials of the killers responsible for the school assault. It finally becomes clear to them that killers (Cal and Andre) are zeroes to the individuals who are left behind. The two documentaries thus illustrate different goals, techniques and also genres. The short documentary Lonely Boy is very unique, because of the applications of the hand held cameras in recording the backstage scenes that are intimate. The documentary was produced through the National Film Board of Canada, and it received the Canadian Film Award after emerging the top movie for the 1962 year. The documentary also received nomination for the BAFTA awards, in the category of best short film. Zero Day got majority positive reviews, and presently has 68% Rotten Tomatoes approval level. References Crow, Jonathan. (2013). "Cinema Verite: Defining the Moment". New York Times. Roeder, Amy.(2012). "Zero Score". New England Film. Read More