Documentary Review of "Straight Outta L.A."

Straight Outta L.A. is a documentary narrated by Ice Cube, about the hip-hop group N.W.A and the Raiders of the NFL. This documentary is one of the first docs I have seen with a style pertaining to its content. The documentary is based from L.A., and at the beginning, the interviews and videos are done in a film tape style. The film tape rolls down the screen and as it does so you see the first interview. A great aspect of the documentary that is a strong hook right from the beginning is when "Ice Cube" says that it doesn't matter if you are a fan of hip-hop, or a fan of football, you will appreciate what the documentary has to say. Something that the film maker does that not many film makers do is put himself in the documentary. Celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and John Madden are put in the documentary as a hook for viewers because they are easily identifiable. An interesting thing done in this documentary is the use of animation. This is not often done in documentaries to maintain realism, but the technique of the comic strip style of Ice Cube to illustrate a picture of his past is very well done and does not risk losing the realism of the documentary. Several of the interviews are close ups, which is not a bad idea, until the interview with Al Davis appears. He is one of the interviews where a distance shot is better used. Another idea for when he is being interviewed is shoot straight to B-Roll, that way the interest is maintained.
In a few shots, Snoop Dogg has a planted prop, possibly used to incorporate the topic of the Raiders with his impact on the hip-hop world.
The film maker has a lot of great idea for hooks and incorporates them in the right places. The final hook that was fairly successful was the insertion of old music videos from N.W.A. and Ice Cube. The insertion of the Raiders football footage was a great idea as well. The only problems with the documentary are Al Davis' interview close ups and the background used in the interviews. Several of the interviews incorportated a black background for those who were caucasians anda white background for those who are African-American. This may be done as a strategy but I think it is more likely to offend those who notice. The only interviews which did not use this technique were those of Al Davis and Snoop Dogg. In a few of Davis' interviews, he appeared to be in his office or a part of the Raiders' stadium. Snoop Dogg's interviews took place in parts of the football field and up high in the bleachers. This is done, not just to provide easy lighting for his interview, but his background is a sky view of the football field, showing the architecture of the building and the rest of the stadium.