Justin
Bieber: Never Say Never is a documentary directed by Jon M. Chu. It was
released in cinemas in the United States and Canada on February 11th
2011. Many production companies were involved in the creation of the
documentary including MTV Films, Scoot Braun Films and Insurge Pictures and it
was eventually distributed by Paramount Pictures. The budget of the film was
$13 million and at the film broke even and at the box office made a total of
$99,036,827. The film follows the young pop star Justin Bieber during 10 days
in the count down to his biggest performance, that of August 31, 2010 in Madison
Square Gardens, which completely sold out in 22 minutes. We see footage of past
performances, interviews with family members and good friends.
The
documentary opens with various shots of a computer browsing through emails and
YouTube videos, we are then shown the original home footage of Justin Bieber
performing ‘Chris Brown’ with you the song which made him famous. A sound
bridge is then created as the vocals from the YouTube video are played as a
non-diegetic soundtrack over footage of Justin Bieber where he is today. This
technique is very powerful as it creates a contrast of what Justin once aspired
to be and now what he has become. By switching between old and new footage
makes it very clear to the audience that is the same person. From the new
footage which we are provided with we can see that Bieber has become a success
and has in fact achieved his dreams; through the use of Bathes action and
Enigma codes this is emphasises. Showing the original clip of the home footage
of Justin (archive footage) tells the audience this has been a passion of his
from a very young age.
I
have chosen to replicate the narrative structure of this particular documentary
not only through generic documentary conventions, but also through the addition
of narrative theorists. Todorov’s narrative theory includes 5 clear stages
which focus on the equilibrium and disequilibrium. The equilibrium of this
documentary shows Justin at the very beginning of his aspiring career, the
documentary then develops and shows Justin’s journey which he had to undergo in
order to get signed, and the issues he faced within the music industry.
Following Todorov’s theory the documentary then looks at Justin as he prepares
to perform at Madison Square Gardens. The final new equilibrium shows Justin
performing at the most famous arena in the world and has in fact fought to the
top.
In addition to Todorov’s theory there is also clear indication of Propps
character types which drive the narrative ahead. In this documentary Justin
appears to be the hero in this situation as he is the character that the fans
love and fantasise. The villain in this case would the media and production
companies who aren’t followers of his music and him himself; however this
documentary doesn’t necessarily focus on the negative aspects of Justin’s
careers. There are a number of donors and helpers within this documentary who
have contributed to the success of his career including Usher and Scooter Braun.
The blend of a strong narrative, narrative theories and generic documentary
techniques is what contribute to the success of the film as well as the visual
footage
When
creating my documentary I had to ensure I was able to understand the audience
demographic; this helped me to understand who my documentary should be targeted
at and what elements I should include in order to present this. After conducting
research I made the final decision to produce a documentary on an up and coming
performer in the industry, documentaries which inspired me to make this decision
included ‘JLS Revealed’ ‘1D One Direction: This is Us’ and ‘Justin Bieber: Never
Say Never’. My documentary focuses on a young teenage girl inspired by to
follow her ambition of becoming a performer, therefore I feel the target audience
of this documentary will be very similar to the audience of Emma herself.
Theoretically I believe Emma’s audience would be teenage girls who inspire very
much to be like her. A number of artists in the music industry I feel Emma’s
character can be equated to is Ariana Grande, Ellie Goulding and Ella
Henderson. The idea of the documentary is to inform Emma’s fan base about her past
life and her journey to get to the position in which she is in today; in
addition to this I hope it inspires her fans and creates a larger fan circle
and makes Emma appear as a more up and coming artist. These are the reasons why
I feel targeting the documentary at this demographic is crucial for the success
of the film. 
The main primary audience I am focusing on is teenagers both
males/females aged between 12-19; however I am specifically targeting females
due to the fact Emma herself is a female and I feel she would be a more
influential figure to people of the same sex as her. There is no specific
social group/ethnicity that the documentary will be intended for as every person
has an ambition despite their status and race. I hope as well as the primary
audience this documentary would attract people from other ages and gender who show
an interest in performing and the music industry. The secondary audience for this documentary would be people who watch this documentary with the primary audience; therefore in this case it might be friends, boyfriends, family members who are interested in this documentary from word of the youth. In my opinion I think this film will essentially attract the middle/higher class as opposed to the lower class. If the documentary was first aired during prime time I feel this documentary would gain more popularity/recognition as this is the most popular time television is watched and when the most prevalent programmes are shown. It would be at a time when teenagers won't be at school/college and are most likely to be at home in order to watch this documentary. 
In terms of social grades
I feel I am targeting people who fall under the C1 and C2 category as teenagers
don’t tend to have a substantial income and watching a television documentary
at home is something all can participate in despite their possible lack of money.
Or on the other hand if this film was to
be released in cinemas it is a cheap activity to do with your friends and there
are many cinemas surrounding peoples local areas. At this age any money that is
earnt through a part time job can be spent on leisure activities as opposed to the
working class and home owners who have to deal with bills and mortgages. In my
opinion C1 and C2 are appropriate categories as when Emma progresses as a
performer she may release merchandise and commercial products which would increase her status in the industry, these products I feel would appeal to a
younger age category opposed to the older. Overall I feel the audience would be classed
as spectators as they should all are interested in her performances. Finally hypothetically
I feel my target audience would all have similar common interests to each other
and to Emma herself; these interests would include fashion, make up and music.
By pursuing my documentary at teenagers who have collective interests would
hopefully enhance the popularity of my documentary as its more likely to be
enjoyable for all the demographics in this specific category. 
