Landesman explains that, “it is the viewer who ultimately determines the mode of engagement with the object at stake, sizing things up and settling the balance between fiction and reality.” 2 As Landesman argues, viewers’ engagement with hybrid films involves a negotiation of multiple registers or meaning that may or may not include scrutinizing the footage’s veracity. As a result, the film’s classification as a “hyperreal gangster drama” reaches a broader audience without detracting from its social value. Whether the footage is dramatized or real, the onscreen presence of illegal guns and drugs, and images of the Bluff’s squalor indexes material realities that register social meanings.
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In his scholarship on hybrid documentaries, film scholar Ohad Landesman points out, “the hybridity between fact and fiction in reality TV is often achieved through an aesthetic ‘illusion,’ where shaky handheld camera and unmediated spontaneous action create the impression of a privileged representation of authenticity inside a fictional and staged environment.” 1 However, because Snow on tha Bluff captures illegal activities and illicit spaces, its shaky handheld aesthetic signals a direct mediation rather than privileged representation of authenticity. You take real people, and you have real stories and you’re fudging things to try to make them interesting for TV.”Įmphasizing ambiguity and its attachment to hyperrealism has direct ties to reality television. In an interview earlier this year, Russell commented on his background saying, “people complain about reality TV, but actually it’s kind of an interesting form. Russell’s background in reality TV, producing reality docu-dramas like A&E’s The First 48 contributes to Snow on tha Bluff’s hybrid style. Recognizing the marketing limitations of documentary classifications and styles, the film’s utilization of fictionalized narrative provides an accessible framework for reality TV audiences.
Recognizing The Wire’s ready-made audiences’ preferences, Snow on tha Bluff frames itself as an extension of pre-existing social dialogues concerning crime, poverty, and racial relations, while simultaneously promoting itself as a more authentic, “grittier” ‘hood’ experience. For example, the movie’s upcoming Blu-ray package release featuring Rolling Out Magazine’s blurb “grittier than The Wire” demonstrates the complex relationship between Tha Bluff and The Wire.
Tha Bluff’s promotion teams are attempting to further leverage Williams’ fame and ties to The Wire by positioning itself in relation to the show’s established acclaim. In other words, Williams, like Snow, added ‘street cred’ to their respective projects.
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Williams’ personal history of childhood homelessness in New York City and prevalent facial scar, which was sustained in a bar fight, added credence to the series and their fans’ claims of authenticity. Wire fans cite the shows’ authenticity and relation to real events as reasons they enjoyed the series. Williams stated he was attracted to the project because he viewed Snow as the “real live Omar Little.” Williams’ promotion of Snow as an authentic embodiment of Omar Little through social media platforms primed the market, and especially Wire fans, for Tha Bluff’s mainstream release. Williams, who played Omar Little from the acclaimed series The Wire, contacted Snow and Russell after seeing several poignant YouTube clips. Snow on tha Bluff’s executive producer, Michael K. Ultimately, the film’s widespread appeal can be, at least in part, attributed to marketing Tha Bluff within a hyperreal framework following the film’s mainstream DVD and digital streaming release. Despite its controversial subject and non-conventional narrative, Snow on tha Bluff was the most watched film on Netflix Instant on September 11, 2012. Snow on tha Bluff premiered at the 2011 Slamdance festival, and gained widespread distribution on June 19, 2012, making it available on DVD, digital download, and instant steaming via Netflix, iTunes, and Amazon. Shortly after, Russell and Snow constructed a lightly fictionalized narrative around Snow’s footage and began shooting dramatized scenes. The project began when Curtis Snow contacted director Damon Russell, requesting help editing hours of raw footage documenting his everyday life. Snow steals the kids’ video camera and begins filming his daily activities in the Bluff. The film begins with Snow robbing robbing three young people, who obviously don’t come from the Bluff, attempting to buy drugs.
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Tha Bluff seamlessly combines raw footage with dramatized scenes, following real life crack dealer and stickup man, Curtis Snow. Atlanta’s most dangerous neighborhood, the Bluff, acronym for “Better Leave You Fucking Fool,” is the setting for Netflix-described “hyperreal gangster drama,” Snow on tha Bluff (2011).