Ryan -- An Animated Documentary

In class the other day, we watched the animated short film and documentary, Ryan. As the film goes on, the characters (who are based off of real people) are depicted with their flaws in all of their entirety. Both Ryan and Chris experience this strange phenomenon of color that "chokes" them, holds them back. Most of Ryan's face is missing, even! As Chris interviews Ryan, Chris ends up bringing up so many harsh memories for Ryan, causing more strange effects to occur around him. As we begin to deeply know Ryan, it becomes more and more obvious how screwed up he is and how hurt he has been through the use of such effects that we cannot begin to describe in real life, in just pictures, in words. The fact that this documentary was done in an animated medium can clearly depict the struggle, the suffering, and the pain that the characters, or if done for an interview people in our daily lives, the pain and suffering that we go through, even. It is nearly impossible to express the entirety of a person's struggle simply through the use of camera and spoken language. This is the reason why Ryan needed to be done in an animated medium, Chris wanted to capture Ryan's pain, the struggle he faces, the struggle that artists endure, and the suffering that Ryan's loved ones endured. The animated medium of this film really spoke to me because of this and, in a way, created a vulnerability only an animator can create.