Keepin’ it Real: A study of combat realism in the war documentaries ‘Restrepo’ and ‘Armadillo’

Keepin’ it Real

A study of combat realism in the war documentaries

‘Restrepo’ and ‘Armadillo’

Universiteit van Amsterdam 24 June 2016

Keepin’ it Real

A study of combat realism in the war documentaries ‘Restrepo’ and ‘Armadillo’

Master Thesis

Beroepsgeorienteerde Master Filmstudies Specialisation Documentary

Amount of words (excl. table of contents, abstract, literature): 20.090 Supervisor: F.A.M. (Erik) Laeven

Second reader: C.J. (Charles) Forceville

Universiteit van Amsterdam 24 June 2016

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Realism has been widely discussed and studied among filmsholars, with regards to fictional war films. However, the discussion has not often touched on war documentaries. This is remarkable, since documentaries address reality, and therefore potentially have a more powerful effect on shaping the audience’s perception and understanding of the actual world. As news is being censored through the embedding of journalists, war documentaries currently play a greater role in the representation of contemporary wars. These films increasingly contribute to the homefront’s perception of the events of the war, and therefore warrant a closer look at their claims of realism. This thesis takes a closer look at the use of experiential and embodied realism in war documentaries, and examine how and to what extent

documentaries like Armadillo and Restrepo provide a realistic experience of war. This thesis looks at the rhetorical strategies these two documentaries employ, to create a sense of combat realism, through a close reading of the stylistic treatment of the films. This thesis identifies the textual devices that are used to achieve this, through the use of modes of representation, fidelity of audio-visual detail and kinesthetic empathy in relation to the narrative. The results of the analysis indicate that both films offer a highly experiential and embodied combat realism, by offering the viewer a plethora of congnitive, affective and kinesthetic stimuli, through a performative mode of production, that presents a subjective perspective of the war. However, by only showing the personal experience of war, the films try to override any historical or political consideration of the consequences of war, making experiential realism as a way to acquire the truth and knowledge about experience of war, problematic.

Keywords:

Armadillo, authenticity, combat realism, documentaries, embodied realism, experiential realism, immersion, kinesthetic empathy, modes of representation, realism, Restrepo, visceral experience, war documentaries,

1.

I

In the 1960s weekly movie attendance in America had plummeted to a mere ten percent of the population. Television was now the main source for entertainment in America, and provided a window to the war in Vietnam. As the war in Vietnam dragged on the reports coming out of Vietnam became increasingly negative. The news coverage was dominated by reports of heavy American casualties and images of the horrendous and gory consequences of the war started flooding the TV screen of the average American household. The common incentive for the news networks for selecting images or footage, were to show the most graphic ones. This in turn affected the public morale and eroded the support for the war effort in Vietnam. Therefore, the access to the battleground that reporters were granted in later stages of the Vietnam War undermined the PR efforts of the Pentagon to garner support for the war (West 163).

As of this moment, America is involved in the longest war in the in U.S. history. Since the invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, America will have been waging a war against terrorism for nearly sixteen years, and according to dire estimates this conflict will not be resolved any time soon (Sanfilippo 2).

Since the Vietnam War, the Pentagon has rethought their media strategy to prevent another PR disaster. This new approach is most clear during the invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. Correspondents are now only allowed onto the battlefield if they are embedded with the military units (West 163). The embedding of journalist gives an appearance of transparency. However, the heavy security protocols severely limit the content of the images that are shown of the war. In the beginning

photographers were not permitted to shoot pictures of civilian casualties, but could only show images of wounded or dying soldiers (Sanfilippo 7). Now, by embedding journalists, the content of the media coverage can be monitored even closer, preventing the release of reports, images or footage that could potentially hurt the image of the American war effort in

Afghanistan.

With the embedding of journalist, images from the battlefield are not absent. The rise of digital cameras, mobile phones and the global accessibility of the Internet, has extended the means of production to those people are themselves involved in the war. Now civilians and

soldiers on both ends of the conflict have a wide spectrum of tools to present their own perspective of the war and are able to share it with others on Internet. This has caused a proliferation of video clips showing frantic firefights from up-close, suffering among combatants and civilians, and even gruesome beheadings of prisoners by fanatic Islamist militants (West 164).

