Writing Animated Documentary: A Theory of Practice

Paul Wells Abstract Academy, School of Arts, English & This short discussion provides some introducto- Drama, Loughborough University ry remarks on writing for the documentary form in animation. Taking into account theories of the place of animation in utilitarian films, avant-gar- de works and the essay film, the analysis, based on auto-ethnographic insights, provides some methods and approaches to developing animat- ed documentary work. These include ‘Making Animation Choices’, ‘Staging in Space’, ‘Using Attachment and Detachment’, developing ‘Epi- sodic lists and Micro-Narratives’, and deploying ‘Transition and Associative Relations’. The anal- ysis seeks to show that these approaches to the animated documentary reveal and evidence a theory of practice, and a practice of theory.

Keywords: Non-Fiction Essay; Auto- Ethnography; Public Engagement; Occasion ;Purpose; Addressee; Document; Non-Fictional Dramaturgy

6 Documentary Stories… sion or as an application in its own right the crucial role of the practitioner in has not been fully considered. In the fol- choosing and organizing the material; Though animation theorists and histori- lowing discussion, then, I wish to identify a mode of practice in this instance that ans have long argued about the impor- specific approaches to writing animated borrows freely from what are arguably tance of animation per se in many areas documentary, using theoretical concepts the “guru” templates in defining structure of social and cultural expression over its as tools of practice, and identifying prac- in Hollywood narratives, written by Field, long history, it is only comparatively re- tical applications, illustrated through the Vogler, McKee and their like.1 Bernard cently that animation’s self-evident role perspectives of practitioners and my sees such work as plot or character driv- in public engagement has been proper- own screenwriting practice in the form en or question-led, but just as concerned ly acknowledged. Animation has been on a film entitledThe Oil Kid (Hakim Farai, with exposition, character arcs (devel- used in most production cultures world- Norway, forthcoming). One further, and opment and transformation), narrative wide in public information films, pro- significant addition here, is also the rec- spine, theme, and resolution as any typi- paganda, public display, infotainment, lamation of what are sometimes regard- cal film story-telling. Bernard essentially commercials, and to use Heidiger and ed as “How To” or “technical” manuals as treats non-fiction as fiction at the struc- Vonceault’s term, “films that work” (see formal theories of practice, hugely im- tural level, and in this way points the doc- Hediger & Vonderau, 2009), for over one portant in acknowledging the intellectual umentary towards an overt declaration hundred years. characteristics of creative endeavour; of its subjectivity, and its affiliation with so often unrecognised in traditional or the essayistic. Laura Rascaroli has use- Animation has also played a constituent orthodox approaches to understanding fully addressed and related these tropes part in many documentaries, in texts with and using (critical) theory. in her consideration of “the personal documentary tendencies, and in its own camera” (see Rascaroli 2009), while right as “animated documentary,” though To take but one immediate example, Scott Macdonald, extends this further again the latter’s very existence has only film-maker, Shelia Curran Bernard, refus- by looking at intersections of documen- but recently been accepted as proven es to deeply problematise documentary, tary and avant-garde cinema (see Mac- and valid. (see Skoller, 2011; Kriger 2012; merely arguing that documentary is an donald 2015) as a way of thinking about Honess-Roe, 2013). For those prac- act of storytelling like any other, but us- documentary when situated as “art” or titioners who have always principally ing “actuality” as its materials. She notes, as an experimental form, and within the worked in the documentary-styled form, parameters of arts culture. This perspec- animation has always been a ready tool Story does not have to mean tive on documentary has been reinforced of expression, and helped facilitate highly three-act drama, and it definitely by Julian Stallabrass’ collection of core progressive texts, but for the most part, does not mean artificial tension papers and essays that define the form the theorisation of documentary practice that is imposed from without. Sto- as a model of contemporary art. (see has been characterised by the address ry comes organically from within Stallabrass 2013). 2Crucially, these three of its core – travelogue, cinema the material and the ways in which texts are based upon and include the per- verité, fly-on-the-wall, screen-journalism, you, the filmmaker, structure it spectives of practitioners, and in all cas- docu-drama, observational actuality, etc. (Bernard 2007:10) es may be viewed as auto-ethnographic – and the place of animation, either used reflections on making documentary as an additional component of expres- This approach immediately foregrounds without any self-consciousness about

