This realistic animation draws the attention from audiences at the beginning which is fierce hunting dogs. In this scene, sound is used in the dramatic way. For example, dogs’ growling sound, sound effect for the metalic sound from the steel table, and rhythmic music which is well-matched with the running of dogs. The saturation throughout film is dark, but the contrast between brightness and darkness is very obvious. Also, this animation contains the details in real world such as the reflection of the trees on the car or the depiction of shadow. This animation takes advantage the relativeness of size and the space sense very well. For instance, while shifting of places from one scene to the ocean scene makes zoom-out with white shot and zoom-in with smog in the dark ocean. This gives the feeling of flying in the air and makes the change of scene natural. Also, in the man’s dream, the naked woman is bigger than the ship and a man who she holds, so it looks like that she save and protect him. This animation seems like just a film, that is, it mimics the real camera or film editing such as the slow motion, the modulation of the pace of editing. In addition, there are interviews in this animation which is one of the most distinguishing features of documentary movies. This animated film shows even that one guy which is being interviewed has no entire fingers: he loses one of his fingers. In consequence, although this animation has own characteristics as an animation such as a gun shot like dancing, dreamy scenes or dreams, and flashbacks, it has a lot of realistic features in the documentary films and a real video recording at the end accelerates the tragic feeling from the viewer.
Waltz with Bashir is a fascinating film that somewhat combines the documentary genre with the animation genre.
In the opening scene, there is very fast paced music along with images of a group of ferocious dogs seemingly heading somewhere in a hurry. The music is what makes this scene work. Without the menacing fast paced music, the images of the dogs running and growling would still be scary, but would have much less of an impact.
The animation for this movie was really well done, and to me, just interesting to look at. For example, I could not really tell if it was supposed to look 3D, or 2D, but after a while I think it was using the combination of both. The background appeared to be very 2 dimensional while the people appeared to be more 3 dimensional. I think the characters looked more 3D because of the use of low key lighting that was animated onto their faces. All of this gave the movie a somewhat pseudo-realistic look to it. I knew I was watching an animation movie, but at certain times, I forgot that it was animated.
One piece of camera work that worked well for me was when we saw some off camera violence when the child with the RPG was shot. We did not see him get shot though, all we saw was the soldiers shooting toward him and we also saw the bush he was standing in front of shake because of all the bullets hitting it. Off camera violence worked well in this scene… To me, not seeing the kid get hit with dozens of bullets was a more powerful than if we saw it happen. All the audience needs to see and hear is the sounds of the automatic rifles along with the shaking bush and they know exactly what happened.
This film was definitely the most interesting one I’ve seen in class. The combination of animation and documentary had such a realistic feel that at times, I completely forgot that it was in animation. Considering that the film was called Waltz, I noticed that throughout the film, the use of classical Waltz music were at noteworthy points in the story; when they were walking through the field and child shot the RPG, when the guy was spraying bullets in the middle of a big fight, etc. Even though it was in animation, the camera work, the sound, and the cinematography drew out just as much emotion that a normal documentary would pull out.
A specific scene that I remember was toward the end and they were talking about the massacre, specifically when a guy witnessed another soldier pushing an older man into a building to shoot him, and when they witnessed a family being executed. I thought about the effect of seeing those scenes as a normal documentary and I imagined those scenes would be bad enough to watch, but the emotional effect that those scenes had through use of animation was just as heart wrenching, and I find that to be a very moving and powerful use of animation.
The way that the animation depicted the use of a real camera was what also intrigued me. Capturing shadows in a realistic way, the reflections on the water when they were in the ocean, and the use of gunfire and how it looked as accurate as I believe animation could capture it. This film was very moving and overall makes me believe that the combination of genres is quite possible to accomplish.
I think that overall the fact that this film was an animated documentary compared to just a documentary, really added to the impact of this film. I think that even the opening scene, where the audience is following the running dogs, is quite powerful animated. At some points of this film I did get a little bored, but the message of this film is powerful. I think that if this film was just a documentary that it would not be able to be as powerful, for the scenes would not have as much control as an animation does. The scene where they were floating in the river had a very intense and dark mood, even though they were just floating in the water. I think that the composition of this film had great contrast and the shades were amplified in many scenes. Close to the beginning, there is a scene where he is just driving and shadows pass by the mans face over and over again. This would not seem as prominent if it were real life.
I think that the story, true story, of Ari Folman trying to remember his past life events is powerful in itself, but I think that this animation causes this story to cause more interest in this story. To me, this type of animation reminded me of a comic book and that really caught my attention, yet I do not know if that was their intention. I think that the ending scene, where they show the deaths of the Subra and Shatila massacre, is really powerful and really ties the directors point home. The use of this real scene in comparison to the rest of this animated film, drags the audience from a powerful story to the actual real death scene of this massacre. I know that some people find this film as being too crude, but I think the directors use of nudity and death is beneficial to the story and necessary for the documentary.
Another thing that I focused on during this movie, was the use of more modern and usually face paced music. This went well with the animation, and it seemed to go along with the story as well. The music, at times, reminded me of a video game, yet I think it really worked with the action, especially in the dog chasing scene.
I really, really liked Waltz with Bashir. I thought the animation was amazing – it was mentioned in class that some people get bored with the “flat” style, but I thought it was beautiful. It was realistic without entering the uncanny valley and I thought the “flatness” of the shading gave it a noir-type aesthetic that was just gorgeous. The contrast of the highlights and the shadows and just the color templates in general really grabbed my attention and I could have watched the movie without subtitles and lived it just as much. It was just beautiful to look at.
I also loved the soundtrack. I actually downloaded it and listened to it while writing my third paper. It had a consistent feel throughout and yet it was poignant when it needed to be poignant and energetic when it needed to be energetic and even, at times, confusing when it needed to be a little confusing. It just hit all the right notes, so to speak, and that’s another reason why I could have watched it without subtitles – between the animation and the music, it’s beautiful without dialogue or even story.
That said, I did really enjoy the writing. I know it’s a documentary, but it is a documentary that required quite a bit of narrative structure and it was extremely well structured and, like the music, it was balanced – at times confusing, at times poignant, and at times it just amped me up, even if I wasn’t quite sure why. It really did a good job of getting it’s message across, too – about the horrors or war and how art can transform memory or help to lift the veil of repression. It reminded me a lot of the graphic novels Persepolis and Maus. I really liked it a lot and at first even wondered if it was based on a graphic novel because it reminded me of those books so much. I really liked it a lot.
This was a very interesting movie. I liked that they chose to do an animated film rather than film actors; the fact that it was animated forced me to listen/read the story, and the animation enhanced it. I think if it wasn’t animated, the depth of the story would have been lost. I also enjoyed the music, most was piano, violin, or orchestra, so it enhanced the “waltz” aspect. But it also contradicted the fact that we were watching a war. It was very interesting.
I also enjoyed how the characters talked over each other in a few places. I really felt like I was witnessing a conversation, even though it was animated. I thought it was really well done.