At the same time Hollywood has hardly produced any popular war movie about the

Afghanistan. Even though fiction films about historical wars have been popular, movies about current conflicts have not been able to garner the same critical or commercial success

(Sanfilippo 43). It seems that as a result of the embedding of journalists, user generated content of the war, digital video and documentaries are increasingly gaining ground on traditional news and fiction films, as a source for information about the war. They are progressively shaping the narrative of the current fragmented wars, that are not decided in epic battles on the beaches of Normandy, but defined by small scale skirmishes throughout the mountains, valleys and farmlands of Afghanistan (West 164).

Historically, film scholars have been intrigued by realism in war films. This attention to realism derives from a wider interest among a range of studies in the way that various visual images like photography, documentaries and fiction films are related to the way we act en comprehend the world (Munster 2). However, these discussions have primarily been

dominated by studies of fiction films. One of the most discussed war movies of the end of the last century is Saving Private Ryan (1998) by Steven Spielberg. Infamous for its opening scene of 24 minutes, that vividly portrays the horror and the viciousness of war during the landing of Omaha beach. The film was lauded by many of the survivors of D-Day, for its realism of the D-Day landings. The realism was attributed to the documentary effect by using handheld 35-millimetre film cameras and the detailed and elobarate sound editing, techniques that became common in later reiterations of the Second World War. The film was so well received by army veterans, that the US Army even awarded Steven Spielberg its highest civilian decoration (Godfrey 278). The great reception and praises among survivors of the landings would infer that the stylistic treatment of Saving Private Ryan present the events, the way they actually occurred and were experienced during the Second World War on the beaches of Normandy.

The urge to represent combat realism in films has also transgressed to documentaries. Armadillo (2010) and Restrepo (2010) are probably the most-seen and well-known documentaries films that have examined war up-close (Munster 17). On the poster of the award winning Danish documentary Armadillo the headline reads (translated) “To you it’s film, to them it’s reality” (Armadillo (film) 2016). The award-winning Danish war

documentary has been hotly debated by journalists and film scholars alike. The film follows a company of young Danish soldiers that are sent out to fight the Taliban on the barren

farmlands of Afghanistan. According to the promotional material this film is a “journey into the soldiers’minds”, emphasizing the emotional realism of combat in the film (Have 156). The American film Restrepo also follows a platoon of soldiers during their deployment in

Afghanistan. On the film’s official site, the directors give a short statement about the movie: This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras never leave the valley; there are no interviews with generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been through a 90-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The

conclusions are up to you (Restrepo).

The makers of Restrepo, thus boldy claim that the documentary provides a 90-minute

experience of war. This experiential claim has been historically problematic, as documentaries as a genre sit on the boundary between revealing the truth through photographic evidence and manipulating these images to accommodate a certain political or ideological agenda

(Greenbaum 30).

For this reason, several film scholars, like Munster argue that more research should be done on documentaries and “the creative arrangements of sensorial perceptions (speech, sounds, music, visuals), which have a structuring effect on reality”. He argues that specifically documentaries have become widespread, garnering more popular attention and producing commercial successes on a wide spectrum of political subjects like the war on terror, global crisis, and environmental changes (Munster 2, 3).

RESEARCH QUESTION

This thesis will follow Munster’s line of thought. Realism has been widely discussed and studied among filmsholars, with regards to fictional war films. However, the discussion has not often touched on war documentaries. This is remarkable, since documentaries address reality, and therefore potentially have a more powerful effect on shaping the audience’s

perception and understanding of the actual world. As news is being censored through the embedding of journalists, war documentaries currently play a greater role in the representation of contemporary wars. These films increasingly contribute to the homefront’s perception of the events of the war, and therefore warrant a closer look at their claims of realism. This thesis will specifically take a closer look at the use of experiential and embodied realism in war documentaries, and examine how and to what extent documentaries like Armadillo and

Restrepo provide a realistic experience of war. To answer this question, this thesis will look at the rhetorical strategies these two documentaries employ, to create a sense of combat realism, through a close reading of the stylistic treatment of the films. This thesis will attempt to identify the textual devices that evoke a sense of combat realism, through the use of modes of representation, fidelity of audio-visual detail and kinesthetic empathy in relation to the

narrative.