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subjectivity, indexical relativity or the il- mated documentary, and to articulate form, and its overt artifice only signifies lusionist artifice in creating a documen- some perspectives upon the outset of a that someone has obviously crafted the tary text. This lack of self-consciousness project. It is clear that the animated doc- film, though this may not lend it “- serves to authenticate such texts as umentary cannot be divorced from its ist” credentials at the level of a unique or authored works, privileging the creator conditions of production, since this may particular vision or style. It is pertinent of the work as an empirical presence, relate to a specific context, sponsor, or to consider though, that whoever has providing inquiry, discourse and point of socio-political outlook, but the contexts constructed the film, must indeed - con view. Not merely does this facilitate the of use may vary, for example, becoming sider occasion, purpose and addressee. idea that animated documentary has the a “festival” film, an artwork, a vehicle for It is this which starts to distinguish the same authenticity in sharing such terms information and training, an educational text from not merely being “art” by an and conditions, but also points to the text for knowledge transfer, etc. Indeed, artist but a text by a publically engaged way in which such texts reveal in their this may lend the films to be subject to animation film-maker creating a socially necessary need for research, procedural “aesthetic analysis,” and as such, authen- directed model of documentary work. development, signature expression and ticate themselves more within the orga- “Occasion” in this instance, should not implied argument, a direct audio-visual nizational power or institutional context only be seen as the inciting moment or analogue to written non-fiction essays. of arts culture, which essentially verifies reason for the film, but as the key point It is on these premises, and using the them, rather than sometimes the disci- in which is it is considered why the film cited texts and examples, that I wish to plines or social contexts they represent. should be made in animation. Animation discuss animated documentary practice To play “devil’s advocate,” this sometimes is a complex and labour intensive form, as a singular form of public engagement. diminishes their achievement because and ultimately, should only be employed the text is often more interrogated for its if its distinctive vocabulary is appropri- form, rather than its content. In recent ate to representing the topic, subject or Films That Work years, this is changing as the animated idea in a way that significantly differs As Hediger and Vonderau have pointed documentary gains increasing credibility from using “.” These may be out industrial, utility and public informa- for what the “form” can uniquely achieve highly pragmatic reasons related to the tion films “cannot be divorced from the in relation to “content,” an issue that is at need to re-construct events that have conditions of their production and the the heart of this discussion. no extant record, or providing visual ev- contexts of their use. Far from constitut- idence in support of anecdotal or statis- ing self-sufficient entities for aesthetic Further, Elsaesser insists that more util- tical evidence, or simply about preferred analysis [these] films have to be under- itarian films have auftrag (an occasion), aesthetic outcomes, but such consider- stood in terms of their specific, usually anlass (a purpose) and adressat (an ad- ations insist upon deciding what the use organizational, purpose, and in the very dressee), and not an auteur (see Hediger of animation helps to actually achieve in context of power and organizational & Vonderau (eds)19-34) It is immediately the film that cannot be achieved in any practice in which they appear” (Hediger & clear that the animated documentary other way. This in itself may be conten- Vonderau (eds) 2009:10). This perspec- benefits from self-reflexively foreground- tious – especially for those who might tive provides a useful starting place to ing its implied authorship. There may be hold a highly “purist” notion of docu- both delineate the differences between a finer distinction to make by suggesting mentary insisting upon the use of “as more utilitarian applications and ani- that animation is an inherently rhetorical it happens” footage – but as I will seek

8 Writing Animated Documentary: A Theory of Practice Paul Wells

to demonstrate animation does have Their intention was that the film should situated, and as part of reclamation and distinctive tools and applications at its essentially talk to customers and clients. critical redress of such work, there is an disposal that privilege a particular enun- This was complicated further by the fact underpinning desire to resist its previ- ciative documentary register. that a consultant on the project, and ously ephemeral status. The role of the author of the memoir on which the film “practitioner-historian” becomes vital in The sense of “purpose” in making an was partially based, Aslak Sira Myhre, this work, placing an imperative on the animated documentary may take on was both a previously unquestioning “oil practitioner to become the historian of a number of guises; first, the simple kid” brought up during the core period their own work, evidencing the process, imperative to complete a specific kind of the major developments in the oil in- the research, the technique, the material of labour-centred aesthetic work; sec- dustry, only to later become a leftist po- resource, the creative decisions, the con- ond, to achieve a particular outcome litical activist, questioning the oil indus- text of production, reception etc. These in foregrounding specific knowledge, try’s politics and economy. Myhre saw are the aspects of the work that repre- arguments, conclusions and opinions; the addressee as someone like himself; sent and evidence “record (institutional and third, to speak directly to a named previously naïve, now properly informed, memory), rhetoric (governance) and ratio- or known addressee beyond the idea of and socially committed to a political nalization (optimizing process)” (Hediger an audience, the general public, or the agenda. All of this before the impact of & Vonderau (eds) 2009:11). First, then public sphere per se. In my own practice the “creatives” who wanted to make an the way in which animated documenta- on The Oil Kid which I will assess later, animated film in a particular way as an ry operates as a model of personal, so- for example, this was made complex enhancement of their expertise in techni- cial and institutional memory; second, in that the co-sponsors wanted slightly cal animation into more character based as it reflects aspects of the relationship different outcomes – the Oil Museum narrative work., that would both satisfy between individuals and governing bod- in Stavanger, Norway, required a film their artistic aspirations and reach new ies; and crucially, thirdly, how such texts that rendered the social history of the potential markets for their skills. The evidence their own form as a matter of oil industry in a fair and balanced way, scriptwriter – in this case, me ! – has to record; in this instance prompting the mediated through a personal story, and reconcile these influences, therefore, to idea of identifying just exactly what the largely working as an educational piece speak to a number of addressees. and “document” is in animated documentary, to show to the general public in a muse- to satisfy the requirements of import- and how it informs a particular procedur- um. The sponsors from the Oil industry ant collaborative partners. At all points, al engagement. itself, though, required an outcome that then, occasion, purpose and addressee viewed the oil industry favorably, and become on-going considerations in the Tools as Technique were fearful that a representation of the creative process. tragic disasters that have attended the It is always useful to note what anima- advance of the industry over the years, The animated documentary, for all its tion offers as a distinctive form of ex- would set too negative a tone, and un- enunciative aesthetics, though, like any pression. Much of my own work over the dermine both what had been achieved other documentary remains an act of years, and the work of other colleagues, socially, culturally and materially through social record. Like the more utilitarian has been dedicated to this task, but rath- oil revenue, and the reputation of the ma- applications in public information or in- er than re-state the key principles of such jor companies in the contemporary era. dustrial training films, it is still historically texts, it is worthwhile seeking out a more

