Skateistan - Inspiration for the Documentary

Out of the films we watched in our initial project briefing session, the one that stood out most to me was Skateistan. This is also perhaps the most relevant of the documentaries to our own project.

I was particularly impressed by the careful staging of the skateboarders in order to create visually-pleasing compositions, and the use of relevant inserts of military vehicles and destroyed buildings to provide social context to what was being shown.

The use of voiceovers over the top of skate footage is something we will definitely be implementing in our own project, in order to smooth out the changes between action shots and interviews, and to cut down on length by using some interview material as VOX Pop only.

The advertisement style of Skateistan is something that provides some controversy, as it may take away in this case from the serious social implications of the skateboarders and their environment. In our case, however, we will be able to present a more 'fun' style and pacing without any problem, due to the optimistic and light-hearted tone we will be leaning towards.