STRUCTURE

The rest of this thesis is divided into five segments. The first section outlines some key assumptions from film literature, that are crucial to understanding authenticity, realism, immersion, ideology in relation to film. The second segment presents the guiding objects of research for the textual analysis. The third and fourth portion contains a textual analysis of the stylistic treatment of the films Armadillo (2010) and Restrepo (2010). The last part will reflect on the findings of the analysis and will attempt to draw conclusions, about which rhetorical strategies the films use to create combat realism, how this is achieved, and finally to what extent is embodied combat realism able to represent the experience of war?

2. F

R

To start an exploration of combat realism in war documentaries, a better understanding is needed of two key concepts, authenticity and realism. As it turns out, these concepts are often referred to by a single word: real. This word is used in utterances like ‘this documentary is not real it is fake’ (e.g. not authentic) or ‘this movie has a very realistic feel to it’ (e.g. simulates a real life experience). So the word ‘real’can have a several meanings, depending on the

context. When considering authenticity in relation to film, the question arises, if what we are seeing on screen is fact or fiction. As will become apparent, this is a hard question to answer, definitively when looking at documentaries, news and archival footage. With realism (in the experiential sense of the word) we ask ourselves how life-like a film is. This question touches on the way we experience watching a film and how we relate this to our own understanding of film and the world around us. This concept is therefore highly subjective and poses a problem when attempting to clearly define what a realistic experience is. Often linked to the

experience of realism, is the process of immersion. Immersion relates to the extent to which a viewer is drawn into the experience of a film. As will become clear later on, this process is essential in creating a profound sense of combat realism in war films. When presented with such difficult questions, it is always very helpful to look back at history and consider what others have written about these subjects. In this chapter the works of several film historians and scholars will be examined, in search of a better understanding of authenticity, realism and immersion in film.

2.2 AUTHENTICITY

With regards to documentaries, film historians and scholars alike have always been intrigued by the authenticity of film. But why is it important to ask if a documentary is factual of not? To answer that question, documentary first has to be approached as a genre. What defines a documentary and what differentiates it from other genres like fiction films?

In the book “Introduction to Documentary” Nichols defines the documentary film: Documentary film speaks about situations and events involving real people (social actors) who present themselves to us as themselves in stories that convey a plausible proposal about, or perspective on, the lives, situations, and events portrayed. The distinct point of view of the filmmaker shapes this story into a way of seeing the

historical world directly rather than into a fictional allegory (Nichols 14).

In short a documentary film is not a work of fiction but deals with reality, with real people showing natural behavior and is shaped by the vision of the filmmaker. In this definition the emphasis lies on the relationship between documentaries and reality. According to Nichols it is the address of reality that distinguishes documentaries from fiction film. However Nichols presents this as a preliminary definition, since it is open to interpretation and is quite

cumbersome to apply due to its length (14,15). Even though this definition is fairly elaborate, Nichols argues that this definition simplifies the dynamic and complexity of the documentary genre. Therefore he proposes six modes of documentary filmmaking, presenting documentary as a multifaceted institution, consisting of different text, includes a variety of practitioners, conventions and a genre that is subjected to historical change (31-41).

Thus, when adapting the definition of Nichols one can conclude that the principle guideline for classifying a documentary is that it is a representation of the real world. But to which genre does a film belong, that presents itself as a representation of the real world, but where parts or even its entirety are staged? The film Dark Side of the Moon (2002) is a striking example. The documentary style film seems to expose how the moon landing was fake and recorded in a studio with the help of movie director Stanley Kubrick. In the film prominent public figures like Donald Rumsfeld and Henry Kissinger are interviewed, supposedly attesting to the fabrication of the moon landing. The film states this claim until the end credits, when the story is revealed to be a hoax. The film purposely plays with the

conventions of fiction and nonfiction and poses an interesting question: should one blindly accept the information that is presented in a documentary to be true, if the narrative, form and style seem authentic?

