Creative+and+Editorial+Choices

Aside from simply documenting the 48 hour protest, the filmmakers want to tell a story: the filmmakers want to tell a story about the riots and the Greeks, but they also want to tell a story about themselves. The filmmakers undertake the task of telling their stories through a series of choices—choices about what to cut from their footage, what to include, and what to add in the form of narration, graphics, and music.

The purpose of Vice’s //Teenage Riot: Athens// is to document the 48 hour national strike and protests—particularly the riots—that spawned as a result of the Greek parliament's attempt to pass a fifth austerity bill in October 2012. In addition to documenting the national protests and the riots, the filmmakers also attempt to give a voice and face to the Greek protesters and rioters


 * PART 1 **

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__Music and Editing__ The film’s introduction starts with peaceful, idyllic scenes of Greece, overlaid by the sounds of a nondiegetic woodwind instrument. The scene is then abruptly interrupted by a fiery explosion and various other images from the Greek riots, dubbed over by heavy metal music and screaming vocals.

The montage of peaceful music and postcard-like images of Greece juxtaposed with violent music and images of social chaos are jarring for the viewer—they suck you into the world the filmmakers want to portray for their audience. The contrast also signifies a theme throughout the video: Greek life—and protests—can be peaceful and routine before erupting into seemingly random violence, creating a sense of unpredictability and fear for the sake of the protesters and journalists.

__Content (Dog)__ After the title sequence, the film transitions to a dog lying in the gutter of a street. His head is inches away from moving cars, but he shows no concern over his positioning to moving traffic. The filmmakers also include what again looks like the same dog running into traffic to cross the street. Obviously the film isn’t about fearlessness and/or suicidal dogs, but by including these images, the filmmakers are attempting to evoke a sense of hopelessness due to the severity of Greece’s economic and social turmoil—things are so bad in Greece, even the animals feel like they have nothing left to lose.

__Interviews (anarchists & police)__ The film’s first interview includes a discussion with “Adam.” According to the narrator, Adam asks not to be “identified” because of his violent history with police, resulting in his face being hidden behind a blur. Of course, we never see or hear Adam request to have his face hidden, so we are left to trust the narrator’s word, but the story being told through Adam’s hidden identity says two things: 1) Greeks are afraid of the police and 2) Greeks are in danger if they speak out against the police.

The two anarchists interviewed in the film also conceal their identity, but they use their own masks, enforcing the narrative about identity and police fear. However, creative choices, specifically editing, contribute to their stories, seemingly justifying Greek fear of the police.

One anarchist tells a story about his friend’s leg being blown apart by a flash bang grenade. What’s noticeable is the lack of context provided around the grenade attack—was the attack intentional? We see and hear the young man saying police threw a grenade at his friend's leg, but we don't hear what motivated the police throwing the grenade. Were the police provoked? Were the police engaged in combat with a group of rioters that happened to include the anarchist’s friend? We don’t have the answers to these questions, and we don’t have them because the filmmakers cut them from the interview, did not ask the follow up questions to gain the appropriate context, or the anarchist refused to provide context. Either way, by simply including the story "as is" in the film, the filmmakers are helping build a brutal reputation for the police and creating more sympathy for the protesters.

Furthermore, as the anarchist says a cop threw a grenade at his friend’s leg, the audio is played over an image of graffiti that says “All Cops Are BASTARDS.” This editing indirectly suggests that all police actually are bastards because this image is being coupled with a story that reinforces what it says. This editing also supports the notion that the filmmaker’s are attempting to portray the police as antagonistic forces in the Greek conflict.

The film’s narrator also declares that the Greek police have a rumored connection to the “local fascist organizations” with no interview or evidence to support his claim. If the film’s purpose is to document, this statement seems contradictory because the narrator offers it with no documentation from the Greeks—it is simply an unsupported piece of information (rumored according to the narrator), reinforcing the anti-police narrative.

__Visuals__ Filmmakers create and insert a line graph representing the Greek unemployment rate over the last decade. The graph gives viewers a visual aid to understand the problem of Greek unemployment, and the lines representing unemployment, I would argue, are much more effective because they provide much more tangible depictions of growth and loss than isolated statistics.

The film also uses a large number of subtitlesbut they are depicted in an unobtrusive white font, which is used for the title as well. The seemingly neutral subtitles supports the notion that the filmmakers are attempting to remain neutral and simply document.

__Narration/Filmmaker Presence__ Beyond Greece and the riots, the filmmakers are attempting to tell a story about themselves and the company they represent. Vice media has a reputation of presenting its journalists as ordinary people who go into extraordinary situations to report. These filmmakers reinforce that image with the introduction to their task: “So, we flew to Athens, bought a bunch of gas masks, and wandered into a fight at the center of a European tragedy.”

The nonchalant tone suggests the filmmakers randomly got an idea to film the protests, boarded a flight with no preparation, and "wandered" into the action. In all likelihood, a bit more planning was involved, but we aren’t given that information. Regardless, the reason this narrative is important for the filmmakers is because it portrays them as fresh, untainted eyes, free from possible bureaucratic and/or corporate influence that may affect network journalists. The story seems more "real" since its coming from someone who practically "wandered" into the middle of Athens, with no real agenda beyond filming. Cementing his young, hip, everyman status, the narrator uses the word “noob,” something not often heard from network journalists. Even the anarchists laugh at the filmmakers for their choice of gas mask (they won’t work for tear gas), something left in the final film and commented on by the narrator. By "wandering" into a fight with no real knowledge of how to effectively survive, the filmmakers look like risk takers and renegades, something many viewers may find appealing. So this choice is not included just for the individual filmmakers' sake, but for the sake of promoting and branding what they want viewers to see as Vice's unique style of journalism.

