Cat Stevens Documentary Techniques

The documentary on Cat Stevens, (Produced by George Moll) reflects his life showing the changes of his career from when he was a young rock artist to embracing Islam religion as personal fulfilment. His catalyst for change is that he was caught in a rip in the ocean and he prayed to God to spare his life and that he would live for him if he survived.
The documentary uses flash backs which is an effective method to show the change, it juxtaposes the past and present, him as a rock star to a Muslim. Cat Stevens album covers and song lyrics are also a technique used to portray his change. The album covers were always a picture of him until the end of his career where they turned into Muslim religious portraits and the same with his song lyrics,
they were once a fun song to sing but they gradually changed into religious music. Interviews by his brother, producer and former manager were also used to directly tell us how he changed. Voice over was also a major technique used both by the narrator and Cat Stevens him self telling us the story with great details. Background shots are also used comparing photos of the old and new Cat Stevens at different stages of his life. A physical way shown that he has changed is by his clothing. He initially wore stylish clothing and it then changed to long white traditional Islamic robes. Another obvious thing that shows his changing is his name, he was originally called ‘Steven Georgiou’. When his career began he went by the name, ‘Cat Stevens’ and then to ‘Yusuf Islam’ which proved his changes.
The yardstick for Cat Stevens is that his music genre changes from rock to religious. The documentary showed the permanent life style changes he made, “I’m not anti-Cat Stevens, but it simply wouldn’t be possible for me to go back to being that person again. I’m not even sure now who he was”