Ashley Matthews- post #6

Ashley Matthews

3/25/12

Never Say Never (2011)
Dir Jon M. Chu

           The ways in which this film was shot were extremely effective in telling the story of Justin Bieber’s journey to fame.  In the beginning, there were scenes showing Bieber’s early career when he first got discovered from his YouTube videos and then there needed to be an indication of a passage of time.  Chu used a series of fade in/fade out to communicate that time had gone by.  This is also used while Bieber is on tour to show that they were moving from one location to the next.  Chu also chooses to incorporate a montage of pictures and video to show scenes from Bieber’s childhood.  The camera moves on a dolly when following Bieber, his manager, and security behind the scenes rather than moving as a P.O.V. shot probably because Chu wanted the audience to feel that despite all the chaos that goes on behind the scenes, Bieber and his crew are determined and focused on their goals.  P.O.V. shots are used in crowd scenes to make you feel like you are at the concert.

            Whenever the camera follows Bieber performing on stage, the rule of thirds is used in order to balance the shot and make the composition more pleasing to the eye.  When the camera is on Bieber backstage, the camera will dolly in and out of Bieber’s face as he makes funny faces while the camera is trying to shoot him.  This shows that Bieber never thought he would make it as big as he did, and that despite his extreme famousness, he is still a regular kid at heart.