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pertinent historical antecedent in this re- tism, radar and other physical properties are effectively “tools” that the animation gard as an example of both the difficulty characterised by laws not visible to the scriptwriter or practitioner can adopt as in bringing animation into social, artistic eye can be rendered clear and apparent. ways of creating the documentary text, and commercial discussions, and the Halas suggests that animation can also and fundamentally characterise the ways it seeks to convince its more igno- “penetrate” interior workings of the body ways in which key issues and complex rant or sceptical attendants of its partic- or a machine, or other kinds of complex ideas may be addressed. ular value. Writing in 1951, John Halas, inner state (dream, memory, conscious- of the Halas & Batchelor Studio in the ness, fantasy) and provide a literal and John Canemaker, film-maker, histori- UK, sought to theorise the distinctive- conceptual interpretation that enables an, and creator of the autobiographical ness of the form when he tried to con- them to be more readily understood. quasi-documentary, The Moon and the vince industry, business and education Further, by “selecting” an aspect of a Son: An Imagined Conversation (Dir: John of the value of animation as a specific scene or scenario to be visualised this Canemaker, USA, 2005), has engaged language of expression and communi- can be accentuated or brought into the with these ideas intuitively and con- cation, and crucially, one that could sup- foreground for effect; thus, it might be sciously in his own work. He suggests, port serious messages. In a publication “exaggerated” or “transformed” to better – “Management” – dedicated to industri- reveal its properties or significance. All I also worked on a film called al issues, he suggested that animation’s these elements can be contextualised Break the Silence, which was key characteristics were: within various time-frames – things can a film about child abuse; it be represented from the long past and was a CBS film. Animation is • Symbolisation of Objects and Human projected easily into the future, perhaps something which can personify Beings on the one hand, depicting extinct fau- thought, it can become emo- • Picturing the Invisible na and flora, or on the other, re-imagin- tions. I talked with them about • Penetration ing nature in one thousand years time finding the places where we • Selection, Exaggeration and Transfor- as a consequence of current ecological could do that. They said “Yes, be- mation issues and effects. The speed and time cause we don’t want to show the • Showing the Past and Predicting the in which this is presented can also be abuse as it happened, we want Future varied – a split-second can be extended to show how it felt to the chil- • Controlling Speed and Time (Cited in while millions of years can be truncated, dren.” We were able to do that – Halas & Wells 2006:160) into a minute or two. The can when a child was being set upon This is a very helpful “check-list” of quali- intervene in these timeframes, also, ac- by his father, being beat up by his ties specific to the animated form. Sym- celerating or showing in slow motion father with a belt – I created an bolism can work to clarify and simplify particular details. Halas’ theories rein- octopus that had many belts on an idea - a flag can represent a nation; force the control the animator has in its “hands” and would chase af- a moving arrow, the direction of an invis- constructing an artificial world that can ter the children and would swing ible force, like the wind; a single iconic be determined on its own terms and these huge belts at the children. soldier, the military ambitions of a whole conditions, and with varying degrees That gave a psychological as- country. Such devices can “picture the of “realism” or to the point of complete pect to it. When a little girl was invisible,” too. Sound waves, magne- abstraction.3 These conceptual ideas sexually abused, I was able to

