Scratch (2001)

A feature-length documentary film about hip-hop DJing, otherwise known as turntablism. From the South Bronx in the 1970s to San Francisco now, the world's best scratchers, beat-diggers, ... See full summary »

Director:

Doug Pray

Stars:

Marc 7, Afra, Carlos Aguilar

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Marc 7	...	Himself - Jurassic 5
Afra	...	Himself
Carlos Aguilar	...	Himself (as DJ Quest)
Akil	...	Himself - Jurassic 5
The Allies	...	Themselves
Almighty K.G.	...	Himself
Babu	...	Himself - Dilated Peoples / Beat Junkies (as DJ Babu)
Afrika Bambaataa	...	Himself
The Beat Junkies	...	Themselves (as Beat Junkies)
Jon Bernson	...	Himself
Shannon Bruno	...	Herself (as DJ Shortee)
John Carluccio	...	Himself - Director
DJ Craze	...	Himself
Frank Cuevas	...	Himself (as DJ Cue)
DJ Curse	...	Himself

Storyline

A feature-length documentary film about hip-hop DJing, otherwise known as turntablism. From the South Bronx in the 1970s to San Francisco now, the world's best scratchers, beat-diggers, party-rockers, and producers wax poetic on beats, breaks, battles, and the infinite possibilities of vinyl.

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Plot Keywords:

hip hop | d.j. | rap | turntable

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Doug Pray Metropolitan Films (French)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 2001 (France)

Filming Locations:

National Orange Show Event Center, San Bernardino, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Firewalks Film, Magic Lamp, Ridgeway Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

To create the "scratched" sequences in the film (where a person during an interview suddenly speaks as if the film itself is being scratched), director Doug Pray sent audio clips which had been recorded onto vinyl to DJ Q-bert, who scratched them, and sent the recordings back to Pray. Pray then edited the interviews to match the scratched sound.

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Crazy Credits

Apologies and respect to the many great DJ's and others who we were unable to be included in this film.

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Connections

Followed by Scratch All the Way Live (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Bronx Theme"
Performed by DJ CAM
Courtesy of DJ CAM

User Reviews

Shows rather than informs, but works very well

I'm sort of target audience for this documentary film and I was looking forward to it as I knew a good handful of the names listed as involved but at the same time my knowledge of the subject only goes as far as "I know what I like and I like this", rather than some encyclopedia of names and dates. As such I was looking forward to the film filling me in with this a bit – which is good because this is what it does, a bit.

I say a bit because the 90 minute film is not really a documentary in the sense that it is totally fact based and all about informing – it is not. It does still have talking heads, a timeline and a structured way of looking at the subject in chapters of a sort, but it didn't actually inform too much beyond the basics. This will limit the appeal of the film a little bit as those that know their stuff in this regard may take exception at some of the people not included in the film and also some of the things stated as facts to do with origins etc. What the film does do well though is to try and translate why the viewer should care about this subject and to a point the film seems designed to make some inroads into the view that scratching is just noise, that it isn't music and doesn't "count" (whatever that means) and that it isn't worth their time. It does this by having a lot of footage from live events and contests which really capture the talent of those involved and show how it works in reality.

This footage is mostly very good with plenty to be impressed by and the film constructs around them using talking heads in the normal fashion. These interviews are not the most informative but people speak with passion and are natural in a way that helps. I also liked that the film was able to show the multi-cultural and multi-racial nature of the scene, rather than just saying it. The direction is good and the film is edited together well with good pace and scene selection – the visual scratching thing didn't do much for me personally, but it wasn't overly used.

Scratch isn't a great documentary in the traditional sense, but it works very well with the subject using the interviews to explain and structure while using live footage to show (not just say) why this is something that deserves your attention.