final outcomes pt2

I had previously stated i would compare & contrast my first animated documentary with my current animted documentary project, however with deadlines being the same for both projects this will not be practical. SO...

- I will sum up my opinions of the animated documentary genre, how far it has come and where the future lies
- Evaluate the processes involved in creating my first Docu-Animation Spiked & my other Docu-animation Interview with Andrew

my Ani-Documentary on animated documentary!

As part of the practical part of this Research & Development module, i decided to create my own short animated documentary on the subject of....yes thats right animated documentary!

I interviewed fellow animation student Andrew Richardson, asking him about his experiences with his current project 'Sense of Seaburn' a journey along the coast, evocating childhood seaside memories, which is also his first foray into the genre of animated documentary.





(Disclaimer - all background clips are courtesy of & copyright to their parent companies!)

Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace (2007) is a partly-animated film written and directed by Brett Morgen that tells the story of the Chicago Eight.
The film features Actors voices in an animated reenactment of the trial based on transcripts and rediscovered audio recordings, making the film fall in the animated documentary genre. It also contains archive footage of some of the chicago 8 (David Dellinger, Abbie Hoffman, William Kunstler, Jerry Rubin, Bobby Seale, and Leonard Weinglass) and of the protest and riot itself.

Director Brett Morgen interviewed about why he made chicago 10 as an animated documentary

"I was initially drawn to this subject matter for both political and cinematic reasons, I wanted to make a film that would remind people about the importance of exercising one’s constitutional rights. The events in Chicago happened nearly 40 years ago so my goal from the beginning has been to reintroduce this chapter of recent history to a new generation, for they are the ones who will hopefully benefit the most from this story.

Most historical non-fiction is presented as memoir or as a recollection. I like the idea of allowing the audience to experience events as they unfold. This means eschewing talking head interviews and omniscient narration. I think it is important too, when dealing with subjects like Abbie Hoffman, to reveal them as they were seen at the heights of their fame, to preserve the integrity of their youth.

I also didn’t want to make a film that read like CliffsNotes to an era. With eight defendants representing three political organizations and a political convention with three candidates, all set against one of the most complicated political landscapes in recent history, my biggest fear was overwhelming young audiences with a bunch of names and faces that they had never heard of. At the same time, I didn’t want to trivialize the era by giving passing mention to some weighty issues. I knew that this would be somewhat controversial, but once I decided to free myself from the chains of history, I felt that I could make the movie I wanted to make.

I knew that I wanted the audience to “experience” the courtroom rather than hear about it, so that ruled out talking head “eyewitness” interviews, By animating the trial I would not only avoid all of the clichés of historical non-fiction, but I would also be able to make a statement about the circus-like nature of that courtroom".
—Brett Morgen - PBS independent lens Posted 10/2/08

Final outcomes

As part of my practical research practice in this module, I am going to interview a fellow student attempting his first animated documentary and ask for his experiences of the process & his views on this particular genre, I am then going to animate this interview thus creating an animated documentary on animated documentary!!

I will also post my first attempt at an animated documentary the film Spiked (2005) on this blog and also my current project, an animated documentary on Bamburgh castle. Then I will write a reflection on my differing experiences with the two animated documentaries.

Disney: victory through animation

VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER 1943

Victory through air power is a feature length animated propaganda documentary about the strategic use of air power in warfare. it was well recieved at the time and was popular with audiences due to mixing real strategies, interviews & cartoon animations in a particularly Disney style

Roosevelt recognized that film was an effective way to teach and Disney could provide Washington with high quality information. The American people were becoming united and Disney was able to inform them of the situation without presenting excessive chaos, as cartoons often do. The animation was popular among soldiers and was superior to other documentary films and written instructions at the time.

Victory Through Air Power played a significant role for the Disney Corporation because it was the true beginning of educational films. The educational films would be, and still are, continually produced and used for the military, schools, and factory instruction. The company learned how to effectively communicate their ideas and efficiently produce the films while introducing the Disney characters to millions of people worldwide

Graphic novels & Animated documentary

Autobiographical/ Biographical Graphic novels

Persepolis
Persepolis is an interesting case study as the film is not technically an animated documentary, more of an animated memoir, there are scenes that are undoubtedly added to increase entertainment (Marjane dancing through the streets to eye of the tiger im sure did not happen). However it is often categorised within this genre, and is certainly influential. It is yet another high profile example of originating from a graphic novel based around factual biographies, the leap from comic strip to animation has always been around since the birth of film but it is only since the late 80's the Graphic novel has gained credibility. This in turn has led to a new source of biographical tales to adapt into film and with the graphic novel being a blend of literary & Visual artistry it seems the revelant way to adapt into animated film.