When applying the Nichols’s definition to the aforementioned documentary, a mockumentary would probably be categorized as work of fiction. However, one could argue that a

mockumentary sits right on the (fuzzy) border between fiction and nonfiction, and possibly warrants a separate category. Even though the mockumentary presents an interesting case in relation to genre theory, this subgenre does not represent the common practices of

degree. Classifying these documentaries according to Nichols’s definition still can prove to be a difficult task.

In the book “Rhetoric and representation in nonfiction film” Platinga reflects on the attempts of several documentary historians and theorists to define what a documentary is, including Bill Nichols’s endeavor. When reviewing past definitions, Plantinga signifies the relationship between authenticity and documentary as being rather complicated. As we have seen with the mockumentary, it is nearly impossible to draw a clear line between fiction and nonfiction. This is one of the reasons Plantinga proposes a new definition of the documentary genre:

What I claimed is that nonfiction films are those that assert the states of affairs they present occur(red) in the actual world: assert a belief that given objects, entities, states of affairs, events, or

situations actually occur(red) or exist(ed) in the actual world as portrayed (1997, 18).

What Plantinga does here, is leave authenticity out of the equation. He renders authenticity of nonfiction irrelevant to definition of the genre and argues that what sets nonfiction apart from fiction is that it asserts to be a representation of the actual world. Thus, nonfiction is not an authentic reproduction of the actual world, but claims to be. To illustrate this point, Plantinga discusses the fiction film JFK from 1991, directed by Oliver Stone (18). This film effectively breaks with the well established conventions of fiction and nonfiction films by combining (re)enacted scenes with the Zapruder film (amateur film shot during the assassination of John F. Kennedy), creating an ambiguous viewing experience. With the convergence of staged and archive material it is hard for a spectator to tell what is authentic or not.

This problem of verifying what is authentic is maybe even harder when examining nonfiction films. In his article “Film alshistorischebron” (translated: film as historical source), Chris Vos shows that the authenticity of a lot of archival footage is difficult to ascertain just by closely looking at the text itself (122). For instance in retrospect, the photographs of the raising of the flag in Iwo Jima was less spontaneous than many historians assumed and the girl between the wagon doors of the train leaving Westerbork was initially believed to be Jewish, nut turned out to be a Romani girl. The staging of events in front of the camera or in editing was, as Vos explains, often not a result of ill intent, but stemmed from the limited technical abilities. As he explains, in the 60’s the film emulsion was very insensitive to light, making it almost

impossible to film indoors without artificial lighting. A condition, which made it very difficult to capture life as it is. Moreover, news and documentaries often follow dominant conventions present in fiction film and television, emphasizing a dramatic structure that revolves around conflict and oppositions, and in the process adds new meaning to the images. This

transformation of the raw footage happens for a great deal during editing (123). For the viewer to make sense of a film, the images are arranged in a sequence of images. As Vos argues this is idiosyncratic to film. The sequence creates a flow of images that acquire new meaning. To construct a coherent sequence, film manipulates time, space and sound. Time is for example frequently expanded by using slow-motion effects or compressed with elliptical cutting. In addition, the runtime of a movie is hardly ever equal to the duration of the original recording. When looking at the perception of space, often images of separate places that look similar succeed each other, creating the illusion of one single location. Finally, in many cases sound and music are added to the film, to emphasize and influence the perception of the images, and in some cases sounds are specifically meant to create a sense of realism (e.g. added sound of explosions in war footage or the insertion of street sounds to archive film of a street). A remarkable paradox, since the inserted non-diegetic sounds were not present during the original recording.

By pointing to staging in nonfiction films, Plantinga argues that authenticity should not be a guiding principle for defining nonfiction films. One can therefore conclude that documentary is not necessarily an authentic representation of the actual world, but asserts to be. With Plantinga’s definition, the earlier mentioned mockumentary Dark Side of the Moon can be classified as a documentary, albeit with some creative interpretation.

2.3 REALISM

A better understanding of what constitutes a documentary and what authenticity means enablesa closer look at the second concept, realism (i.e. realistic experience).

