McCloud and Sousanis // Hiroshima Clips

The two animated video clips of the Hiroshima nuclear attacks are able to express and/or evoke similar meanings despite their stylistic differences. I chose to utilize McCloud and Sousanis to analyze the differences in the visual depictions of the two clips in order to understand how they are able to create meaning.

Clip 1: The first clip (titled "Animation Depicting the Hiroshima Bombing") is incredibly stylized using conventional anime techniques: the colors are simple yet vivid, there is Japanese text on the screen alongside the English subtitles, and the original audio is present in the background. This immediately reminded me of the end of McCloud's chapter in which he writes that "comics [or in this case study, video clips] in Japan have evolved very differently from those in the west" (44). While the other video clip is stylized in a way that could be considered different from traditionally Western videos, it lacks the calling cards of Japanese anime.

Clip 2: In my opinion, the second video clip (from "Hiroshima Remembered") was a lot more powerful. Instead of using quick shots of "generic" (meaning someone who could be anyone) people like in the first clip, almost the first half of the second clip was devoted to the intimate details of the lives of the characters. While the first clip relied on simplicity in order to relate to any audience member, the second clip does the exact opposite and is just as effective. When we see an old woman washing her clothes or a father lifting up his child, it creates a much more personal connection with the audience. We are not necessarily meant to see ourselves in each of the characters, like with clip 1, but rather are supposed to see people that we know and love. Even without the connection to their own lives, audience members are forced to understand that the people in the video clips represent real people who were killed. For clip 2 I was also reminded of Sousanis' statement that "reaching across the gap to experience another's way of knowing takes a leap of the imagination," and that leap of the imagination can be accomplished through visual media.

Both clips rely on simple drawings to evoke McCloud's idea of reader-identification; however, they also both include the occasional character (the men in the plane in clip 1 and the man at 3:44 in clip 2) that is "drawn more realistically in order to objectify them, emphasizing their 'otherness' from the reader" (44). Another aspect of the readings that stuck out to me after watching the clips is McCloud's claim that a simple style is not indicative of a simple story, which is apparent in the deep symbolic meaning, emotional value, and political statements present in both clips despite their "simple" artwork (I am in no way arguing that the videos are simple artistically. I just think it should be acknowledged that portions of it could be considered simple, especially when compared to Western films).

The two videos also strongly reflect the idea that identity is formulated not only from the things that we own, but in the media we consume. We are meant to relate to the characters in the film and feel for them, especially in clip 2 which shows a lot of mundane actions that could very well have been acted out by any of us.

When I read Sousanis' claim that "we walk in paths worn down by those who came before us," it changed my interpretation of the two clips, or rather, it made me consider them in a new light. The videos utilize two different styles of visual depiction because those styles are significant to the culture that was harmed so much by the Hiroshima bombings.

Both theorists emphasize the fact that when we interact with visual media, we reach beyond ourselves and into the lives and/or realities of other people. This is definitely reflected in the two clips, and is part of the reason why they carry so much meaning.