Documentary Analysis of Marley
Music
Movie Paper
The film I chose for this project is called “Marley.” This film is a documentary on the life and times of legendary Reggae artist Bob Marley. The film was released earlier this year on April 20. Marley was directed by Kevin MacDonald. In this film MacDonald takes you from Marley’s childhood to his untimely death. The movie shows you real footage of him and is narrated by those closest to him including his wife Rita Marley and Ziggy Marley and the rest of his children and close friends as they tell his story. There are no acted out scenes in this movie. Most of the movies footage takes place on the island of Jamaica. The film features a lot of Bob Marley’s legendary music which is called Reggae music. Reggae music was developed in the late 1960’s in the island of Jamaica. The music was a development from Ska and Rocksteady, which are both music genre’s from Jamaica. What makes reggae so special and unique and what separates it from just about any music is the rhythmic accents on the off-beat. When the off-beat hits you’ll hear the sounds of the guitar or piano or both. This is called the skank. Reggae music’s pattern accents are on the second or fourth beat and combines with the drums emphasis on beat three. Where most music genre’s especially popular music focuses on beat one which is called the “downbeat.” The way Reggae emphasizes on the third beat creates this very unique and distinct sound on the off beat. Therefore making Reggae music very different than other genres and is what might of made it very popular in the 70’s when Reggae was first established. Some of the basic instruments that are used in Reggae music is the guitar, drums and bass. “Music goes ba ba ba ba, reggae music has 3 beats and then you imagine the 4th (Marley 2012).” The movie starts off in West Africa through its “Door of No Return” this was a journey made by Bob Marley’s ancestors that formed and shaped Marley’s life, what he believed in and his music and
Movie Paper
The film I chose for this project is called “Marley.” This film is a documentary on the life and times of legendary Reggae artist Bob Marley. The film was released earlier this year on April 20. Marley was directed by Kevin MacDonald. In this film MacDonald takes you from Marley’s childhood to his untimely death. The movie shows you real footage of him and is narrated by those closest to him including his wife Rita Marley and Ziggy Marley and the rest of his children and close friends as they tell his story. There are no acted out scenes in this movie. Most of the movies footage takes place on the island of Jamaica. The film features a lot of Bob Marley’s legendary music which is called Reggae music. Reggae music was developed in the late 1960’s in the island of Jamaica. The music was a development from Ska and Rocksteady, which are both music genre’s from Jamaica. What makes reggae so special and unique and what separates it from just about any music is the rhythmic accents on the off-beat. When the off-beat hits you’ll hear the sounds of the guitar or piano or both. This is called the skank. Reggae music’s pattern accents are on the second or fourth beat and combines with the drums emphasis on beat three. Where most music genre’s especially popular music focuses on beat one which is called the “downbeat.” The way Reggae emphasizes on the third beat creates this very unique and distinct sound on the off beat. Therefore making Reggae music very different than other genres and is what might of made it very popular in the 70’s when Reggae was first established. Some of the basic instruments that are used in Reggae music is the guitar, drums and bass. “Music goes ba ba ba ba, reggae music has 3 beats and then you imagine the 4th (Marley 2012).” The movie starts off in West Africa through its “Door of No Return” this was a journey made by Bob Marley’s ancestors that formed and shaped Marley’s life, what he believed in and his music and