A comparative analysis of the contemporary documentary films Ryan and Waltz with Bashir as animated representations of autobiographical reality
Date
2010-07-30T08:51:15Z
Authors
Mills, Robert
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Abstract
Abstract
This research paper aims to explore the nature and implications of two animated
films where graphic depiction is used to document the complexities of an
individual’s account of non-fictional events and situations. Within this position of
animation and actuality, a “reality”1 is represented2 by the unreal3 in the form of
created (not captured) moving picture images, and therefore the elements found
in the live action dominated documentary genre are significantly affected.
Animation has become a more acceptable form of documentary filmmaking in the
context of postmodernist scepticism about the traditional claims of
representation. However, its uniqueness in this situation has led to further
developments in the dominant mode of discourse creation within this genre.
These developments will be explored in relation to contemporary scholarship in
the field of animation. Certain theoretical postulates will then be invoked to set up
a comparison between the two films chosen for case study, seen as examples of
the subjective4 in animated representations of individuals’ realities, so as to
identify and describe their contribution to the contemporary documentary genre.
The essential research question may thus be posed as follows: how do these two
animated films contribute towards the present notion of actuality representation,
through a postmodern autobiographical style, within the developing
contemporary documentary genre?
1 What we know, understand and share with each other about the external world.
2 A creation that is a visual or tangible rendering of someone or something.
3 Man-made and invented, not merely captured from reality on a medium like film.
4 Indicating a dependence on personal taste or view.
More specifically, the use made of verbal audio interviews within the animation
processes in the case studies will be compared in order to address this question,
because it is the particular use of interviews (and through them, the contributions
to collective memory made by the interviewees) that really sets these two films
apart from other autobiographical accounts within animation.