Today, it is hard to imagine that audiences that attended the screening of the Arrival of the Train in 1895 were instilled with fear when they saw a train riding straight towards them, and frantically rushed out the theaters. This film by the Lumière brothers is widely regarded by many film historians to be the birth of the documentary film (Loiperdinger 90). What is interesting about this film with regards to realism is that this new medium was instantly thought to offer a realistic experience. So real that audiences could not tell the difference

between fact and fiction. To illustrate the buzz that surrounded the realism of the film, Loiperdinger mentions German news articles that reported on the event:

Even the German Railway’s customer magazine picks up the gag, visually embellishing the supposedly panicky reaction: “The spectators ran out of the hall in terror because the locomotive headed right for them. They feared that it could plunge off the screen and onto them.”The Munich Abendzeitung purportedly knew that “at the time people, appalled by Arrival of the Train, were said to have leaped from their chairs” (91)

In his article "Lumiere's arrival of the train: Cinema's founding myth", Loiperdinger challenges this reportedly immersive experience of the film. He contests the founding myth that fear gripped the viewer and that panic ensued duringthe first screenings of the Arrival of the Train at the end of the 19th century. To motivate his argument he points to the absence of eyewitness reports and police reports of the claimed disturbance (94). He also takes a closer look at the screening conditions. Due to the technical limits of the Cinematographè, the screen had an unpleasant flicker, the projector made a loud rattling noise and the screen was black-and-white. Factors that according to Loiperdinger, undermine the immersive experience of the film (96).

Loiperdingerconvincingly argues that the reportedly terror of the audiences, is up for debate. He claims that the circumstances of thescreening seem to make it hard to believe that the spectators were so immersed in the film that they could not distinguish real from fake. What is more interesting concerning realism is that at the advent of film, several reviewers and news outlets accredited this new medium as an immersive experience. Providing a realistic experience like no other medium had done before. Even though the accounts of the public reaction in 1895 seem questionable at best, film was historically attributed to have an unprecedented immersive quality. A status that remained unrivalled until the rise of computers. Films, then and now, do maybe not cause audiences to flee the theaters in terror, but seem to have the ability to draw the viewer into a world behind the screen. How then, does the process of immersion in films work?

2.4 IMMERSION

As mentioned earlier, immersion is generally understood as a process where the viewer is drawn into the film. But what does immersion precisely mean and what does it entail? In his book “Virtual Art: From illusion to immersion”, Oliver Grau gives a definition:

Immersion can be an intellectually stimulating experience; however, in the present as in the past, in most cases immersion is mentally absorbing and a process, a change, a passage from one mental state to another. It is characterized by diminishing critical distance to what is shown and increasing emotional involvement in what is happening (13)

What signifies immersion according to Grau is the seamless disappearance of the distance between viewer and screen (i.e. critical distance), creating a perpetual sense of unity of time and space. Even though this process can stimulate thought, immersion predominately evokes an emotional engagement with the film.

In “The Tactile Eye: Touch and the Cinematic Experience”, Barker argues the viewer does not only have an emotional but also a physical connection to film. She ascribes this physical quality of a film to the concept of musculature (71-77). Like Grau, Barker mentions that both the film and the spectator inhabit different spaces, and are separated by a screen. It is

physically impossible to crossover from one space to the other. However Barker claims that during the cinematic experience the viewer is able to inhabit both. Films as well as our bodies have two differently constructed but equally muscular bodies that have a reciprocal

relationship, acting in accordance or at odds with each other. According to Barker we physically emphasize with a film by the way we express similar attitudes of the world in a bodily way. A mimicry that is not character centered but a full-bodied response to the structure of the film itself. The viewer responds to the entire cinematic composition of textural, spatial, temporal structures, creating a palpable sense of being there in the film. To clarify this, Barker refers to the concept of kinaesthetic memory. The ability to relate to movements of the camera such as pans, swerves, tracking shots and tilts, comes from

recall and empathize with the camera movements that are presented on screen. They unconsciously remind us of our own movements and the way we perceive the world. Thus, the film’s body models itself to the human physical behavior and the viewer in turn mirror’s the muscular behavior of the body of the film. The viewer and film don’t share the same physical frame but express similar attitudes, conveying meaning not only through reasoning and emotion but also through motion and physicality (91).