10 Writing Animated Documentary: A Theory of Practice Paul Wells

do research and found out that ment” of how it feels to be abused as of crucial importance in the animated people who draw their trauma – a child. This is but one example of the documentary is the use of sound. All both children and adults – have ways in which the core principle of ani- animation soundtracks are by definition several motifs. Some are genita- mation can be adopted to the tenets of non-diegetic, though animated films are lia, some are giant eyes because documentary work. made to ape live action conditions and there’s no privacy, and some are conventions in this regard after the fact. drawings of hands. From that Arguably, all documentary is to a certain The role, function and status of the in- research, I was able to put to- extent ideologically charged and poten- terview is at the heart of much debate gether this huge blue hand that tially politically motivated; conditions, about animated documentary since it of- comes into the child’s bedroom, ironically, which are sometimes seem- ten operates as the key indexical link to steals the covers off the bed, ingly anathema to the artist. Canemaker “reality,” especially when it is the voice of takes the teddy bear and throws though, readily articulates the ideologi- a specific witness, a known expert or crit- it away, and then covers over the cal imperatives and outcomes by delin- ic, an authoritative or relevant child with the giant hand. (Kriger eating the creative process – thereafter, observer. Film-maker, Dennis Tupicoff, is 2012:49) how documentary work reveals itself especially astute on this aspect of pro- through animation. Robert Coles insists, duction, as it informs one of the most no- Note here Canemaker’s application of however, that “put differently, what kind table of recent animated documentaries, Halas’ animation tools – the octopus as of moral or psychological accountability His Mother’s Voice (Dir: Dennis Tupicoff, a symbol of multiple “beatings” by using should we demand of ourselves, or who Australia, 1997), featuring a deeply af- the visual echo of its tentacles as belts; lay claim to social idealism, or to a doc- fecting radio interview of mother Kathy picturing “child abuse” through the syn- umentary tradition that (we hope) will Easdale, as she describes the realisation ecdoche of the giant blue hand of the work towards a social good? – expose and impact of the death of her son in a abuser; penetrating the psychology of injustice, shed light on human suffer- shooting incident. Tupicoff – in the spirit the abused by drawing upon research ing or contribute to a growing body of of both traditional and avant garde doc- on common visual motifs representing knowledge stored in libraries, in muse- umentary, uses the interview twice, the their pain and anxiety; selecting the ten- ums, in film studios” (Coles 1997:74). first time, ostensibly literally illustrating tacle and the hand to exaggerate and The answer to this question, in my view, the mother’s version of events; the sec- transform into the emblematic actions is that “moral or psychological account- ond time, playing out its psychological of abuse; using animation to reveal and ability” resides in the ideologically and and emotional implications by drawing illustrate a “past” made invisible by the artistically driven investment in making scenes in which the boy may once have perpetrators of abuse, but anticipating a an animated documentary, since its aes- been present and is now absent; the “future” that prevents such behaviour in theticization is a marker of its authorial world left behind, now only haunted by the future; drawing long periods of pain insight and an acknowledgement of a his spirit. Tupicoff believed this was pos- and suffering into the relief of concise, methodology by which ethical and social sible to do because of the strong rhythm momentary, but powerful representa- responsibility is articulated and made he detected and believed occurred in the tional imagery, that directs attention to clear, and thereafter open to interpreta- transition between her place as a wit- unspeakable and unspoken about acts, tion and evaluation. ness, and her development into a “sto- here now a matter of record, a “docu- One aspect that Halas neglects, but is ryteller” as she implicitly rehearsed the

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narrative in its telling to others in the ten Tupicoff identifies in her narrative, and work, or for any creative process not to day period between the incident and the which becomes the essential “subject” be characterised by problem solving interview. He notes, in his creative deployment of the second and reflective re-engagement with, and play of the interview, is a marker of the modification of the work. With my “aca- We all speak in a kind of rhythm. transformation from surprise / shock to demic” head on, I have long years of be- In her monologue that you hear grief / loss, and the significant shift from ing taught and reading about “research in the film, she speaks for six and the “particular” to the “universal”; from methods,” and apply these to conven- a half minutes without a break the “record” of events to a “document” tional models of developing material for in that rhythm. In fact, you can that invites common empathy from books and articles, but with my “screen- tap it out on your knee, and you’ll all who have known the death of those writer / practitioner” head on, I have see that it’s twenty six frames who they have deeply loved. It is the very always sought advice and techniques per beat, without a break – until “subjectivity” enabled by the animated from fellow screenwriters, fairly close to the end, when she documentary that moves it beyond so- and -makers. John starts getting more upset, and cial statement into full and literal “public Canemaker, again, in his preparation for then it goes up to 28. What is engagement.” The Moon and the Son, notes, song but words in rhythm? She’s actually “singing” a song of love I started with research materi- Research and Development and grief to her deceased son. I als – newspaper reports, tran- think one of the reasons it’s so In recent years, there has been a shift in scripts from my father’s court effective is because the inter- the Academy, in which practice has been trial, family photos, a transcript viewer lets her go on, and she required to more properly evidence itself of an interview with my father strikes that rhythm, and she’s as research. The animated documenta- a couple of years before he told it before, and it’s exactly like ry’s affiliation with essayistic approach- died, among other inspirational a song. It’s unusual for any inter- es and the necessity for what might be sources including a few dreams. viewer to let someone speak for argued is either conventional primary re- Based on that material, I began six and a half minutes. (Kriger search (ie the interview) or archival prac- making many concept sketch- 2012:120-121) tice (ie identifying footage, photographs, es, idea drawings, paintings and pertinent documents etc) or more broad- doodles in different media ie Tupicoff’s creation of a “subjective” ani- ly, a relevant literature review, makes it pencils, inks, pastels, watercol- mated documentary neatly straddles the comparatively easy to recognise as a ors, gouache, etc. By the end of line between illustration and stylisation, model of published research. More chal- my one month residency in Bel- letting the rhythm of Easdale’s voice lenging is to prove how an animated doc- lagio, working every day, I had dictate the pace and emotional impact umentary not merely speaks to the pub- the first draft of a storyboard or of the film; her second delivery, shorn of lic sphere as evidenced above, but how script. (Kriger 2012:66) the shock of what she reveals and the in itself it answers research questions. It immediacy of its impact, becoming fur- is rare though for any creative practice This is fundamentally concerned with ther aestheticised by virtue of the shift not to start with some core questions gathering primary materials – testimony, from revelation to reception. The “song” the artist wishes to answer through the photographic and institutionally archived