Quiz name: Looking at Movies, 4e
Chapter Number: 11
Student’s name: Daniell Reeser
Number of questions: 10
Percent correct: 100%
(apologies for missing the quiz last week)
Filmmakers often discuss the aesthetic effect of choosing one kind of lens or film stock over another. The medium of animation throws in an even greater number of possibilities when considering in which style a film should be presented. Waltz with Bashir acknowledges its own visual choice on a couple occasions. One man the protagonist interviews mentions how he is okay with he and his son being drawn, but not being filmed. At the film’s finale, the statement of “the camera broke” suddenly applies to the protagonist. When his “camera breaks”, the distance between him and the reality of what he witnessed is removed, and the animation stops. The final live-action sequence represents how he reacquired his memories, and they are inescapably ‘real’. This is a great symbolic use of both mediums contrasting against each other.
The character drawings utilize hard, low-key lighting, which is economical in terms of how much work they take to animate, but also creates a very appropriate effect. The heavy black contours contrast well against the characters’ pale fill colors and sharp light. The dream sequence stands out within the context of the film due to its strikingly warm fire colors, which are recalled when the story reveals the flares that lit the massacre.
One aspect I found interesting about the visual acting in the piece was how facial expressions were very subtle, almost stilted. The computer-aided technology was apparent in some of the cycling talking animations, which is understandable to make this film realistic to accomplish as an independent piece. Without over-thinking the technical aspect, the effect is a more subdued visual that leaves room to read subtitles and listen to the voices.
My career focus is on animation, and since there is no study course dedicated to it, I am always appreciative when at least one film is discussed in a theory class. Thank you!
Waltz With Bashir is a very adult animation that really makes a statement. We really only remember what we want to. The fact that it was made all in Flash to me was really impressive. The choice of animation was really a good one, because of all the flashback sequences. They were all very surreal and animation, in my option, is the only medium that can really pull that off. The color used in the film really reflected what was going on in the mind of the characters. When Folman only remembers coming out the sea in the nude that whole repeated sequence is yellow. Yellow means fear, Folman is afraid of his lost memory but he still wishes to find it. Yellow also means hope meaning that even though Folman is scared of what he might find out about the past he still has hope for the future. A darker yellow also stands for warning, this could mean a warning for Folman about his memories like maybe he shouldn’t go looking for them if his mind choses to repress them. When Folmen meets with Cnaan its white, meaning mourning. Cnaan doesn’t really give much information to Folmen meaning that he himself is mourning. There is also a lot of deep blues that could mean that dolmen feels alienated and depressed because of his memory loss. And a lot of Greens which is the color of Islam but could also mean luck and strength. Overtime we saw the color green something somewhat positive happened to Folmen. Overall the films use of colors really showed the mental state of the characters or specifically on Folmen. The way its edited is very smooth and seamless making it seem like there is very little editing at all. We knew who’s flash back was who’s and I at least was not confused as to what was going on. Animation is my favorite form of film and i feel like it doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Im glad we got to at least touch on animation in a film class. In the end it was a very beautiful piece of animation.
I have to say that before this film I had always considered animation to be a genre. I never gave much thought to its use outside of children films and just equated the two as one in the same. I have had to reconsider that correlation and had to come to the conclusion that animation and children’s films do not equal causation. Animation is a medium. Its a story telling tool in the same way that CGI is used to tell stories. It can both enhance a film or be used as a way to create it in its entirety. Unfortunately animation is a very expensive and time consuming way of making a movie which I think is a large reason as to why more directors don’t experiment with it. Convincing the public that a medium accepted as a genre even within the film world (I’m looking at you Oscar) makes an adult application very risky. At least within the U.S. There is a reason this film was able to be made in Israel. The hangup the west has about the expected convention of animation is much more flexible in other parts of the world. I’m thinking specifically of such genres as Anime. (yes you could argue that this is a medium too but I’m not going to go there) It is a style of animation that runs the gamut from bright, friendly, children content to dark, violent, adult content without the stigma associated with animation. Waltz with Bashir opened me to reexamine my previously held beliefs and spark an interest in further exploring the possibility this medium holds
Waltz with Bashir tells the story of a man searching for the truth in his memory, however at the end of the film the viewer is thrown a curve ball. The animation of this film helped significantly in the communication of the movie’s message. It was unlike Wal-E in the style of animation and did not have that Disney feel to it. The mood portrayed by this cartoon like animation was dark and almost dream like as to best relate to the state of human psychology. This film’s animation also made the characters look human because they had flaws and were no perfectly designed. Another aspect of this film that really caught my attention was the music. I felt that the music played through this film made a huge impact on why I enjoyed watching this movie. This music tied in really well with the mood and matched the scenes that played over. Not only but I feel when the rock style music played, the contrast in the tone with the scenes that were scene helped tell the story of that given place and time. The writing of this anime was very well executed because it kept the viewer thinking throughout to the entirety of the film. Especially since the narrative of Inception is very similar to this story line, it just goes to show that many people saw this to be a unique and effective story enough to base a Hollywood film off of that narrative. I really enjoyed the way it events played out in the form of flashbacks because it kept me intrigued on what would happen next in the film. Overall I really enjoyed this animated film and the message it shared with us the viewers.
Waltz with Bashir was drastically different than the Pixar hit Wall-E. Although Waltz was an animated film, it was highly emotional and it seemed real. It was similar to Wall-E in the way that it evoked real emotion from the viewer. Some of the scenes looked really realistic and at these points i forgot i was viewing an animation. I don’t think that the movie would have been as powerful if it weren’t for its use of animation. The end scene was the only scene that utilized real footage and i thought it was genius to show that the film was a documentary based on true events. I typically don’t care for this type of animation similar to the TellTale games like the one based on the Walking Dead comics, however after a short while i was drawn in by the story.
I have never seen an animation like Waltz with Bashir before. The darker and more realistic tone is dramatically different than the typical animation we are used to seeing. I loved the approach on this story by making it documentary style but not using real actors or real footage (save for the very end). It made the story and message way more impactful. The music was by far my favorite aspect because it was used appropriately and would give certain scenes more of a punch because it set the mood and tone of what was unfolding. For example when the actual “waltz with bashir” happened, and you see the character spinning and almost dancing while firing a machine gun with waltz music playing. And when the main character would have his “vision”, it was the same emotional music everytime. This was by far the most hard-hitting animation I have seen and I dont think that it wouldve had the same impact if it wasnt animation. Its just something that we dont expect when we think of animation.
Quiz name: Looking at Movies, 4e
Chapter Number: 11
Student’s name: Caleb B.
Student’s email: calebbowen@csus.edu
Number of questions: 10
Percent correct: 100%
Waltz with Bashir fits into a small but growing genre of animated dramas. Other films like Richard Linklater’s “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly” also make use of the animated format while dealing with more dramatic themes. In Waltz with Bashir the animation is used effectively to convey the memories of the events. It is also interesting that this film uses animation to depict historic events instead of fiction.
