Month: November 2022

Horness Roe. A. (2013, Animated Documentary) argues that documentary authenticity is “deeply related to the notion of realism and evidence of real events in documentary images”. There is an indexical relationship between documentary images and reality. If the images are evidence of real events and conform to the concept of realism, then the documentary is real.

I guess the author wanted to convey that the subject matter and concept of the documentary was to be drawn from evidence of real events. But it doesn’t have to be expressed in exactly the same way as the real event, the documentary can use a variety of perspectives and techniques to present the real point of view and content. A documentary is authentic if it is based on the public perception that the content is historically accurate.

An animated documentary that I don’t think is very documentary-like

Britannia is an animated short film that has a deep connection to the concept of realism and the images it presents have a deep connection to the concept of realism.

Despite its lack of objectivity, the content of this short animation is an objective representation of the historical situation. The author uses a flexible animation technique to show another dimension of the historical process. This particular approach has some implications for the authenticity of the content, but I think it is positive in the sense of a documentary.

Although this animated documentary is not in line with traditional documentaries in many respects, it is a much simpler and more direct way for the viewer to understand the history. It diminishes the seriousness of the situation, but does not change the objective facts. On the contrary, it makes you think and reflect after watching it. So I think it’s a good documentary.

Generation – A experimental short film

• Categorisation

Generation is a unique two-minute experimental animation that manages to provide a thought-provoking reflection on life, while also showcasing how AI technology can be used to good effect. A mixture of animation and dance, soundtracked by a celestial voiceover.

• Form and Function

Opening on black, as we hear that aforementioned narration declare “and then she opened her eyes again”, Generation then cuts to its lead character, who at first we believe to be a “normal” woman, before discovering she’s actually much more. On the 17-second mark she starts to mutate and it’s just another 10 until she has exploded totally and transformed into an ever-changing jumbles of lights, particles and textures. The voiceover helps us to understand all that she represents, but it’s the combination of all elements of production that make this such a powerful watch.

The artist’s intention was to design a film with an infinite loop. Because of the amount of content in each frame, the author wanted the audience to watch it slowly.

• Process

The whole short film uses dance as the main subject, the author has made a secondary drawing of the dancer and filled in her silhouette with animation and film footage. This is complemented by the use of AI technology, which is used to create detailed and complex illustrations for each frame.

• Formal Elements

Generation uses a lot of extended space to control the rhythm of the film, using animation and AI to constantly change the image to present different compositions and colour&light contrasts from second to second. The movement of the dancers and the narration are used throughout the film, but also provide an extremely compelling experience.