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
