Exploring the topic of representation of trauma in the animated documentary, I have looked into several examples of films that stand out in this genre such as Waltz With Bashir (Folman, 2008) and The Sinking of the Lusitania (McCay, 1981). The issues surrounding their aesthetics and factual accounts, as well as the benefits of their animated medium, and taking into account progressive forms that will benefit documentary in the future.
Alternate Links: https://vimeo.com/662300454, https://youtu.be/BeFn2SjwPzI
Methodically reflecting on my research approaches, while taking into account several authors outlooks in my critical report, the subject-specific research felt too broad and perhaps needed to be narrowed down to even further due to the expansive nature. In future, authors such as Bill Nichols who discuss the theories surrounding documentary form itself could be made reference to, to understand what creates the makeup of a successful documentary film; taking this into the application of progressions and areas of improvement in the animated documentary.
Due to Trauma being a psychologically studied aspect going forward into thesis level research, authors such as Ruth Leys (Trauma: A genealogy ) and Cathy Caruth (Trauma: Explorations in Memory) should be looked into for further depth of understanding its application to animation, as well as further into the works of Sigmund Freud. When applying trauma into media settings, Trauma Cinema (Walker, 2005) will be an important book to study as it covers topic of aesthetic representation in realistic and unrealistic settings. Included in this should be Paul Wards Documentary: The Margins of Reality (2006).Aspects such as the Uncanny’s link to animated documentary Ryan (Landreth, 2004) will also pose an interesting point as it uses this aesthetic to benefit its narrative visually. Looking further into ideas of animated documentary and interview and how this style of documentary is benefitted by the animated form due to its anonymous aspects that can suit specific subjects, more so than live-action. The relationship between rotoscope, motion capture and stylizing in supporting factual narrative. Animated films such as Learned by Heart (Takala and Rimminen, 2007) and Sandrinka (Finck and Stoyanov, 2007) look further into the relationship of self and history in terms of collective memory in a similar way to Silence, which as a topic of individualism in historical documentary can be looked into further for a potential thesis topic.
Video games associated with documentaries such as Darfur is Dying (University of Southern California, 2006) and the documentary Molotov Alva and his Search for the Creator (Gayeton, 2007) create a link between viewer and documentary filmmaker in a way that can close the distance traditional forms of animation can produce by immersing viewers into the story and events that it is trying to convey, this could open up new avenues for future pursuits in animated documentary and a future potential research topic. Molotov Alva indicates an ability to create animation and documentary in the world of games, rather than being a game directly in self, that empathises a future in media progression.
Blog Post Tasks
Task 1- Blog Task 1: Story Arcs and Character Archetypes in Coraline- An Analysis – Esme’s Blog (arts.ac.uk)
Task 2- Blog Task 2: Character and Story Development – Esme’s Blog (arts.ac.uk)
Mise-en-Scene research- Research Activity: Mise-En-Scene – Esme’s Blog (arts.ac.uk)
Editing and Animation – Esme’s Blog (arts.ac.uk)
A Short Study into the History of Film, Animation and Visual Effects – Esme’s Blog (arts.ac.uk)
Politics and Animation – Esme’s Blog (arts.ac.uk)
Research Posts
Animated Documentary and Interview – Esme’s Blog (arts.ac.uk)
Rotoscopic Animation in Documentary – Esme’s Blog (arts.ac.uk)
Trauma Representation in Animated Documentary – Esme’s Blog (arts.ac.uk)