I have nothing to say except that I thought the animation was truly incredible, you almost forgot that it was animation, and worked in a way that live-action just couldn’t.
Waltz with Bashir is a hard movie for me to analyze, because it is a foreign film. It was hard to concentrate on the visual aspect of the film while trying to read the dialogue and understand the plot. The animation that I saw looked similar to real life in the way the characters moved and responded to the events about them. However, there were moments when I thought they walked too slow. Maybe this could have been symbolizing them walking and not getting anywhere fast on the road to the main characters revelation. The real life footage of the end was shocking, because it brought me out from the cover of animation and placed me back into a harsh reality. Real dead bodies were shown and there was real pain being shown. It was a very sad film.
Waltz with Bashir is an animated documentary by Israeli Filmmaker, Ari Folmon, trying to reconstruct his memories of the 1982 Lebanon War.
Animation is used for over 99% of the move. The exception being at the end of the film, at the refugee camp where the women are walking through the camp, wailing. The scene cuts to real footage and at that moment it felt real to me. I was immediately emotionally involved. I got teary. Even while watching the movie again, I had the same reaction.
The animation style of the movie kept me at a distance. The images felt dream like, with the exception of the times where an interview was being done. Each time one of the interviews began to recall a time in the war the music preceded the transition. The music was a cue to the audience to show that what we are watching is a memory. It set up the tone of the segment, introducing us to a new setting, a different time. Usually these musical transitions had lyrics, while the other music through the film was instrumental only. One of the transitions begins with asynchronous sound when one soldier in a wide shot on the beach started pretending his gun was a guitar. Asynchronous sound is when there’s a discrepancy between what is seen and what is heard on the screen. The visual action of strumming the gun was matched with the sound of an electric guitar being strummed. There is a montage of soldiers cooking, shooting, surface. One of the lines to the song is, “I bombed, Sidon today”.
I read that the movie was shot, storyboarded, and the animations were created based on the storyboard. I noticed the way shots were edited together. The coverage was there in a way that most documentaries would not have. I am mainly thinking of the airport scene, when 19 years old, Ari is walking around the abandoned airport. There are shots from above him, seemingly tracking him, there’s a shot where he’s walking in the terminal towards the camera, the window is to his left where we see a ruined commercial plane. There’s a shot of an abandoned store with the automatic doors closing on a shopping cart. The editing in this scene brings together the setting of the abandoned airport.
The documentary also uses voiceover to make certain transitions. The scene where Ari Folmon starts to get his memory back, he is riding in a cab and the scene shifts to a time where he is shooting from on top of a tank. HIs voice over says that’s when his memory started to come back. If not for the voice over the audience might think it was just a dream maybe. HIs voice over helps to clarify what we see on screen.
Just wanted to end with saying that the documentary is innovative for sure. I’ve seen nothing like it. And although I was watching something animated I didn’t feel at all that it was cartoonish. Perhaps the way that was animated, in what many people think is a realistic way, made the reveal of the actual news footage that much more powerful. The memories and piecing together of incidents in the war through animation, concluding with the reality of those experiencing the after effects is unforgettable.
Waltz with Bashir is an animated documentary with good acting, various colors to reflect an emotion, and had an interesting switch in visuals, as the film made a transition from animation to actual footage caught on camera. Through the animated depiction of the characters and the scenes, it is apparent that the acting is good in this film. I did not need to see an actual footage of an actor acting out these scenes to appreciate the acting. I was able to still feel an emotion from the animated characters, based on their features, and because of that, was able to feel an emotion based on the animated acting. The color changes between scenes also helped create an emotion from such scene. For example, at the beginning of the film, the over all colors were more dull, faded, and dark. However, as questions were getting answered, the over all colors of the film gradually got brighter and more vivid. By changing from animation to actual real-life taken camera footage of the aftermath of the massacre, the audience is reminded that this is not just a created, drawn up story, but is an actual true story of true events. It tugs at the audience’s emotion, because suddenly, this story is very real. The transition from animation to actual footage also happened as Ari remembered the massacre. Just as this story became real to us, it became real to Ari.
Waltz with Bashir is an animation that negates practically all of the stereotypes associated with animation. The powerful story telling coupled with the beautifully created animation style makes this film one of the most riveting animation pieces I have ever seen. The plot is driven through retelling of story. As stated in class it is, in a way, an animated documentary. At first I thought that I was gonna get tired of it. I thought that the two (animation and documentary) would be too off-putting. But as the movie progressed I found that it worked surprisingly well. I feel that more imagery could be shown through animation due to the virtually limitless possibilities of animation. The voice acting was really well done too. I felt that the history of these characters could be heard through their voice. I really liked the choice of putting footage at the end of the refugee camps. The entire film I wondered what these situations would look like in real life. This actually accomplished two things. Not only did it show me how it looked like, but it made me realize that the impact of this film would have been drastically different if it were a live action movie. The strengths of this film, I feel, ultimately lie in the fact that it is a fully animated feature.
Quiz name: Looking at Movies, 4e
Chapter Number: 11
Student’s name: Ana Carla Teixeira Praciano Santos
Number of questions: 10
Percent correct: 100%
Waltz with Bashir is a film the caught my attention in the first moment I began to watch it. That happened because it is an animated documentary and we have this feeling that documentaries should shows us the truth, which is the opposite of an animation, which works like a sort of escape from reality to a fantasy world. However, the animated aspect works well here and even rehenforces the truth about the events exposed in this film because it seems that we are watching a re-construction of those facts. The acting and the plot are extremely well executed and, sometimes, we even forget we are watching an animation, since it is so realistic and emotional. Besides, the color pattern is very characteristic of this film, presenting warm colors, usually orange, to make us feel in the place where the actions happened and also to enhance the horror and the feeling of war. It is interested to notice that in almost every shot we have something orange on the screen. Furthermore, the sound matches with every single situation, enhancing emotion and feelings of tension and compassion.
I’m a big fan when it comes to animation, Japanese animation particularly, and was surprised to find the existence of a film that combined animation and documentary. Usually I’m not a big fan of documentary, but was stunned when I saw Waltz with Bashir. I thoroughly enjoyed the animation style and the colors used in the film. The colors themselves enhance the experience of war and give it realistic feeling.
Quiz name: Looking at Movies, 4e
Chapter Number: 11
Student’s name: Marty Manseau
Number of questions: 10
Percent correct: 100%
Sorry, I forgot to do this quiz last week.
Waltz with Bashir is one of the most beautiful animated films I have ever seen. When it comes to animated movies, the art style becomes as versatile a tool in a filmmaker’s tool belt as cinematography, editing, or anything else. Waltz with Bashir’s art style helped Ari Folman both set the tone for the film and tell the film’s story. The art was realistic, but it also pushed past reality. It was an interesting sort of contradiction, especially in a documentary. Ari’s journey to remember the past is reflected in this. The film’s search for truth is not always 100% straight forward. I honestly think that if this movie was completely live-action, this message would not have been as emphasized. The choice to animate was definitely an interesting one, and I’m glad it was made.
