The form of documentaries about musicians is changing. The days of just performance footage are long past, due to the ability of viewers to access clips of concerts on their own all over the internet. Now, it is crucial for these documentaries to show a side of the musicians that was overlooked, misunderstood, or just unknown. 

At this past weekend‰’s Camp Flog Gnaw 2014 in Los Angeles, Tyler, the Creator released one hundred DVD copies of a 30-minute video documenting the creation of his recent album Wolf. The video, uploaded to YouTube by a concertgoer, has already gone viral. Ironically, the rapper posted on Instagram with a teaser of the film saying “Yeah this most likely won‰’t end up on the internet so yeah.‰”

If you‰’re at all familiar with Tyler, the Creator, you know he‰’s a goofy dude, to say the least. The documentary consists of the kind of guys I was friendly with in high school, just hangin’ around wreaking havoc, but mainly making fools of themselves. To parallel the silly stuff, there‰’s a decent amount of screen time showing Tyler in the studio trying things out and getting his tracks to where he wants them to be. Clips of the crew’s amateur skateboard tricks are sliced in between snippets of him in the studio. 

Courtesy of Hypetrak.

Maybe the antithesis of Tyler the Creator, Elliott Smith, is the focus of another new documentary, Heaven Adores You. When I first listened to Elliott Smith, I had not yet learned that he’d died in 2003. So hearing there would not be a new album anytime soon was heartbreaking. By far the most interesting aspect of the film is the unveiling of never-before-heard Elliott Smith songs. One of the tracks, “Ocean”, was recorded when Smith was just fourteen years old.

(Find a screening near you here)

The director, Nickolas Rossi, is from Portland, the city that most influenced Smith‰’s songwriting. Rightfully so, Rossi concentrates the efforts of the film on Smith‰’s music and the people he is survived by instead of the details of his death. Heaven Adores You features thoughtful interviews with Smith‰’s family and friends. It would have easy for Rossi to focus on the drug use and last few years of Smith‰’s life, but there is something far more beautiful about a positive perspective and the effects Elliot Smith has left on the world to this day. Elliot Smith was a storyteller and his story is being told again.

Courtesy of Magnet.

The emotional difference between a film starring a living protagonist in real time and a posthumous documentary is not as much as one may think. While Heaven Adores You may not feature the antics of the Odd Future crew, it is not that much sadder. Rossi‰’s film seeks to celebrate the life and music of Elliot Smith similar to how Tyler the Creator‰’s film wants to entertain his listeners and invite them into his world.