iReview: Documentary, Experimental, and Animated Films

Hello dear Colleague and Fellow Researcher

Today, I would like to discuss a chapter entitled "DOCUMENTARY, EXPERIMENTAL, AND ANIMATED FILMS" from the book FILM ART: AN INTRODUCTION written by DAVID BORDWELL and KRISTIN THOMPSON. This is an introductory book on the art of films, making, and appreciation.

David Bordwell (1947 - 2024) & Kristin Thompson (1950 - )

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S):

David Bordwell was an American film theorist and film historian. He has written more than fifteen books on the subject of cinema. He was also associated with a methodological approach known as neoformalism in cinema. Kristin Thompson is an American film theorist and author whose research interests include the close formal analysis of films. She has written extensively on neoformalism.

WHAT IS THIS CHAPTER ABOUT?

This chapter provides an in-depth exploration of documentary, experimental, and animated films, differentiating them through their production methods and audience expectations. Chapter also provides various categories of all three and differentiates them. It analyses documentaries by discussing their goal to present factual information, even when staging is employed to enhance understanding.

Categorical and rhetorical forms of organisational strategies within documentaries are also discussed with examples. Experimental films are explored through their focus on self-expression and unconventional techniques, using abstract and associational forms. The section on animation films details various types of animation, like drawn, clay, and model animation, with case studies to demonstrate their unique narrative and experimental possibilities.

KEY TERMS

Abstract Form:

A type of film organization in which the filmmaker emphasizes pictorial qualities such as shape, color, rhythm, and movement, independent of representational content.

Avant-Garde:

A term used to describe experimental or innovative art, often challenging conventional norms and aesthetics.

Categorical Form:

A type of film organization in which the filmmaker presents information about a subject by dividing it into categories or subcategories.

Cel Animation:

A traditional animation technique in which characters are drawn on transparent celluloid sheets, allowing for layered movement and backgrounds.

Clay Animation:

A stop-motion animation technique in which clay figures are manipulated frame by frame to create the illusion of movement.

Documentary:

A type of film that claims to present factual information about the world, often using real people, places, and events.

Experimental Film:

A type of film that challenges orthodox notions of what a movie can show and how it can show it, often exploring personal expression, aesthetics, or the possibilities of the medium itself.

Found-Footage Film:

A type of film that uses pre-existing footage, often repurposed for a new context or meaning.

Model/Puppet Animation:

A stop-motion animation technique that uses articulated figures or puppets with bendable wires and joints.

Pixilation:

A stop-motion animation technique that uses live actors or ordinary objects, posing them frame by frame to create jerky, unnatural movements.

Rhetorical Form:

A type of film organization in which the filmmaker presents a persuasive argument to convince the spectator of something.

Rotoscoping:

An animation technique in which live-action footage is projected frame by frame onto a drawing board, allowing an animator to trace the outlines of the figures.

That is all for today! Comment which concepts you like to know in more details and I will post about the.

Thank you!