12 Writing Animated Documentary: A Theory of Practice Paul Wells

evidence, pertinent journalism, personal merely a personal piece of art-making. the pertinence of “animating” and the memories and momentos. These func- Conforming this, Paul Laverty, ex-lawyer options available using digital tools. In- tion both as possible materials to be and human rights worker in Nicaragua, evitably, animated documentary, often included in the film, but crucially in the in- screenwriter, and long time collaborator uses a variety of approaches, consistent stance of animation, as visual inspiration with left-wing film-maker, Ken Loach, for with budget, production time, aesthetic for the film. By processes of “associative example, suggests “research develops style and preference, representational relations” (see Wells 1998:93-97), Cane- content,” but allied to this it is crucial to convention and the varied mix of 2D and maker does not seek to scout physical remember “good issues don’t make good 2D software. These include: locations or arrange shooting schedules, films – good stories do,” necessitating • Full Animation (normally characters but visualise material pertinent to his that a certain perspective is required in and objects) theme, context and narrative intention. which the “document”- primary or sec- • Animating Layers (normally fore- He develops his own visual text balanc- ondary - essentially becomes subject to ground, mid-composition, background ing his own concerns with those deter- what I have termed, an animated non-fic- elements) mined by his text that require further tional dramaturgy.4 The final remarks in • Animating Single Elements (normally verification and validation. this discussion then, begin to define this simple single movements) dramaturgy, pertinent to Halas’ taxon- • Animating Graphic Symbols and This is effectively about mobilising perti- omy above, and five core principles re- Forms (normally, maps, graphs, statis- nent secondary materials. Documentary quired to create animated documentary, tics, diagrams, charts, arrows, shapes, Film-maker, Jon Else provides a useful • Making Animation Choices etc) “rule of thumb” in this respect: • Staging in Space • Animating with the Camera (normally • Using Attachment and Detachment rapid zooms or lateral tracks to link el- You need the ten most import- • Episodic lists and Micro-Narratives ements in the composition) ant and widely respected books • Transition and Associative Relations • Animating in rapid edits (normally about the subject, and then you • These principles will be illustrated motion created through fast-paced read the two fringe books at from my own screenplay for The Oil montage) either end of the subject…you Kid. • No Animation (normally, establishing figure out who are the ten im- shots, close-ups, two-shots with key portant living people and what Five Core Principles visual information) are the ten important available Making Animation Choices documents or pieces of stock Here is a short sequence featuring Knut, footage. And then you call the In any discussion with animators, it is a long time veteran of the oil industry, experts. (Bernard 2007:118) always ironic that in any consideration engaging his eco-warrior grand-daugh- of the work before them, explained by ter, Hanna, recalling her father, Morten’s This may not be always required, of directors, and implied in the script, sto- death. It is a purely visual scene, which course, but what it ensures is that the ryboard and animatic, that they consider could be animated in any style, but it interpellation of the material is always any way in which they can avoid “ani- uses the camera to essentially “zoom” driven by a social subjectivity inform- mating”!! This is not about any intrinsic to a flashback, that remains a shared ing a non-fictional enunciation, and not laziness or short-cutting, however, but memory for the two characters triggered