The animation of Waltz with Bashir was interesting in that I personally felt it was good enough to keep the audience’s attention, but bland enough to allow much of the focus to stay on the narrator’s voice. It also allowed sequences like the dancing gunman to come across in a way that a re-enactment would have butchered. Also, the mixture of animation at the end with actual footage from the conflict brought a realism to the movie, and also an emotional aspect that the animation could not bring on its own. Seeing the mothers and wives of dead children and husband walk around in agony and despair drives home the magnitude of the conflict as well as its consequences.
This animation brought a feeling of documentary. Although it was animation I felt that in some parts of the film it looked live action. The music and sound effects also worked for this movie because it made it feel like as if I were in that situation. I have never seen a movie like this and what I thought actually worked was when the characters were being interviewed. The characters also seemed human like because in most animations the barrier between the audiences and the characters is noticeable. The characters in most animation look unrealistic but in this film they did look human like. Another thing that worked was the storyline. What worked was that one of the characters would remember an ocean but when he asked other people, they did not remember an ocean. This to me felt that this particular character was facing issues with trauma.
Waltz and Bashir was a wonderful, chaotic masterpiece. There was thing that wouldn’t work in realistic cinema, but in the anime genre they got away with it. Since the film is a flash back scenes to a documentary, the animation is motivated as a medium to express such violent memories. For instance the machine gun ballet scene, would look comical or too violent if done in real life. Animation allows such a scene Not to be obvious. The editing decision to transition from animation to real footage was eye opening. It remeined me it wasn’t a cartoon. The editing is what pulled this documentary / animation together. The coloring was terrific as well, Matching the story flow through the film. Overall, I love being exposed………… To new films.
Waltz with Bashir was an incredibly deep and emotional movie that I was not expecting because of the process of mixing animation with documentary. I feel like the animation elements helped out with dream sequences and helped them become more real and have more impact because we could see them with our own eyes. If the film had just been a documentary, I don’t think those dream sequences would have made as huge an impact as they did in the film. The ending sequence that had all of the real footage also had more impact because of the fact that it had been a part of the animation and then it switches to the real-world footage, and then you see that everything that was animated had actually been a part of the actual footage. Seeing something like that really makes you think about what part of the film was enhanced by the animation, and what just used the animation as a medium. The music also played an important part of telling the story, instead of just being a film score. Each song told a story.
The animation in this movie was definitely different, but the style of this filmed was still entertaining. I liked the camera work in this movie especially the 360 degree in the beginning of the movie which was cool. The color of orange occurred a lot to imply the war and make it more dramatic. I also liked the story of the movie where some die and some get away and survive barely. I also enjoyed the narrative with the dogs meaning fear and I also enjoyed seeing realistic images at the very end of the movie making the problem of war feel more real. The really slow motion shots made the movie way more dramatic like the beach scene when the three guys were coming out of the ocean and get dressed.
I think there should be more animation war documentaries. By using animation to tell the story we can see the internal thoughts of the characters not just what they experienced but how they experienced it. We also see some really graphic visuals that could not be done well practically or in CGI with out making us sick. Most important was the final true visuals to drive that home that this really happened. When watching other war documentaries I am often pulled out of connecting with what happened when they show obvious reenactment film bits. My critical mind tears the reenactment apart which makes it feel less real. Waltz with Bashir was not real but it was more real.
At some parts Waltz With Bashir was a little hard to follow, just because the subtitles were pretty quick and the animation was so attention grabbing a lot of the time I missed what the characters were saying. Anyway, translation issues aside, I really enjoyed this film. When it comes to animation for me, I either love it or hate it, there is no middle ground. What I thought was most striking about this film was the mise en scene and cinematography. It is strange to talk about these two elements in an animation, but I think it is even more important in animated films. Nothing is put in the frame without a purpose, or the intention of the animator. And I think when a filmmaker is given complete creative control like that, that is when the best films are made. I also would like to praise the animator for having the artwork and animations realistic but still keeping their animated integrity. One of my biggest pet peeves is when animators try to make their artwork too realistic. I find it distracting and definitely less creative.
I strongly agree with some classmates that point out that by bringing all this memories and dreams in form of a documentary, the choose by doing it with animation make the overall aspect of the documentary more realistic, in part because we know that it’s impossible to have this real footage of surreal dreams and all the facts that the characters have in memory.
I could notice some techniques that the filmmaker choose to increase this believable aspect of the story. For example in the scene where Ari and his platoon are attacked in the beach, the techniques applied to create the effect of hand held camera brings a strong realistic aspect, in addition to all tension and strong adrenaline characteristic of this type of shot.
Other technique that brings reliability to the animation is the usage of interviews. By doing even the interviews, that are important parts of documentaries, animated, the movie makes the spectator lose a huge part of the previous concept about animation usually refer to unreal and passes to believe and see the animation as a realistic mean too.
I always think about how documentaries are becoming increasingly innovative, and this documentary really affirmed that. There are many things in this movie that would not have been as impactful had they been reenacted, which was clearly the only other way to portray Ari’s experience while listening to the stories. In reenactments, the audience is typically made very aware that what they are seeing is not the original documentation and it therefore loses much of its validity. This has the potential to heavily detract from the story as it tends to take the audience out of it.
It’s never clear from whose perspective you’re witnessing these animated images. Is it Ari’s mental perception when hearing these stories? Are they his suppressed thoughts resurfacing? Or do these images coincide with the ones inside the respective storyteller’s head? It’s never clear, which is what I believe was the goal. Clarity is not something the filmmakers wanted to achieve, not until the very end at least. This translated well especially with the films transitions, which often flitted back and forth from memory and present time, and sometimes it was hard to guess which one would come next. One of the most noticeable transitions was from the very high aerial shot of Carmi and Ari in Holland to the aerial shot of the “love boat” and the dramatic shift in tone, colors, and music that accompanied it. The music was the first thing I noticed–its upbeat tempo was so jarring compared to the quiet landscape of the Holland shot right before. I had not seen that shift coming, and the transition from a completely white shot to a very dark shot had me feeling confused but successfully piqued my interest all the same.
