Thursday 27 September 2012

Reception Theory Homework

American Hardcore is a documentary on American Punk Rock in the 1980's.



American Hardcore Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1ZnFT2qAJU

Preferred Reading: The trailer feels very much intended for existing fans of Punk Rock. Archive footage and familiar music in the form of non diagetic sound by Minor Threat and other American Punk bands instantly create the emotions and essence of Punk Rock, the music is rapid and meant to inspire passion. The editing is fast paced, aggressive and relentless much like the music that it tells the story of. The trailer is short and sweet at just under two minutes, when an interview subject appears on screen they are there for usually no longer than a few seconds before more archive footage is shown, again, this matches the fast and furious nature of Punk music and helps create a nostalgic feel as old heroes such as Ian MacKaye appear on screen to spout a few lines about why they love the music.

Opposite Reading: It is easy to see why some people would feel immediately disinterested in this documentary after watching this trailer. The violence of the early Punk Rock scene is mentioned with clips from interviews such as Henry Rollins, lead singer of Black Flag, describing a typical Black Flag show as, "They're knocking guys out, they chase a guy underneath a car and try to pull him out and beat him". To many people these words are a perfect summary of the faults of early Punk Rock, the machismo and needless brutality is an instant turn off to people who are not interested in the stereotypical punk behaviour.

Negotiated Reading: The trailer is great impetus for anybody who wants to know more about Punk Rock, the archive footage does a good job of showing what a typical Punk Rock concert is like with plenty of wide angle shots that show cramped clubs stuffed full of excited fans.Many people who are less informed about Punk Rock may be intrigued by the appearance of the people featured in the documentary as none of them conform to the typical Punk fashion such as leather jackets, heavy boots and gauntlets. This would certainly be a surprise to the non-informed, average viewer who would be expecting the archetypal punk rocker only to find that American punks often dressed simply in t-shirts, button shirts, jeans and Converse sneakers, much more casually than their European counterparts.

1 comment:

  1. Excellent study of a trailer Sam. Make sure to refer to reception theory in the exam, it's always a good one to use.

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