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by the photograph. Little needs to be of the corridor they initially walked Once more, the opening scene below, “animated” in this sequence, so more down. shows that a range of animation tech- dramatic weight might be accorded to niques can be deployed, here for exam- animating the key action of the accident. ple, using some primary photographic Staging in Space – Uniplanar, materials, 2D motion graphics, and a Cross-planar, Multi-planar choreographic principle in which the en- Scene Crafton has identified the importance of vironment is just as “animated” as the CUT TO uniplanar and cross-planar movement in characters. Equally, the sound affords Int-day-Office determining animation space (Crafton the opportunity to contextualise the visu- 2013:170), the former left to right or right al material as a changing historical time- Knut looks at Hanna and smiles. He to left sequential movement in which the line, mixing the personal and the social. picks up a picture on his desk and shows character does not change scale; the it fondly to Hanna. It is an image of Knut, latter background to foreground or fore- Scene Hanna and Morten standing on a quay- ground to back- ground movement that side, all wearing hardhats. necessitates a change of size, definition A gush of oil emerges from the bottom of and scale in the character as it corre- the screen, splashing across the frame Both look up quickly and the camera sponds to changing perspective and and forming the title “The Oil Kid” [Sub- speeds out through the window to view depth of field. Though the former with its title…The Story of Oil in Norway], which an incident of Morten in a supply boat, key poses and in-betweens, and possible in turn metamorphoses into the silhou- tossed by high seas. We see Morten hit multi-limbed gestures and movements, etted figure of a man in the far distance by a container on a crane. He falls down is complex, all the more demanding is – this is Knut, who slowly advances into seemingly unconscious. creating all that while moving the char- the foreground amidst numerous photo- acter into the distance, and vice versa. graphs which appear, creating a virtual The image speeds back to the hand More significantly, though, in the digital passage for him to walk through. On the holding the photo as it is slowly placed era, is the ease with which characters sound track is a radio constantly being back on the desk. Knut then picks up an and objects can move through multi-pla- re-tuned – we hear fragments of music, envelope. nar perspectives in implied space. This news commentary, weather forecasts, is a very important consideration in interference etc, which compliments the CUT TO script-writing since it encourages the images looked at. These include images CU of Knut taking out an invitation to creation of action, mobility and from Knut’s career in the oil industry, im- the EcoFisk Jubilee Celebration, which in three dimensions rather than in two-di- ages of a changing Norway, and family he intends to give to Hanna, mensional “flat” space, even though this photographs. is always available to the animator, par- CUT TO ticularly when using more specifically Knut then walks into a space in which Knut turns towards where she was. graphic signs. Crucially, it enables con- the images surround him in a circle, al- densation in the composition of the mise most suggesting a “hall of mirrors.” We CUT TO en scene, and metamorphosis within the observe him glancing from one to anoth- Hanna walking away in the far distance mise en scene (see Wells 1998:69-79) er. He looks back and forth between the

14 Writing Animated Documentary: A Theory of Practice Paul Wells

following images as a set of contrasting they’re driving the wounded and the gallery. The Nopef logo on the card “pairs.” the dead in the armored vehicles comes into focus; the flame on top of – these are extremely violent, the rig in the logo suddenly flares and CUT TO…. graphic shots. Had the audience Knut drops the card as if reminded of in live action seen these in live earlier more incendiary times. He picks action, they might have turned up the card, looks at his younger face on Using Attachment and away. (Kriger 2012:11) it. The image expands from his face out- Detachment wards to discover Knut standing holding Thus far, though the scenes from The Oil The use of animation in these instances a “JOIN YOUR UNION NOW” placard, in Kid clearly demonstrate their “animated then becomes an interrogation of reality front of colleagues with other placards. documentary” credentials in the materi- as it seeks to document it. The following The camera moves along a line of men al used, the decisions about animation sequence shows the moment when “a with placards noting “NO THIRD CLASS technique and the fabrication within a union card” attaches Knut to his role in WORKERS,” “PAY THE PRICE, COUNT multi-planar space are also pertinent to the unions, but the process of uncoupling THE COST,” “MORE RESPECT, MORE fictional animation texts. Crucial in the enables the image of the oil rig to come PAY,” and “SAFETY FIRST.” This is ac- animated documentary, though, is what to life in the animation of a “flame,” and companied by crowd noise and discon- I am calling the process of uncoupling, in detaches the literal object into some- tented murmuring. which the expected indexical validity of a thing which becomes metaphorically literal representation, and the anchoring significant as a commentary on the oil CUT TO in material reality this implies, becomes industry. Equally, here there is attention subject to the more illusionist applica- to the use of “screens” as visual contexts The screen of the mobile phone with tions of the animated form. Simply, the for core narrative information – first, the Hanna’s thumb flicking through a series animation screenwriter looks to partic- placards, and second, the use of a mo- of images of her and Knut – Knut push- ular “documentary” images and sounds bile phone photo cache to tell the implied ing a young Hanna on a swing; Knut and that attach the narrative to actuality and story of Hanna’s childhood. This may be Hanna walking a dog; Knut showing realism, only to seek out symbolic or done in metamorphosing animation or Hanna how to use a fishing rod; Hanna associative relations in the images and in shifting stills. Significant, then, is that proudly holding a trophy observed by a sounds that detach the narrative into the the screenwriter must seek out ways smiling Knut; Knut and Hanna with their rhetorical illusionism of animation – an in which attachment / detachment os- heads through a seaside sideshow prop, artifice that is not available in live action. cillates in the imagery to fix the text as where they both look like clowns; Knut As animator on (Dir: “non-fiction” but provoke socio-symbolic giving Hanna an ice cream at a rig’s fes- Ari Folman, Israel, 2008), Yori Goodman and personal-as-political meaning in the tival-style opening; Knut giving Hanna a confirms: narrative. toy doll.