One of my favorite shots of the film was during the story about the man who was left behind by his squadron. The final shot of that scene was him staggering towards a tank in a beam of light one of his comrades was pointing at him. I remember thinking how beautiful the shot was and didn’t even consider the fact that it was animation. It was really nicely framed and well-balanced with darkness and light– overall a very moving shot. I imagined that one being done in a real life portrayal and concluded it may have been over-the-done and slightly cheesy, yet as animation it felt genuine. It was interesting that, for me, Ari’s story having been told through animation instead of making a live-action movie or including reenactments had a more profound effect in its sincerity and potency overall.
introductiontocinema 
This realistic animation draws the attention from audiences at the beginning which is fierce hunting dogs. In this scene, sound is used in the dramatic way. For example, dogs’ growling sound, sound effect for the metalic sound from the steel table, and rhythmic music which is well-matched with the running of dogs. The saturation throughout film is dark, but the contrast between brightness and darkness is very obvious. Also, this animation contains the details in real world such as the reflection of the trees on the car or the depiction of shadow. This animation takes advantage the relativeness of size and the space sense very well. For instance, while shifting of places from one scene to the ocean scene makes zoom-out with white shot and zoom-in with smog in the dark ocean. This gives the feeling of flying in the air and makes the change of scene natural. Also, in the man’s dream, the naked woman is bigger than the ship and a man who she holds, so it looks like that she save and protect him. This animation seems like just a film, that is, it mimics the real camera or film editing such as the slow motion, the modulation of the pace of editing. In addition, there are interviews in this animation which is one of the most distinguishing features of documentary movies. This animated film shows even that one guy which is being interviewed has no entire fingers: he loses one of his fingers. In consequence, although this animation has own characteristics as an animation such as a gun shot like dancing, dreamy scenes or dreams, and flashbacks, it has a lot of realistic features in the documentary films and a real video recording at the end accelerates the tragic feeling from the viewer.
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Jina park
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Waltz with Bashir is a fascinating film that somewhat combines the documentary genre with the animation genre.
In the opening scene, there is very fast paced music along with images of a group of ferocious dogs seemingly heading somewhere in a hurry. The music is what makes this scene work. Without the menacing fast paced music, the images of the dogs running and growling would still be scary, but would have much less of an impact.
The animation for this movie was really well done, and to me, just interesting to look at. For example, I could not really tell if it was supposed to look 3D, or 2D, but after a while I think it was using the combination of both. The background appeared to be very 2 dimensional while the people appeared to be more 3 dimensional. I think the characters looked more 3D because of the use of low key lighting that was animated onto their faces. All of this gave the movie a somewhat pseudo-realistic look to it. I knew I was watching an animation movie, but at certain times, I forgot that it was animated.
One piece of camera work that worked well for me was when we saw some off camera violence when the child with the RPG was shot. We did not see him get shot though, all we saw was the soldiers shooting toward him and we also saw the bush he was standing in front of shake because of all the bullets hitting it. Off camera violence worked well in this scene… To me, not seeing the kid get hit with dozens of bullets was a more powerful than if we saw it happen. All the audience needs to see and hear is the sounds of the automatic rifles along with the shaking bush and they know exactly what happened.
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This film was definitely the most interesting one I’ve seen in class. The combination of animation and documentary had such a realistic feel that at times, I completely forgot that it was in animation. Considering that the film was called Waltz, I noticed that throughout the film, the use of classical Waltz music were at noteworthy points in the story; when they were walking through the field and child shot the RPG, when the guy was spraying bullets in the middle of a big fight, etc. Even though it was in animation, the camera work, the sound, and the cinematography drew out just as much emotion that a normal documentary would pull out.
A specific scene that I remember was toward the end and they were talking about the massacre, specifically when a guy witnessed another soldier pushing an older man into a building to shoot him, and when they witnessed a family being executed. I thought about the effect of seeing those scenes as a normal documentary and I imagined those scenes would be bad enough to watch, but the emotional effect that those scenes had through use of animation was just as heart wrenching, and I find that to be a very moving and powerful use of animation.
The way that the animation depicted the use of a real camera was what also intrigued me. Capturing shadows in a realistic way, the reflections on the water when they were in the ocean, and the use of gunfire and how it looked as accurate as I believe animation could capture it. This film was very moving and overall makes me believe that the combination of genres is quite possible to accomplish.
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I think that overall the fact that this film was an animated documentary compared to just a documentary, really added to the impact of this film. I think that even the opening scene, where the audience is following the running dogs, is quite powerful animated. At some points of this film I did get a little bored, but the message of this film is powerful. I think that if this film was just a documentary that it would not be able to be as powerful, for the scenes would not have as much control as an animation does. The scene where they were floating in the river had a very intense and dark mood, even though they were just floating in the water. I think that the composition of this film had great contrast and the shades were amplified in many scenes. Close to the beginning, there is a scene where he is just driving and shadows pass by the mans face over and over again. This would not seem as prominent if it were real life.
I think that the story, true story, of Ari Folman trying to remember his past life events is powerful in itself, but I think that this animation causes this story to cause more interest in this story. To me, this type of animation reminded me of a comic book and that really caught my attention, yet I do not know if that was their intention. I think that the ending scene, where they show the deaths of the Subra and Shatila massacre, is really powerful and really ties the directors point home. The use of this real scene in comparison to the rest of this animated film, drags the audience from a powerful story to the actual real death scene of this massacre. I know that some people find this film as being too crude, but I think the directors use of nudity and death is beneficial to the story and necessary for the documentary.
Another thing that I focused on during this movie, was the use of more modern and usually face paced music. This went well with the animation, and it seemed to go along with the story as well. The music, at times, reminded me of a video game, yet I think it really worked with the action, especially in the dog chasing scene.
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I really, really liked Waltz with Bashir. I thought the animation was amazing – it was mentioned in class that some people get bored with the “flat” style, but I thought it was beautiful. It was realistic without entering the uncanny valley and I thought the “flatness” of the shading gave it a noir-type aesthetic that was just gorgeous. The contrast of the highlights and the shadows and just the color templates in general really grabbed my attention and I could have watched the movie without subtitles and lived it just as much. It was just beautiful to look at.
I also loved the soundtrack. I actually downloaded it and listened to it while writing my third paper. It had a consistent feel throughout and yet it was poignant when it needed to be poignant and energetic when it needed to be energetic and even, at times, confusing when it needed to be a little confusing. It just hit all the right notes, so to speak, and that’s another reason why I could have watched it without subtitles – between the animation and the music, it’s beautiful without dialogue or even story.
That said, I did really enjoy the writing. I know it’s a documentary, but it is a documentary that required quite a bit of narrative structure and it was extremely well structured and, like the music, it was balanced – at times confusing, at times poignant, and at times it just amped me up, even if I wasn’t quite sure why. It really did a good job of getting it’s message across, too – about the horrors or war and how art can transform memory or help to lift the veil of repression. It reminded me a lot of the graphic novels Persepolis and Maus. I really liked it a lot and at first even wondered if it was based on a graphic novel because it reminded me of those books so much. I really liked it a lot.
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This was a very interesting movie. I liked that they chose to do an animated film rather than film actors; the fact that it was animated forced me to listen/read the story, and the animation enhanced it. I think if it wasn’t animated, the depth of the story would have been lost. I also enjoyed the music, most was piano, violin, or orchestra, so it enhanced the “waltz” aspect. But it also contradicted the fact that we were watching a war. It was very interesting.
I also enjoyed how the characters talked over each other in a few places. I really felt like I was witnessing a conversation, even though it was animated. I thought it was really well done.