=Part 2=

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__Content & Editing__ More stray dogs are shown and mentioned in part two of the film. The narrator even says there is a large number of dogs present to “march in support,” neglecting to mention that they may be out in greater numbers because of the full streets and increased likelihood that someone will give them food.

One man is quoted as saying there is “definitely going to be a riot. What we see here today has been going on for years.” At that point, as people are gathered, everything is peaceful in the background, giving off a festival-like atmosphere. This moment creates tension and anticipation for the viewer because we have seen promised violence and been shown shots of what is still to come.

Eventually, protesters are shown attacking the gates separating themselves from parliament. At what appears to be the peak of violent activity in that particular interaction, the video cuts away before we can see an extended police response. After a short moment of protesters washing away tear gas, the film cuts to a quick shot of two women sitting casually at a café table, followed by another transition to young people drinking and having fun. Later in the film, after a short scene of taxi drivers protesting, we again see a quick shot of people sitting at cafe tables. Based on the setup and expectations for the riots, it seems as if everyone should be preparing for war; instead, we briefly see people casually enjoying their days. This creates a contrast between expectations that were established in part one from interviews and videos of police brutality. I think these are creative decisions implemented to surprise the viewer. In the United States, it seems as if most citizens would respond to street riots with fear and concern. Instead, many Greeks are still going about their days, acting as if nothing unusual is happening.

__Narration/Filmmaker Presence__ At one point after the initial tear gassing, the camera man starts coughing and the narrator responds: “That’s the sound of our camera man coughing blood.” Interestingly enough, the audience never sees any blood from the camera man. Again, this creative choice appears to have little to do with documenting the Greeks; instead, this choice is about creating a dramatic story involving (or about) the filmmakers. One could argue that the video of the blood was not included because the filmmakers did not want to distract from the focus of the film. However, if that was true, why even mention the camera man coughing blood at all? The filmmakers are attempting to create concern for their wellbeing and possibly admiration for their display of "bravery" by being in the line of fire--it's all about branding themselves and their company.

__Music & Editing__ The heavy metal music included in the film's introduction is used again to create a montage of peak violence, creating similar sensations of chaos and destruction. When the music stops, the violence stops and the narrator announces the end of the protesting day. To create anticipation for the next day and the third part of the video, the narrator announces he heard some conversations stating that today's violence was tame because everyone was saving their energy for tomorrow. Having just experienced the jarring montage of spliced violence, the clashes are still fresh in the viewer's mind, making the viewer ask: if that was tame, what could possibly happen in the next episode? At the same time, no actual footage is shown of anyone saying today was tame or that the next day's violence will be worse.

=Part 3=

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__Graphics__ Part 3 features a graph that functions in the same way as the graph from part 1—it physically draws the diversion between debt and GDP, allowing the viewer to conceptualize just how bad things are for the Greeks.

__Content and Editing__ Part three's first interview features a man complaining about the fact that police reported only 100,000 people marching for the first day’s protest. He also says foreign news reported at least 500,000. By using only what the man says in the film and no outside sources to verify or refute what he is saying, the audience is given the impression that not only are the police brutal and violent, they are also manipulating the press. However, that impression given from the film and this man may be misleading because foreign (non-Greek) articles I checked reported between 70,000 and 100,000protesters.

Once the violence starts again, the filmmakers include many quick, out of context shots, especially of violence. Again, shots of violence are included in the visual track with no context specific to the acts on screen: we never see what inspired or lead to the exact moments of violence or their aftermath. The only context we receive is in the form of narration or other shots of violence. Cutting the violence of the riots together like this creates a frantic pace, giving the audience the impression that the action is relentless and exhausting.

The first person view and filming of the riots allows the viewer to experience the chaos of the moment. A stationary camera posted in a window would create a different experience, so the filmmakers are successful in attempting to document the riots as they are experienced on the ground by the Greek protesters.

__Filmmaker Presence__ After the primary violence subsides, the narrator inserts himself into the story again: “Let’s face it, it’s confusing being in a riot. I saw PAME beating up protestors and trying to kill us, but frankly, I was shitting myself, so maybe I’m not the best judge.” Most journalists don’t admit to almost “shitting” themselves, but maybe your trusted friend would, thus enforcing in the viewer’s mind that she is watching the “real” thing—a real guy, reporting the real news—not some sanitary journalist who has to run things by a publisher or producer before going live.

The narrator's observation on a man's death is also interesting. There initially appears to be confusion about how the single death in the protests occurred, as the narrator says different causes of death were considered before everyone agreed unanimously the man died of natural causes. The narrator clarifies natural clauses by saying "which I think means, he was literally scared to death." Again, the narrator puts himself in the story, but this time it appears to be for the sake of creating sympathy for the nation of Greece: despite their divisions and factions, the entire nation of Greece is scared and worried about its future.