Animation has a kind of “detach- Scene Episodic Lists and Micro- ing” quality about it, so you can Narratives take the audience further. For ex- Knut plucks his Norwegian Oil and Pet- ample, the scene in Bashir where rochemical Workers Union card from Whereas fragmentary images in live

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action are normally used for montage Hanna (VO) CU: Hanna looking towards the camera sequences, in animation they are usu- (Images of masses of falling ice into wa- with a sullen anger on her face. ally important place-holders for narra- ter) The atmosphere, the weather, the en- tive information. Embedded in singular vironment, everything is changing. They Transition and Associative images with minimal or no animation are trying to deny it but global warming Relations is normally episodic suggestion of ac- is right here, right now. The glaciers are tion or a specific kind of pictorial record. melting, sea levels are rising. There are I have mentioned associative relations Thereafter, embedded in short sequenc- floods destroying crops. There is only di- earlier – essentially narratives that can es or “micro-narratives” – effectively the saster, if we don’t do something. be developed through visual echoes and accumulative building blocks of “story” in conceptual suggestion – but for the animation – are resonant and sugges- (images of forest fires) Heat waves come screenwriter, this is effectively the “con- tive images with compressed content unexpectedly. Fires break out. tent” by which transition writing, suited to and context that serve to simultaneously metamorphosis and micro-narrative is operate literally and symbolically. The (Image of storms) Storms come more achieved. Below is a sequence in which following sequence uses a simple meta- frequently too. Knut describes the development of his morphosis device in the “spinning” of career - and with it a social history of the placard to use a “screen” that could (Image of drought) Yet there is water some aspects of the oil industry - by us- be used for animated drawings, photo- shortage, drought, deserts, disease. ing a series of transforming doors. Such graphs or live action footage. These are doors are historically situated, enabling the embedded “episodes” here that Han- (Image of armed figures) And there is movement of the narrative through time, na commentates on, but the “micro-nar- panic, poverty, and people fighting to and the scene at the end of the sequence, rative” is Hanna using the placard as a survive. evidences documentary research of the vehicle of protest against the oil industry, ways in which oil industry practices and directed at her grandfather. The content (Image of lone animals) No bio-diversity. artifacts impacted on domestic scenari- and context are condensed in a single Species extinct. Ecosystems destroyed. os, and an early hint of the presence of piece of staging – a micro-narrative. American companies in the first claims (Image of classic “rig” with burning gas to the oil fields. flame) And why ? Carbon emissions, Scene grandpa. Burning oil and gas. Don’t you Scene Hanna understand? This has to stop somehow. People are dying, Granpa. Dying from Knut moves out of the frame and brings climate change caused by the bloody oil Knut a basic door back with him, fitting it in industry. It has to stop. the space. So, a doomsayer now, Hanna. Is that all

Hanna spins her placard, which arrests you can see when you look at oil ? (Dis- Knut (VO) at various images as she speaks about missive) You are being childish. them. At first, it was silly things. Some of the CUT TO