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Quiz name: Looking at Movies, 4e
Chapter Number: 11
Student’s name: Daniell Reeser
Number of questions: 10
Percent correct: 100%
(apologies for missing the quiz last week)
Filmmakers often discuss the aesthetic effect of choosing one kind of lens or film stock over another. The medium of animation throws in an even greater number of possibilities when considering in which style a film should be presented. Waltz with Bashir acknowledges its own visual choice on a couple occasions. One man the protagonist interviews mentions how he is okay with he and his son being drawn, but not being filmed. At the film’s finale, the statement of “the camera broke” suddenly applies to the protagonist. When his “camera breaks”, the distance between him and the reality of what he witnessed is removed, and the animation stops. The final live-action sequence represents how he reacquired his memories, and they are inescapably ‘real’. This is a great symbolic use of both mediums contrasting against each other.
The character drawings utilize hard, low-key lighting, which is economical in terms of how much work they take to animate, but also creates a very appropriate effect. The heavy black contours contrast well against the characters’ pale fill colors and sharp light. The dream sequence stands out within the context of the film due to its strikingly warm fire colors, which are recalled when the story reveals the flares that lit the massacre.
One aspect I found interesting about the visual acting in the piece was how facial expressions were very subtle, almost stilted. The computer-aided technology was apparent in some of the cycling talking animations, which is understandable to make this film realistic to accomplish as an independent piece. Without over-thinking the technical aspect, the effect is a more subdued visual that leaves room to read subtitles and listen to the voices.
My career focus is on animation, and since there is no study course dedicated to it, I am always appreciative when at least one film is discussed in a theory class. Thank you!
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Waltz With Bashir is a very adult animation that really makes a statement. We really only remember what we want to. The fact that it was made all in Flash to me was really impressive. The choice of animation was really a good one, because of all the flashback sequences. They were all very surreal and animation, in my option, is the only medium that can really pull that off. The color used in the film really reflected what was going on in the mind of the characters. When Folman only remembers coming out the sea in the nude that whole repeated sequence is yellow. Yellow means fear, Folman is afraid of his lost memory but he still wishes to find it. Yellow also means hope meaning that even though Folman is scared of what he might find out about the past he still has hope for the future. A darker yellow also stands for warning, this could mean a warning for Folman about his memories like maybe he shouldn’t go looking for them if his mind choses to repress them. When Folmen meets with Cnaan its white, meaning mourning. Cnaan doesn’t really give much information to Folmen meaning that he himself is mourning. There is also a lot of deep blues that could mean that dolmen feels alienated and depressed because of his memory loss. And a lot of Greens which is the color of Islam but could also mean luck and strength. Overtime we saw the color green something somewhat positive happened to Folmen. Overall the films use of colors really showed the mental state of the characters or specifically on Folmen. The way its edited is very smooth and seamless making it seem like there is very little editing at all. We knew who’s flash back was who’s and I at least was not confused as to what was going on. Animation is my favorite form of film and i feel like it doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Im glad we got to at least touch on animation in a film class. In the end it was a very beautiful piece of animation.
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I have to say that before this film I had always considered animation to be a genre. I never gave much thought to its use outside of children films and just equated the two as one in the same. I have had to reconsider that correlation and had to come to the conclusion that animation and children’s films do not equal causation. Animation is a medium. Its a story telling tool in the same way that CGI is used to tell stories. It can both enhance a film or be used as a way to create it in its entirety. Unfortunately animation is a very expensive and time consuming way of making a movie which I think is a large reason as to why more directors don’t experiment with it. Convincing the public that a medium accepted as a genre even within the film world (I’m looking at you Oscar) makes an adult application very risky. At least within the U.S. There is a reason this film was able to be made in Israel. The hangup the west has about the expected convention of animation is much more flexible in other parts of the world. I’m thinking specifically of such genres as Anime. (yes you could argue that this is a medium too but I’m not going to go there) It is a style of animation that runs the gamut from bright, friendly, children content to dark, violent, adult content without the stigma associated with animation. Waltz with Bashir opened me to reexamine my previously held beliefs and spark an interest in further exploring the possibility this medium holds
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Waltz with Bashir tells the story of a man searching for the truth in his memory, however at the end of the film the viewer is thrown a curve ball. The animation of this film helped significantly in the communication of the movie’s message. It was unlike Wal-E in the style of animation and did not have that Disney feel to it. The mood portrayed by this cartoon like animation was dark and almost dream like as to best relate to the state of human psychology. This film’s animation also made the characters look human because they had flaws and were no perfectly designed. Another aspect of this film that really caught my attention was the music. I felt that the music played through this film made a huge impact on why I enjoyed watching this movie. This music tied in really well with the mood and matched the scenes that played over. Not only but I feel when the rock style music played, the contrast in the tone with the scenes that were scene helped tell the story of that given place and time. The writing of this anime was very well executed because it kept the viewer thinking throughout to the entirety of the film. Especially since the narrative of Inception is very similar to this story line, it just goes to show that many people saw this to be a unique and effective story enough to base a Hollywood film off of that narrative. I really enjoyed the way it events played out in the form of flashbacks because it kept me intrigued on what would happen next in the film. Overall I really enjoyed this animated film and the message it shared with us the viewers.
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Waltz with Bashir was drastically different than the Pixar hit Wall-E. Although Waltz was an animated film, it was highly emotional and it seemed real. It was similar to Wall-E in the way that it evoked real emotion from the viewer. Some of the scenes looked really realistic and at these points i forgot i was viewing an animation. I don’t think that the movie would have been as powerful if it weren’t for its use of animation. The end scene was the only scene that utilized real footage and i thought it was genius to show that the film was a documentary based on true events. I typically don’t care for this type of animation similar to the TellTale games like the one based on the Walking Dead comics, however after a short while i was drawn in by the story.
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I have never seen an animation like Waltz with Bashir before. The darker and more realistic tone is dramatically different than the typical animation we are used to seeing. I loved the approach on this story by making it documentary style but not using real actors or real footage (save for the very end). It made the story and message way more impactful. The music was by far my favorite aspect because it was used appropriately and would give certain scenes more of a punch because it set the mood and tone of what was unfolding. For example when the actual “waltz with bashir” happened, and you see the character spinning and almost dancing while firing a machine gun with waltz music playing. And when the main character would have his “vision”, it was the same emotional music everytime. This was by far the most hard-hitting animation I have seen and I dont think that it wouldve had the same impact if it wasnt animation. Its just something that we dont expect when we think of animation.
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Quiz name: Looking at Movies, 4e
Chapter Number: 11
Student’s name: Caleb B.
Student’s email: calebbowen@csus.edu
Number of questions: 10
Percent correct: 100%
Waltz with Bashir fits into a small but growing genre of animated dramas. Other films like Richard Linklater’s “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly” also make use of the animated format while dealing with more dramatic themes. In Waltz with Bashir the animation is used effectively to convey the memories of the events. It is also interesting that this film uses animation to depict historic events instead of fiction.