"People generally assume that a graphic novel is like a movie storyboard, which of course is not the case. With graphic novels, the relationship between the writer and reader is participatory. In film, the audience is passive. It involves motion, sound, music, so therefore the narrative's design and content is very different.
The look of the film? yes, I guess it could be defined as ‘stylised realism’, because we wanted the drawing to be completely life-like, not like a cartoon. Therefore, unlike a cartoon, we didn't have that much of a margin in terms of facial expressions and movement. This was the message which I was determined to convey to designers and animators".
Marjane Sartrapi on Persepolis

Joe Sacco
Joe Sacco is an award winning war journalist & graphic novelist famous for Palestine, Safe area Goražde and The Fixer
He travelled war zones & captured peoples stories then presented them in a graphic novel format rather than a standard article

History/ historical event Graphic Novels

Hurricane Katrina & 9/11 are just two recent events in history which have been turned into journalistic style graphic novels. where a Live action fiction film would be seen as an cash in & a cheesy survival tale; An animated non-fiction film or graphic novel can accurately portray an illustrated/photographic account of the events, survivors tale & emotionally reach & inform an audience.

AD New Orleans: after the deluge is a webcomic turned Graphic novel about Katrina's effect on New Orleans citizens by Josh Neufeld.
Neufeld draws upon interviews with the actual people represented in the story; newspaper, magazine, and blog accounts of the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina and its effects on New Orleans; and his own experiences as a Red Cross volunteer in the weeks after the storm. The web version of A.D. also utilizes the Internet in a variety of interesting ways to expand the scope of the story beyond the comic itself. Many pages and panels have links to outside sources such as audio and video clips, newspapers stories, photo essays, and the like. The A.D. website also features audio & video clips from the characters, a blogroll, a resource library, and a blog (in addition to a comments section for each chapter)

Brought to light
Brought to light - Shadowplay: The Secret Team written by Alan Moore and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz covers the history of the Central Intelligence Agency and its controversial involvement in the Vietnam War, the Iran-Contra affair, and its relationship with figures like Augusto Pinochet and Manuel Noriega. The narrator of Shadowplay is an aging anthropomorphic American Eagle, a bellicose retired CIA agent.
The way it tells a factual, researched history but through a metaphorical animal character (the eagles as America) marks it out as a kind of renaissance in the way of historical documentary practices. It provides a comprehensive history of a standard documentary approach, with the metaphorical visual characters of a Jan Svankjmaer film. Plans to base films upon it have already been discussed since its publication in 1988. It is my hope that any film would stick to its comic book appropriation of the animated documentary tradition.

Ryan - an Oscar blend of Biography, Animation & Documentary

An interview with Dir Chris Landeth AnimationWorldNetwork May 3, 2004

Ryan is a kind of animated documentary. You integrate photography and live-action footage with animation. When people think of documentary filmmaking, in general, they assume that it’s an objective medium. But a documentarian naturally brings their own perspective to their work. What are the benefits or shortcomings of making a documentary as animation?

CL: One of the elements is that you can add a subjective point of view that you can’t do with live action. I mean, it happens with live action, but it happens in a way that is still very literal, because you’re dealing with the real subjects at hand. But some of the creativity and passion of the story comes when you can change the visuals to reflect in a metaphorical or symbolic way, how the filmmaker, or the author, sees the subject matter.

What were some of the creative and technical challenges in developing and achieving the film? How did the aesthetic vision for the film evolve?

CL: When I was first getting to know Ryan, I got this impression of him that was a very metaphorical one that ultimately became what you see in the film. That started off with a lot of sketches of the appearance that you see, and I also did some self-portraits. Thus you see the interviewer, who looks like me but has all these other things happening on his face and arms and stuff. The other characters that you see in the cafeteria came more gradually later on.

What do you feel is unique about animation, in how audiences relate to it, or in what it’s able to express?

CL: The kind of animation that I’m into stretches the definition of narrative. I think that Ryan does stretch that definition somewhat, in bringing in the documentary aspects, and by adding, I hope seamlessly, this very subjective visual aspect to make something that the audience might find jarring, at first, but they kind of get into the groove of it and go somewhere with it.