The connection between AI and animation is currently widely discussed with regard to the influence of machine learning technologies on animation production (e.g., see The Next Leap: How A.I. will change the 3D industry – Andrew Price). What animation is…
Violence and animation have a long-established bond. Through Tom and Jerry (1940-1958) and Looney Tunes (1930-1969), animated violence has developed a reputation as a comedic tool, but is also a common subject for animated documentaries with a serious ‘truth-telling’ agenda.…
In the short documentary, Nobody’s Metaphor (2019), Chouette Films worked with Maslaha to capture the unfolding stories of a group of Muslim girls and young women of color who try out fencing and poetry workshops after school. These workshops, run…
Interestingly, today’s hyper-visual and screen-based “era of information” is also defined as a time of “post-truth” (Oxford Dictionary’s 2016 “word of the year”). The tension between knowing and not knowing, between being informed and being misinformed is therefore timelier than…
What do we mean by ‘history’? The term itself is much contested. History (with a capital ‘H’) is often reserved for ‘official histories’ of events, these are usually imbued with hegemonic priorities and neglect many voices that could contribute to…
The project Silent Signal, initiated by Animate Projects, funded by a Wellcome trust arts award and working with animators and scientists, is working on a number of collaborative projects using animation to explore scientific enquiry. I have been working on…
As a film-maker who has become further and further drawn into the world of animated documentary, what has enthralled and inspired me is the overt subjectivity of exploring the world through animation; free from the ‘baggage’ of objectivity implied in…
My local fish and chip shop has a sign in its window that says, in a large font: “CAT FISH – 75p” Just below, in a smaller font, it says “Fish for your cat” This sign always makes…
There came a point in The Beloved Ones, the film I made in 2007 for the UK Film Council, when it became clear that the indexical sound recorded in the field, in Uganda, was not going to be able to…
Last night I attended a panel discussion on “Infotainment” in which New York Times Hollywood correspondent Michael Cieply discussed documentary filmmaking as compared to traditional journalism. He made the following statement: “The camera is a tool to structure reality, not…
