Background
0 Born 1957 in Atlanta
0 Family soon moved to NYC and lived in Brooklyn
neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Cobble Hill and Fort
Greene
“In a few of his feature films, Lee uses his intimate
knowledge of these racially integrated Brooklyn
neighborhoods to dramatize the sometimes violent
encounters that occur between African Americans and their
nonblack New York City neighbors” (Mark Reid,
“Introduction: The Films of Shelton J. Lee,” Spike Lee’s Do the
Right Thing, 1).
Education
0 Attended all-male, historically black Morehouse
College, graduating with BA in mass communications
in 1979
0 Interned at Columbia Pictures, summer 1979
0 Entered NYU film school fall 1979, completing
master’s thesis film, Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut
Heads, in 1981
0 Film won Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
Student Academy Awards Dramatic Merit Award (1983)
and debuted at Lincoln Center’s “New Directors, New
Films” series (1983)
Films Before Do the Right Thing
40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
(named for Special Field Order 15).
Hires Ernest Dickerson, NYU
classmate and cinematographer of
Joe’s, as cinematographer for most of
company’s films
0 Participation of family members in
early Lee film projects: sister Joie
(actor), father Bill (composer),
brothers David (still photographer)
and Cinque (crew)
0 She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
0 Story: Woman who attempts to
maintain sexual relationships with 3
men
0 Distributor: Island Pictures
0 Budget: $175,000 | Domestic box
office: $8,000,000
0 Winner: Best New Director, Cannes
Film Festival (1986)
Screenshot Source: DVD Beaver
0 1986: Lee forms production company,
Films Before Do the Right Thing
School Daze (1988)
0 Story: Based on Lee’s
experiences at Morehouse
College, film highlights tension
between light- and darkskinned African American
students, frequently in musical
numbers
0 Distributor: Columbia Pictures
0 Budget: $6.5 million | Domestic
box office: $14 million
0 Lee critiques Columbia for poor
promotion of film during studio
head shift from Puttnum and
Picker to Dawn Steel
Image source: Ash Magazine
Lee as Merchandiser
0 Lee himself publicizing
School Daze at all-black
higher education
institutions
0 40 Acres and A Mule
selling companion
books to Lee films, as
well as t-shirts, caps,
and other apparel
0 Lee starring in and
directing commercials
for Nike
Screen capture of 1991 “Do You Know?”
Air Jordan commerical from YouTube
Do The Right Thing
Preproduction
0 Lee composing script journal and writing script in late
1987/early 1988
0 Early 1988: Lee submits Do The Right Thing script to studios for
preproduction bidding. Wants negative pickup deal—with studio
purchasing distribution rights prior to film’s production.
Negative pickup deal allows director final cut
0 Script making potential investors hesitant, with Paramount
wanting change to ending and eventually turning down project
when Lee refused
0 Touchstone not seeing film as profit-making vehicle; also declines
0 Universal buys rights for less than Lee had planned to budget,
but accepts script as-is and strikes mutual agreement deal for
casting (film featured no major stars)
Do The Right Thing
Production
0 Budget: $6.5 million
0 Average studio-financed production budget in 1989=
$18 million
0 Domestic box office=$27.5 million
0 Location shooting in Brooklyn, NYC, which required
negotiation with strong film trade unions
0 8-week shoot during summer 1988 on single block in
Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood (with Sal’s Famous
Pizzeria, the Korean grocery store and We Love Radio
sets built on two empty lots)
Do The Right Thing
Post-Production
0 Nominated for best supporting actor and original
screenplay Oscars
0 Nominated for Cannes Palme d’Or (sex, lies and videotape
wins)
0 Won LA Film Critics Best Director, Best Picture, Best Music
and Best Supporting Actor (Aiello) awards
0 Film’s critical success and box-office profits encouraging
mainstream studio investment in low-budget films made
by African American directors, including House Party
(Hudlin 1990), Boyz N the Hood (Singleton 1991), New Jack
City (Mario Van Peebles1991), Menace II Society (Hughes
Brothers1993), Juice (Dickerson 1992)
Do The Right Thing Screening
Screenshot from Do the Right Thing: DVD Beaver
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Color palette and its effects
Music aligned with particular characters
Racial and ethnic representation in multi-cultural story world
Form—radical or conventional (or mix)—and effect?
Editing: connections/contrasts between shots and scenes
Social context in mise-en-scene and narrative