Newsround on Knives

Animation as documentary. Powerful

5 comments:

frank said...

Interesting use of mixed media put together in After Effects. I liked some of the imagery - like how the bogan grew giant because they carried a knife.

Anonymous said...

real nice. She's not a bogan though she's a young girl. Yes, her growing big when talking about carrying knife was effective though. I like the simplicity of the characters and their colour, and the real voices used. Nice contrast with the violent topic. It's not overanimated but animated to purpose and great "cinematography". Thanks for finding more great new resources, Ian.

frank said...

Michelle, now you have got me pondering about the description of a bogan...

(and it goes something like this:)

I think the main character was initially motivated by fear. Then in an action justified as 'self defence' - carrying a knife - became fear herself in the eyes of people she threatened.

In particularly illustrated in the sequence where she grows large because she feels bigger carrying a knife.

It's great to read other people's comments and start thinking down different pathways.

Frank said...

"‘bogan’ is used occasionally in Australian literature before 1900 as a word to describe something of poor or little quality (most notably in “The City of Dreadful Thirst” by the Australian poet Banjo Patterson)." ...

(Australia) A person who is, or is perceived to be, unsophisticated or of a lower class background, more or less analogous to the British term chav or US American term redneck.

resourced from hereI do believe the young female character is unsophisticated, possibly from a lower class background.

I guess it's not a case of fault but one of fate.

From an animator's pont of view, it is really interesting to examine the motivations for her behaviour (and thus how they would be animated).

Her responses are possibly more raw, maybe even primeval or primitive, closer to human nature unsullied by education and a knowledge of the norms that sustain society (e.g. abiding by the law, helping each other, working in groups for the betterment of the greater good). Those things learnt through education and stability in society.

Animating to basic human motivations creates empathy in the audience.

This female character lives in fear of physical assault so reponds in a primitive way, that may result in the assault of others thus perpetuating chaos, She seeks to be 'bigger' (by carrying a knife) and think she is stronger. It's an allegory of Darwinism's "Survival of the fittest" and maybe better described as humans reverting to animal instincts rather than human nature.

I think the film tells us about the dangers of sharp objects in fearful hands, but also helps us explore the seeds of conflict and fear, poverty? (maybe?), that resulting in poor education (socially and generally), a catch 22 social environment that idolises destructive behaviour.

Interesting subjects to explore and present as an animated film, where, I agree, the medium seems to allow us to present challenging topics, such as violence.

I wonder why that is?

Stu Dent said...

"Animation as documentary. Powerful"

Why, Ian why?