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I have nothing to say except that I thought the animation was truly incredible, you almost forgot that it was animation, and worked in a way that live-action just couldn’t.
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Waltz with Bashir is a hard movie for me to analyze, because it is a foreign film. It was hard to concentrate on the visual aspect of the film while trying to read the dialogue and understand the plot. The animation that I saw looked similar to real life in the way the characters moved and responded to the events about them. However, there were moments when I thought they walked too slow. Maybe this could have been symbolizing them walking and not getting anywhere fast on the road to the main characters revelation. The real life footage of the end was shocking, because it brought me out from the cover of animation and placed me back into a harsh reality. Real dead bodies were shown and there was real pain being shown. It was a very sad film.
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Waltz with Bashir is an animated documentary by Israeli Filmmaker, Ari Folmon, trying to reconstruct his memories of the 1982 Lebanon War.
Animation is used for over 99% of the move. The exception being at the end of the film, at the refugee camp where the women are walking through the camp, wailing. The scene cuts to real footage and at that moment it felt real to me. I was immediately emotionally involved. I got teary. Even while watching the movie again, I had the same reaction.
The animation style of the movie kept me at a distance. The images felt dream like, with the exception of the times where an interview was being done. Each time one of the interviews began to recall a time in the war the music preceded the transition. The music was a cue to the audience to show that what we are watching is a memory. It set up the tone of the segment, introducing us to a new setting, a different time. Usually these musical transitions had lyrics, while the other music through the film was instrumental only. One of the transitions begins with asynchronous sound when one soldier in a wide shot on the beach started pretending his gun was a guitar. Asynchronous sound is when there’s a discrepancy between what is seen and what is heard on the screen. The visual action of strumming the gun was matched with the sound of an electric guitar being strummed. There is a montage of soldiers cooking, shooting, surface. One of the lines to the song is, “I bombed, Sidon today”.
I read that the movie was shot, storyboarded, and the animations were created based on the storyboard. I noticed the way shots were edited together. The coverage was there in a way that most documentaries would not have. I am mainly thinking of the airport scene, when 19 years old, Ari is walking around the abandoned airport. There are shots from above him, seemingly tracking him, there’s a shot where he’s walking in the terminal towards the camera, the window is to his left where we see a ruined commercial plane. There’s a shot of an abandoned store with the automatic doors closing on a shopping cart. The editing in this scene brings together the setting of the abandoned airport.
The documentary also uses voiceover to make certain transitions. The scene where Ari Folmon starts to get his memory back, he is riding in a cab and the scene shifts to a time where he is shooting from on top of a tank. HIs voice over says that’s when his memory started to come back. If not for the voice over the audience might think it was just a dream maybe. HIs voice over helps to clarify what we see on screen.
Just wanted to end with saying that the documentary is innovative for sure. I’ve seen nothing like it. And although I was watching something animated I didn’t feel at all that it was cartoonish. Perhaps the way that was animated, in what many people think is a realistic way, made the reveal of the actual news footage that much more powerful. The memories and piecing together of incidents in the war through animation, concluding with the reality of those experiencing the after effects is unforgettable.
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Waltz with Bashir is an animated documentary with good acting, various colors to reflect an emotion, and had an interesting switch in visuals, as the film made a transition from animation to actual footage caught on camera. Through the animated depiction of the characters and the scenes, it is apparent that the acting is good in this film. I did not need to see an actual footage of an actor acting out these scenes to appreciate the acting. I was able to still feel an emotion from the animated characters, based on their features, and because of that, was able to feel an emotion based on the animated acting. The color changes between scenes also helped create an emotion from such scene. For example, at the beginning of the film, the over all colors were more dull, faded, and dark. However, as questions were getting answered, the over all colors of the film gradually got brighter and more vivid. By changing from animation to actual real-life taken camera footage of the aftermath of the massacre, the audience is reminded that this is not just a created, drawn up story, but is an actual true story of true events. It tugs at the audience’s emotion, because suddenly, this story is very real. The transition from animation to actual footage also happened as Ari remembered the massacre. Just as this story became real to us, it became real to Ari.
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Waltz with Bashir is an animation that negates practically all of the stereotypes associated with animation. The powerful story telling coupled with the beautifully created animation style makes this film one of the most riveting animation pieces I have ever seen. The plot is driven through retelling of story. As stated in class it is, in a way, an animated documentary. At first I thought that I was gonna get tired of it. I thought that the two (animation and documentary) would be too off-putting. But as the movie progressed I found that it worked surprisingly well. I feel that more imagery could be shown through animation due to the virtually limitless possibilities of animation. The voice acting was really well done too. I felt that the history of these characters could be heard through their voice. I really liked the choice of putting footage at the end of the refugee camps. The entire film I wondered what these situations would look like in real life. This actually accomplished two things. Not only did it show me how it looked like, but it made me realize that the impact of this film would have been drastically different if it were a live action movie. The strengths of this film, I feel, ultimately lie in the fact that it is a fully animated feature.
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Quiz name: Looking at Movies, 4e
Chapter Number: 11
Student’s name: Samuel Acosta
Number of questions: 10
Percent correct: 100%
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Quiz name: Looking at Movies, 4e
Chapter Number: 11
Student’s name: Ana Carla Teixeira Praciano Santos
Number of questions: 10
Percent correct: 100%
Waltz with Bashir is a film the caught my attention in the first moment I began to watch it. That happened because it is an animated documentary and we have this feeling that documentaries should shows us the truth, which is the opposite of an animation, which works like a sort of escape from reality to a fantasy world. However, the animated aspect works well here and even rehenforces the truth about the events exposed in this film because it seems that we are watching a re-construction of those facts. The acting and the plot are extremely well executed and, sometimes, we even forget we are watching an animation, since it is so realistic and emotional. Besides, the color pattern is very characteristic of this film, presenting warm colors, usually orange, to make us feel in the place where the actions happened and also to enhance the horror and the feeling of war. It is interested to notice that in almost every shot we have something orange on the screen. Furthermore, the sound matches with every single situation, enhancing emotion and feelings of tension and compassion.
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I’m a big fan when it comes to animation, Japanese animation particularly, and was surprised to find the existence of a film that combined animation and documentary. Usually I’m not a big fan of documentary, but was stunned when I saw Waltz with Bashir. I thoroughly enjoyed the animation style and the colors used in the film. The colors themselves enhance the experience of war and give it realistic feeling.
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Quiz name: Looking at Movies, 4e
Chapter Number: 11
Student’s name: Marty Manseau
Number of questions: 10
Percent correct: 100%
Sorry, I forgot to do this quiz last week.
Waltz with Bashir is one of the most beautiful animated films I have ever seen. When it comes to animated movies, the art style becomes as versatile a tool in a filmmaker’s tool belt as cinematography, editing, or anything else. Waltz with Bashir’s art style helped Ari Folman both set the tone for the film and tell the film’s story. The art was realistic, but it also pushed past reality. It was an interesting sort of contradiction, especially in a documentary. Ari’s journey to remember the past is reflected in this. The film’s search for truth is not always 100% straight forward. I honestly think that if this movie was completely live-action, this message would not have been as emphasized. The choice to animate was definitely an interesting one, and I’m glad it was made.
