Don't Look Back - a cult classic, which follows the legendary Bob Dylan during an eventful two week period in 1965.
In this wonderful fly-on-the wall film/documentary, filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker shows Bob Dylan to be an extraordinary character during his controversial tour of England.
D.A. Pennebaker's use of a hand-held camera device enabled him to manoeuvre himself into any situation thrown his way - an excellent viewing experience.
Commentary
After the Subterranean Homesick Blues video, the titles appear (starting at 2.16). This is the point in the clip where i will begin my commentary.
D.A. Pennebaker firstly uses an inconspicuous shot - a mirrored image of Bob Dylan showing him to be looking in the mirror, whilst vaguely singing the words to She Belongs To Me and strumming steadily on his guitar.
There are various possible ways of analysing this shot, but in my opinion, Pennebaker may have used it to illustrate to the audience that even though the film may appear to show Dylan in an utterly truthful light, it merely shows a singular dimension of his personality and character that he wished to exhibit at that point in time.
Pennebaker uses panning shots several times and zooms during this first scene, highlighting to the audience Dylan's fast paced lifestyle at the time of filming. This is an effective camera shot in this circumstance, as it produces an exciting viewing experience for the audience.
Zooming to a close-up also allows the audience to understand that the film is not scripted or planned - creating verisimilitude.
Pennebaker cleverly uses the image of the spotlight and darkness that envelopes it, creating an artistic shot, which has many connotations for the audience to pick up on.
Cat Gough
