Documentary Animation

        Documentary animation comes with a number of social, cultural, ethical and commercial considerations which are not necessarily apparent in other animation forms. It is a fine line to tread between documentary and propaganda, between presenting the facts and presenting a biased view.

        Particularly with the subject of abattoirs, we must be careful to avoid any religious or racial aggravation, as many of the pulicised cases of animal cruelty have taken place in halal and kosher slaughterhouses, where there are arguments against using stun guns. However, cruelty in the meat industry is widespread, with PETA reporting cases in organic abattoirs, so both I and my collaborative partner feel it would be wise to avoid pointing the finger at any one group, and focus instead on the disgraceful behaviour towards the animals, an promote sourcing meat from ethical butchers.

Documentaries, animated or otherwise, can be divided into a number of subcategories:

• Poetic mode, which tends toward subjective interpretations of its subject, often with little or no dialogue, and continuity being of little or no consequence. Character development is often sacrificed in favour of creating a strong mood or atmosphere through editing.
• Expository mode is what has become most associated with documentary film, in which a narrative or authoritative voice over is supported and strengthened by a selection of footage. Think David Attenborough.
• Observational mode could also be described as fly on the wall. While some other modes can be subjective, biased or even propaganda, observational is more objective, showing rather than interpreting.
• Reflexive mode demonstrates an awareness of itself or the process of documentary film making.
• Performative mode places the director, and their views and opinions at the centre of the film. This sub category can be deeply person to the director/film maker with the truth depicted being constructed to support their own views or opinions. The work of Michael Moore is a good example of this mode.

Often it is easy to place your trust in a documentary and accept its arguments and 'truths' without question. I at least have been brought up under the assumption that documentaries are reliable, honest and factual. But as I have learned more about documentary film making during this module I have come to question how reliable many of the 'truths' are, particularly when propaganda can be counted as documentary, or when a film maker may omit truths which do not correspond to their desired message.

        Winsor McCay's The Sinking of the Lusitania is one such example of questionable documentary film making. Widely acknowledged as one of the first, if not the first, documentary animation, it is an unquestionably biased depiction of a pivotal event in the First World War. Billed and presented as a historical record, while the animation itself may be an accurate representation, the intertitles use a variety of manipulative and persuasive language to evoke feelings of anger, horror and hostility in the audience. It is these intertitles that place the animation in the realms of propaganda, although not a very effective piece as by the time of the film's release in 1918 the war was close to over. 

        Arguably, The Sinking of the Lusitania is a poetic mode documentary, as its representation of events are subjective, and positioned with the aim of provoking a strong emotional impact amongst viewers. While not as devastating as the needless deaths of hundreds of people, the topic of slaughterhouses shares some similarities with McCay's subject, so perhaps a similar approach may effectively evoke a strong response from our own viewers. For the most part, McCay lets his realistic imagery do the communicating, transporting viewers to a place and event most will not have been. Similarly, an abattoir is a place that the majority of the public have never seen first hand, and while they will be aware that these places exist, for the most part would probably rather ignore or brush under the carpet. We could use animation to bring this distasteful and even rather taboo topic to the public's attention, albeit with rather less manipulation than demonstrated by McCay.