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The animation of Waltz with Bashir was interesting in that I personally felt it was good enough to keep the audience’s attention, but bland enough to allow much of the focus to stay on the narrator’s voice. It also allowed sequences like the dancing gunman to come across in a way that a re-enactment would have butchered. Also, the mixture of animation at the end with actual footage from the conflict brought a realism to the movie, and also an emotional aspect that the animation could not bring on its own. Seeing the mothers and wives of dead children and husband walk around in agony and despair drives home the magnitude of the conflict as well as its consequences.
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This animation brought a feeling of documentary. Although it was animation I felt that in some parts of the film it looked live action. The music and sound effects also worked for this movie because it made it feel like as if I were in that situation. I have never seen a movie like this and what I thought actually worked was when the characters were being interviewed. The characters also seemed human like because in most animations the barrier between the audiences and the characters is noticeable. The characters in most animation look unrealistic but in this film they did look human like. Another thing that worked was the storyline. What worked was that one of the characters would remember an ocean but when he asked other people, they did not remember an ocean. This to me felt that this particular character was facing issues with trauma.
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Waltz and Bashir was a wonderful, chaotic masterpiece. There was thing that wouldn’t work in realistic cinema, but in the anime genre they got away with it. Since the film is a flash back scenes to a documentary, the animation is motivated as a medium to express such violent memories. For instance the machine gun ballet scene, would look comical or too violent if done in real life. Animation allows such a scene Not to be obvious. The editing decision to transition from animation to real footage was eye opening. It remeined me it wasn’t a cartoon. The editing is what pulled this documentary / animation together. The coloring was terrific as well, Matching the story flow through the film. Overall, I love being exposed………… To new films.
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Waltz with Bashir was an incredibly deep and emotional movie that I was not expecting because of the process of mixing animation with documentary. I feel like the animation elements helped out with dream sequences and helped them become more real and have more impact because we could see them with our own eyes. If the film had just been a documentary, I don’t think those dream sequences would have made as huge an impact as they did in the film. The ending sequence that had all of the real footage also had more impact because of the fact that it had been a part of the animation and then it switches to the real-world footage, and then you see that everything that was animated had actually been a part of the actual footage. Seeing something like that really makes you think about what part of the film was enhanced by the animation, and what just used the animation as a medium. The music also played an important part of telling the story, instead of just being a film score. Each song told a story.
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The animation in this movie was definitely different, but the style of this filmed was still entertaining. I liked the camera work in this movie especially the 360 degree in the beginning of the movie which was cool. The color of orange occurred a lot to imply the war and make it more dramatic. I also liked the story of the movie where some die and some get away and survive barely. I also enjoyed the narrative with the dogs meaning fear and I also enjoyed seeing realistic images at the very end of the movie making the problem of war feel more real. The really slow motion shots made the movie way more dramatic like the beach scene when the three guys were coming out of the ocean and get dressed.
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I think there should be more animation war documentaries. By using animation to tell the story we can see the internal thoughts of the characters not just what they experienced but how they experienced it. We also see some really graphic visuals that could not be done well practically or in CGI with out making us sick. Most important was the final true visuals to drive that home that this really happened. When watching other war documentaries I am often pulled out of connecting with what happened when they show obvious reenactment film bits. My critical mind tears the reenactment apart which makes it feel less real. Waltz with Bashir was not real but it was more real.
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At some parts Waltz With Bashir was a little hard to follow, just because the subtitles were pretty quick and the animation was so attention grabbing a lot of the time I missed what the characters were saying. Anyway, translation issues aside, I really enjoyed this film. When it comes to animation for me, I either love it or hate it, there is no middle ground. What I thought was most striking about this film was the mise en scene and cinematography. It is strange to talk about these two elements in an animation, but I think it is even more important in animated films. Nothing is put in the frame without a purpose, or the intention of the animator. And I think when a filmmaker is given complete creative control like that, that is when the best films are made. I also would like to praise the animator for having the artwork and animations realistic but still keeping their animated integrity. One of my biggest pet peeves is when animators try to make their artwork too realistic. I find it distracting and definitely less creative.
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I strongly agree with some classmates that point out that by bringing all this memories and dreams in form of a documentary, the choose by doing it with animation make the overall aspect of the documentary more realistic, in part because we know that it’s impossible to have this real footage of surreal dreams and all the facts that the characters have in memory.
I could notice some techniques that the filmmaker choose to increase this believable aspect of the story. For example in the scene where Ari and his platoon are attacked in the beach, the techniques applied to create the effect of hand held camera brings a strong realistic aspect, in addition to all tension and strong adrenaline characteristic of this type of shot.
Other technique that brings reliability to the animation is the usage of interviews. By doing even the interviews, that are important parts of documentaries, animated, the movie makes the spectator lose a huge part of the previous concept about animation usually refer to unreal and passes to believe and see the animation as a realistic mean too.
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I always think about how documentaries are becoming increasingly innovative, and this documentary really affirmed that. There are many things in this movie that would not have been as impactful had they been reenacted, which was clearly the only other way to portray Ari’s experience while listening to the stories. In reenactments, the audience is typically made very aware that what they are seeing is not the original documentation and it therefore loses much of its validity. This has the potential to heavily detract from the story as it tends to take the audience out of it.
It’s never clear from whose perspective you’re witnessing these animated images. Is it Ari’s mental perception when hearing these stories? Are they his suppressed thoughts resurfacing? Or do these images coincide with the ones inside the respective storyteller’s head? It’s never clear, which is what I believe was the goal. Clarity is not something the filmmakers wanted to achieve, not until the very end at least. This translated well especially with the films transitions, which often flitted back and forth from memory and present time, and sometimes it was hard to guess which one would come next. One of the most noticeable transitions was from the very high aerial shot of Carmi and Ari in Holland to the aerial shot of the “love boat” and the dramatic shift in tone, colors, and music that accompanied it. The music was the first thing I noticed–its upbeat tempo was so jarring compared to the quiet landscape of the Holland shot right before. I had not seen that shift coming, and the transition from a completely white shot to a very dark shot had me feeling confused but successfully piqued my interest all the same.
One of my favorite shots of the film was during the story about the man who was left behind by his squadron. The final shot of that scene was him staggering towards a tank in a beam of light one of his comrades was pointing at him. I remember thinking how beautiful the shot was and didn’t even consider the fact that it was animation. It was really nicely framed and well-balanced with darkness and light– overall a very moving shot. I imagined that one being done in a real life portrayal and concluded it may have been over-the-done and slightly cheesy, yet as animation it felt genuine. It was interesting that, for me, Ari’s story having been told through animation instead of making a live-action movie or including reenactments had a more profound effect in its sincerity and potency overall.
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