Ryan

I think this video is one of my favorites that we've seen in class so far. It's intriguing that the traditional genre of a documentary is challenged by not only using animation rather than live action, but also by bringing into light the unseen realities of things( like the little hands extending from the character's heads like antennas as though extending a greeting or gathering a first impression.)It puts emotion, tension, and states of being into visual form. An example I'm thinking of would be the explosion by Ryan when the reporter mentions that he should quit drinking. There's a kind of ripple effect that's picked up by those around them, Ryan's figure suddenly has red spikes poking out of him, and the entire room is bent out of shape. Even before that when the reporter made the suggestion, a halo moved around his head, almost mockingly pointing him out as playing the role of some kind of saint. Tension is seen, Anger is seen, Brokenness is seen. In reality, it's sometimes harder to pick up on all that at first when all you see are the physically visible aspects of a person. I think the genius of this film is that it's trying to document both the facts and the truths beneath those without messing too much with the raw facts. It's also interesting to see how the attitudes of an artist are inserted as well. Look at how Ryan responded to the suggestion that he live longer to make work for his fans; He asks, "What's in it for me?" He doesn't care about what his audience wants, he doesn't make art for them, he does it just because that's what he does out of creative compulsion. He loves it like he said he loves to drink. Even in not dressing like everyone else for the Oscars, he demonstrates that the fame, people/fans is not what it's about for him. Unlike other documentaries, we get to look into the life of the reporter as well and find that the strongest similarity between he and Ryan is the gripping fear of failure for each artist. I love how it's symbolized; it's really quite scary and looks like it becomes so wrapped up and immobilizing so that the victim of that fear can't really make a move. This film seems to be bending the rules a bit, bluring some lines as to what's cheating and what isn't for a documentary, but as far as I know, it's still true to reality and in a way maybe even more so than some.



( To watch "Ryan," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrsVa3CzQj0)