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

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

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Soundtracks

"The Crunge"
Performed by Led Zeppelin
Written by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Now, who's the king of digging?

The omission of Jazzy Jeff, the creator of the chirp and transformer scratch, raised a few eyebrows, but it's good to see he made it to the extras of the DVD after all. With SCRATCH, Doug Pray, who previously chronicled the grunge phenomenon of the '90s in HYPE (1996), made an excellent documentary about the world of the hip-hop DJ and the evolution of turntablism. His latest documentary, INFAMY (2005), explores contemporary American graffiti culture. After a couple of viewings four years ago, my DVD had been gathering dust ever since, but recently I watched it again and besides the subject material, I was surprised how well-shot and edited this documentary actually is. An immensely enjoyable soundtrack as well and not just talking heads, but lots of music, old school footage, parties, break dancing, you name it. One of the best things about the film, is that it mainly examines where the art of turntablism is today (in 2001 that is), without disregarding the pioneers of course. Good stuff.

Camera Obscura --- 8/10