Further Research: 'Bowling for Columbine' By Michael Moore

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Michael Francis Moore, a well-known American filmmaker, producer, screenwriter, and author. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. He became known for his award-winning debut documentary 'Roger & Me', which dealt with the decline of the Detroit automotive industry in the 1980s. Moore went on to win the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 'Bowling for Columbine', a film that explores the reasons behind the Columbine High School shooting as well as the country's general gun culture (michaelmoore.com, 2023).

Michael Moore at the Academy Awards in 2003

The movie looks into the main theories put forth by Moore as to why the 1999 Columbine High School shooting and other gun-related incidents occurred. He focuses on the context and history of the massacre as well as some prevalent beliefs and viewpoints among the populace regarding related topics. The nature of violence in the USA and US violence overseas are other topics covered in the movie (Ordoñez-Jasis and Jasis, 2003).

Bowling for Columbine(2002) By Michael Moore

'Bowling for Columbine' uses many different means to attract the viewer's attention and impose the author's point of view on him. For example, during the interviews, the author used close up camera shot. According to Bell (2012, p 9) a close-up of the character's face creates a bond between the audience and the character, people connect with the character's emotions. Another example of camera shots used in film are long shots that are used to present more information about a character or situation. Moore also uses different camera angles depending on the situation, for example during interviews the camera is often set straight ahead or from a high angle to emphasize that the author is more important than the characters being interviewed.
Additionally, he makes use of every camera movement that is possible given the desired effect. He adds realism and an engaged audience in action by combining tracking shots with a hand-hold camera. By using zoom, he creates close-up shots to show facial expressions (Bell, 2012) In my project I will certainly use the medium close-up during interviews, which is characteristic of news programs, and zoom camera movement to show the characters' emotions.

Another, and perhaps the most important, element of the film is its editing. Moore used his original recordings, such as interviews, as well as many footage films, e.g. from the cartoon South Park or drastic scenes full of violence and even recordings of murders and suicides, as well as crime victims. In this way, he wanted to add drama to his work and make it have a stronger impact on the audience.He also used contrast and hyperbole to show the hypocrisy of government, while also using humor, irony and sarcasm to talk about serious issues. The film editing methods he used inspired me to also add humorous elements to my project and combine my own recordings with stock footage.

South Park By Trey Parker, Matt Stone

Last but not least, Moore used audio codes, which complement the message and help create the atmosphere across various sections of the film. He used both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds such as dialogues, sound effects, music and voice-overs. Depending on the need, he used music to create the right atmosphere, using hits such as "What a Wonderful World". Moore used this song ironically by contrasting its positive lyrics with drastic scenes full of violence to create a very strong visual message influencing the audience. Following in his steps, I would like to include music in my short film, which undoubtedly helps me connect with the audience.

Bowling for Columbine By Michael Moore

Finally, I would like to mention that despite many successes, Moore was also criticized and called a populist. Probably the reason for this is the fact that his films address important issues such as big business, assault weapon ownership, globalization, the American health care system, and capitalism overall. That is why he is often called a propagandist by his critics and his films are called propaganda, which does not change the fact that Time magazine included him among the 100 most influential people in the world (Kirchick, 2014).

References

Moore, M. (2023). About - Michael Moore. [online] www.michaelmoore.com. Available at: https://www.michaelmoore.com/about [Accessed 5 Nov. 2023].

Bell, C. ( 2012) WJEC AS Media Studies. Cheltenham: Illuminate Publishing

Ordoñez-Jasis, R. and Jasis, P. (2003). ‘Bowling for Columbine’: Critically Interrogating the Industry of Fear. Social Justice, [online] 30(3 (93)), pp.127–133. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/29768213?saml_data=eyJzYW1sVG9rZW4iOiIzMzY2MGRkYi0yM2ZmLTRmMWYtYmFmZi05ZDE2ZmU4MTIwNjYiLCJpbnN0aXR1dGlvbklkcyI6WyJjOTYyNmYwNS1lNGU3LTQxNzktYTIzNS00OTFlYjAyNzcwNjUiXX0&seq=1 [Accessed 13 Nov. 2023].

Kirchick, J. (2016). Michael Moore Can’t Make Good Propaganda Anymore. The Daily Beast. [online] 14 Feb. Available at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-moore-cant-make-good-propaganda-anymore [Accessed 5 Nov. 2023].