16 Writing Animated Documentary: A Theory of Practice Paul Wells

rigs did not even have toilet doors. We Knut now standing in the garden. convicted murder suspects, uses all the objected. We fitted them. approaches and techniques cited above, Knut to achieve animated visual essays that The door starts to change. It develops a characterize the combination of doc- pane of glass, becoming an office door. Don’t you remember the fun you had ? umentary work and an artist-essayist With your dad ?. point of view. Consequently, like many Knut (VO) animated documentary film-makers, like A young Hanna plays in the garden, with those cited above, and hopefully illus- The men worked hard. The management Hanna’s father, Morten. There are some trated in my own work, Sofian uses the got better, Less them and us. oil rig parts – drill-bits and oil drums etc, opportunity to animate in the documen- present as ornaments. A tyre is used as tary mode to offer alternative and less The door starts to change. It becomes the flat base for a swing, hanging from a obvious “truths” by innovative interpella- Knut’s office door that we saw earlier. tree. Morten wears a Diver’s helmet and tion and interpolation, that in turn offers stands on the tyre. Hanna wears a cow- insight about the subject, and empower- Knut (VO) boy hat , and throws him a rope. Hanna ment to the subjects. Her own aesthetic pulls him towards her. Morten jumps motifs – flowing shifts of point of view, Some of us did quite well. from the tyre and pretends he is being illustrations of action and reaction not drawn up from the sea. subject to live action record, and close- The door starts to change. It becomes ups of eyes to stress psychological and an ornate house door. emotional response – reveal the implied Nothing But the Truth verité of subjective experience within the Knut (VO) As I have sought to demonstrate here, context of failing or alien or contested the animated documentary affords the social, cultural and legal infrastructures. On shore, the standard of living got bet- film-maker, animator and screenwriter Ultimately, it is this, that characteriz- ter. We could afford better homes. the opportunity to combine the “vari- es the rhetorical function of animation ousness” that constitutes both forms when engaged with non-fiction, and The door starts to change. It changes in a socially directed vehicle of non-fic- specifically, ideologically-charged -doc into a wooden cottage door. tional expression underpinned by a con- umentary forms, and which may be un- sciously authorial voice. To take but one derstood and applied through the core Knut (VO) outstanding example, the work of Sheila dramaturgy outlined here as a theory of Sofian, in films as diverse as Survivors practice, and a practice of theory. Your father could buy the cottage. Your (Dir: Sheila Sofian, USA, 1997) about the home. You are an oil kid, Hanna. victims of domestic violence; A Conver- sation with Haris (Dir: Sheila Sofian, USA, A younger Hanna runs out from the door 2001) about a young Bosnian immigrant into the cottage garden.Ext-Day-The gar- talking about his impression of the Ser- den of the seaside dwelling bian conflict; and Truth Has Fallen (Dir: Sheila Sofian, USA, 2013), about wrongly

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Bibliography Notes

Bernard, S.C. (2007). Documentary Storytelling: Making Stronger and More Dramatic 1 See Field, S. 2003. The Definitive Guide to Screenwriting. London : Ebury Press; Field, Nonfiction Films. London & New York: Elsevier / Focal Press. S. 2005. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. New York: Bantam Dell / Coles, R. (1997). Doing Documentary Work. New York & London: OUP. Random House; Mckee.R. 1999. Story. Lon- don: Methuen; Vogler, C. 2007. The Writer’s Journey. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Pro- Crafton, D. (2013). Shadow of a Mouse: Performance, Belief and World-Making in Anima- ductions. tion. Berkeley, Los Angeles & London: University of California Press. 2 It should be stressed that these are not new considerations but were previously margin- Halas, V. and Wells, P. (2006). Halas & Batchelor Cartoons: An Animated History. Lon- alized in the discussion of documentary. Though documentary theories have directly don: Southbank Books. embraced Vertov, Jennings, Ivens, Herzog, Morris etc. as film-makers who re-define Hediger, V. & Vonderau, P. (eds). (2009). Films That Work: Industrial Film and the Pro- documentary on more aesthetic terms, it ductivity of Media. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. was an early as 1971 that Rosenthal ac- knowledges that ‘optical transformation’ in Norman McLaren’s Pas de Deux Dir:Norman Honess Roe, A. (2013). Animated Documentary. Basingstoke & New York: Palgrave McLaren, Can, 1968) was a way of think- Macmillan. ing about an interface between animation and live action that spoke to documentary tropes. See Rosenthal, A. 1971. The New Kriger, J. (2012). Animated Realism: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Animated Docu- Documentary in Action: A Casebook in Film mentary . London & New York: Elsevier / Focal Press. Making. Berkeley, Los Angeles & London: University of California Press.

Macdonald, S. (2015). Avant Doc: Intersections of Documentary and Avant Garde Cine- 3 For more extended descriptions and criti- cal perspectives on the distinctive language ma. Oxford & New York: OUP. of animation, see Beckman, K. (ed). 2014. Animating Film Theory, Durham & London: Rascaroli, L. (2009). The Personal Camera: Subjective Camera and the Essay Film. Lon- Duke University Press; Furniss, M. 1998. Art in Motion: Animation aesthetics, Eastleigh: don & New York: Wallflower Press. John Libbey Publishing; Furniss, M. 2008. The Animation Bible. London: Laurence Skoller, J. (ed). (2011). Making It (Un)real: Contemporary Theories and Practices in King Publishing; Gehman, C. & Reinke, S. Documentary Animation. Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 6 (3), pp. 207–214. 2005. The Sharpest Point: Animation at the End of Cinema, YYZ Books: Ottawa; Pikkov, U. 2010. Animasophy: Theoretical Writings Stallabrass, J. (ed). (2013). Documentary. London & Cambridge MA: Whitechapel Gal- on the Animated Film, Talinn : Estonian lery and MIT Press. Academy of Arts; Wells, P. 1998. Under- standing Animation, London & New York: Routledge; Wells, P. & Hardstaff, J. Re-Imag- Vogler, C. (2007). The Writer’s Journey. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions. ining Animation: the Changing Face of the Moving Image., Lausanne : AVA Academia.

4 Personal Interview with the Author, June 2007.

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