It is acknowledged that the genre of animated documentary is particularly suited to depicting the subjective point of view (Wells, 1997, Honess Roe, 2013). It has also been suggested that animated documentary may have a tendency toward collaborative working methods (Ward, 2005: 94). This PhD work explores and expands these suggestions and presents the development of a methodology adapted from what has been termed collaborative ethnography (Lassiter, 2005) when using animation to document perceptual brain states. The claim to originality in this thesis lies in the methodological approach taken through the documenting of idiopathic perceptual brain states, previously unrepresented in animation. It involves a shifting of the roles of subject and director to collaborative consultant and facilitator respectively, and differentiates between the recording of an animated document and the creation of an animated documentary . It rejects the sound reliant template of the 'animated interview' (Strøm, 2005: 15) as the dominant model of creating animated documents, which assumes both that the indexical is crucial to documenting, and that this can only be achieved in animation through the use of indexical sound. It agrees with Tom Gunning s argument that Charles Sanders Pierce's original idea of the index as part of an interconnected triad of signs (index, symbol and icon) has been abstracted from its richer signifying context and extracted a simplified version of what Pierce intended it to mean (a trace or impression left by an object) to become a 'diminished concept' (2007:30-1), essentially a short hand coda in this instance for document . The practice in this work challenges this by presenting an alternative; using a collaborative cycle methodology.

This practice-led research One Mind - seeks to represent Korean Buddhist architectural aesthetics and Buddhist spiritual ideas using the animated documentary genre as a form of creative representation. It is intended that the piece be shown either as an installation in a gallery, or within a museum or cultural exhibition context. The key goal is to offer this digital artwork to European audiences, in a spirit of engendering the same feeling state as when present in the real monastery, encouraging an understanding of the sacred, and experiencing a form of transcendence. My art work in some ways functions as a digital restoration of sacred architecture outside its real environment and context, and seeks to document cultural heritage and knowledge. One Mind is different from a classic form of documentary, though, because it does not echo the idea of documentary based on live-action footage as a mode of non-fiction record and expression. I have particularly stressed the suggestiveness of the architectural aesthetics and the philosophic principles embedded in the environment. I have sought to bring my own subjective artistic interpretation to Korean Buddhism accordingly, resisting typical character animation and classical narrative, seeking instead, to encourage the viewer to be part of the environment. I focus on the meaning in Buddhist buildings and the landscape they are part of, and dramatise the environment, using the poetic tone of the voice over performance, the sound track of Buddhist chanting, and the visual effects and perspectives of computer generated imagery. This digital visualisation of the Buddhist s spiritual world is informed by a Buddhist s traditional way of life, but, most importantly, by my own past experience, feelings and memory of the Buddhist monastery compound, as a practising artist. My thesis is categorised into eight chapters. Chapter One offers an overview of the aims and objectives of my project. Chapter Two identifies my research questions and my intended methodology. Chapter Three focuses on important background knowledge about Korea s natural and cultural aspects and conditions. Chapter Four offers an analysis of the issue of the Korean cultural identity, suggesting that a more authentic image of Korea and Korean-ness is available in the philosophy and spiritual agenda of Buddhism. Chapter Five addresses the practical ways in which digital restoration of architecture has taken place, identifying three previous cases which both resemble and differ from my own project. Chapter Six looks at the specific characteristics of Korean Seon Buddhism and architecture, and engages with three theoretical approaches about the spatial composition of the monastery, and the ways it may help in constructing the monastery in a digital environment. Chapter Seven offers an evaluation and validation of my artwork, having adopted the approach of creating an animated spiritual documentary to reveal Buddhist philosophy and experience as a model of Korean cultural identity. Chapter Eight offers some conclusions about my intention, process and outcomes.

Through its ability to create images of non-representable incidents animation expands the range and depth of what documentary can represent and how. This master thesis investigates the potential of animated documentary within social memory exemplified by the interactive animated documentary Saydnaya – Inside a Syrian Torture Prison (Forensic Architecture, 2016). By applying a feminist spatial approach, I aim to contribute to the understanding of the role of animated documentary images within social memory.Embodied and haptic spectatorship as well as haptic materiality are crucial in this case study due to the nature of the virtual screen images and interactive navigation (compared to montage) of the architectural 3D model. Testimonies and evidence presented in documentary film require a discursive establishment of truth. Indexicality is discussed in this regard and eventually a theoretical shift towards movement suggested. I demonstrate that Saydnaya extends the strategies in animated documentary that have been in focus so far, such as representing mental states and subjective experiences, by deploying methods of forensic aesthetics. This opens up novel ways to establish truth claims and persuasion in documentary filmmaking that require future research.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:23:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4691.pdf: 2672221 bytes, checksum: 5c15554d9ac45df13043164fc0e2e67e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-02 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / This work aims to discuss processes of self-representation in animated documentaries, from the analysis of the film Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008). With this analysis, it seeks to understand modes of articulation between the field of documentary and animation, using elements of both as a possibility of self-representation in films that are related to the shared historic world. For this purpose, it develops a reflection on the establishment of different perspectives in the field of documentary studies and the ways available for animation to create representations. In addition, it dialogues with the various historical and conceptual approaches about the animated documentary, developed significantly over the past fifteen years. Finally, it develops a critical analysis of what Bill Nichols (1994) calls performative documentary and the considerations of Michael Renov (2004) about documentaries that deal with the autobiographical, to understand the animation as a way to put the director in history and establish a continuity with the past, weaving relationships between elements of documentary and animated images that provide other senses to the reported. / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo discutir processos de autorrepresentação em documentários animados, a partir da análise do filme Valsa com Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008). Com a análise deste longa-metragem, busca-se compreender modos de articulação entre o campo do documentário e o da animação, aproveitando elementos de ambos enquanto possibilidade de autorrepresentação em filmes que se remetem ao mundo histórico compartilhado. Para tanto, desenvolveu-se uma reflexão acerca do estabelecimento de diferentes perspectivas do campo do documentário nos estudos teóricos e as maneiras disponíveis à animação para criar representações. Além disso, dialoga-se com as várias abordagens históricas e conceituais acerca do documentário animado, que ganham corpo mais expressivo nos últimos quinze anos. Por fim, desenvolve-se uma leitura crítica das análises de Bill Nichols (1994) sobre os documentários performáticos e das considerações de Michael Renov (2004) acerca de documentários que lidam com o autobiográfico, para compreender a animação como uma forma do realizador se colocar na história e estabelecer uma continuidade com o passado, tecendo relações entre imagens animadas e elementos documentais que proporcionam outros sentidos aos relatos.

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