Review and critique at least one short film production

Before the storm, Jake Churchill and Prokopi Constantinou, UK.

Before the Storm documentary is a short film following a grassroots movement who are helping young people in London stay away from violence and giving them the opportunity to come together. The Bikelife movement led by a passionate group of olders gives the kids freedom to be kids and share there passion of riding bikes.

The message behind this documentary is a a very positive one, documenting how such a simple thing as getting on a bike and riding can have such a positive impact on young people. Showing how such a passionate and creative group of young people with the help of some dedicated mentors can come together and do such positive things at a very hard point in time for young people in London. The theme is bringing this very underground movement to the wider public to help tackle stereotypes and fight against the bad name the media constantly give to young people in the capital.

This documentary is very much contributor led with the characters shown on screen shaping the film. the on screen narration and commentary from the contributors helps give the film the passionate and personal  feel that makes this documentary so successful.

Non-diegetic sound is used throughout film along with fast cuts to give it a very energetic feel to match the theme of the documentary. Camera techniques such as shots following the boys cycling and POV shots  add to the intensity of the film. The editing is fast paced and works really well when the kids are talking about riding and it cuts to shots of them doing wheelies and cycling around London. The cinematography and editing work extremely well together to help get the message of the film across the the audience.

The documentary is based in London with them showing various locations from Tower bridge to back streets most of them a blur due to how fast the boys are going. One location they do put a lot of emphasis on however is Cycle Pitstop London which is a bike shop that all the young people involved can go and hang out, fix there bikes and get away from the stress that some of them may have in there life. It acts as a place where the kids can learn new things at the same time and making friendships .

The film is aimed at a whole range of people I feel initially it’s aimed at young people and sharing this story with people who may live outside of London or not know about this but I also think is aimed at the older generation as well who have no idea such positive stuff is happening between young people and who only get a view through the news and the media who constantly tarnish the younger generation.

This film made me feel extremely happy that such positive stories are being documented and made into such amazing films. I feel the films worked so well on many different levels, the initial story, the strong characters involved, the film making. It all came together to make such an interesting and connectable documentary which i would highly recommend to anyone.