In other words, Barker accredits our reciprocal relationship with film, to an innate human ability to mentally and physically empathize with others. In addition to this, film is a product of our own imagination and therefore exhibits similar attitudes to the physical way we relate to the world around us. The camera techniques, sound effects and editing relate to the way we perceive the world around us.

The bodily engagement of humans with a film is maybe most apparent when observing people who are watching a horror movie. Horror movies are in most cases made to scare and induce a physical reaction in the viewer. In most horror movies movie, leading up to a big scare, the camera exhibits slow movements, while in many cases obscuring a clear view of the dark surroundings, intensifying the sense that danger is lurking around every corner. Like Barker argues, the slow movements of the camera correspond to our own tendency of treading carefully when assessing a potentially dangerous situation. The viewer relates the tentative movements of the camera to his own physical behavior in a similar situation in the actual world. Viewers who are totally immersed into the movie, show physical involvement by for instance tensing their body out of fear, moving their head to the side to try and get a better view of the surroundings (which is impossible since the image is fixed), or even looking away from the screen out of sheer terror. Thus, the spectator seems to always be physically engaged to themuscular gestures of a movie. However our palpable sense of being there in the story world differs from film to film. Why then are we immersed in certain films more than others? What attributes to the immersive power of a film?

War movies have historically been a hotbed for discussion about authenticity and realism. Many have disputed the claim that war films can offer an authentic feel of being on the battlefield, like screenwriter, novelist and director Samuel Fuller:

See, there’s no way you can portray war realistically, not in a movie nor in a book. You can only capture a very, very small aspect of it […]. For moviegoers to get the idea of real combat, you’d have to shoot at them every so often from either side of the screen. The casualties in the theater would be bad for business (123).

In the article "Blood Splats and Bodily Collapse: Reported Realism and the Perception of Violence in Combat Films and Video Games." Bender also refutes these claims of realism when examining Saving Private Ryan. He argues that the assumptions made by film reviewers and historians about the authenticity and realism of the film are often based on aninferred visceral experience, instead of a careful empirical analysis of the film text. To illustrate this, he points to the inferred realism of the camera effects used in Saving Private Ryan:

The shaky handheld camerawork of Private Ryan’s Omaha Beach sequence does not correspondto real human vision or real combat footage. Human vision does not shake, even during rapid head movements, because our vestibulo-ocular reflex serves to counteract the movements of the head in order to maintain a stable image of the world (4).

By referring to the stabilizing mechanism in our brain, Bender shows that the shaky camera used in the film does not reflect our actual vision, but rather relates to our expectations of what is realistic. Therefore, Bender claimsit is irrelevant to realism, if a film is authentic to real-life experience. Instead he argues it is the perceived realism in the stylistic properties of the film that create a realistic experience. He proposes a shift in paradigm, by presenting the term “reported realism”, a new analytic category that provides the viewer-critic a way to specify particular stylistic textual cues that prompt claims of realism (2). Thus reported realism does not have to reflect actuality, but has to meet the viewer’s expectations of realism. To show the subjective nature of realism and the often paradoxical relationship between actuality and reported realism, Bender gives a striking example of reception of the film The Kingdom (2007):

[…] director Peter Berg claims in the commentary track of his film The Kingdom (2007) that it received criticism from everyday viewers who regarded it as unrealistic that the terrorists’ bullets never hit any of the main characters in a crucial firefight scene. However, Berg claims that when he screened the film for Navy SEALs they suggested that this matches their experience with these sorts of terrorists who have the tactical strategy of shooting blindly (Berg 2009). The

everyday viewers then, have expectations that may not match up to the reality of the events depicted (9).

To explain how films evoke a realistic and immersive experience, Bender draws from neoformalist and cognitive theories. He argues that it is the level of detail that is apparent in contemporary war films enables the viewer to make an off-line mental representation of the diegesis with a high degree of vividness. As a result, the richness of the details and intricate imaging, greatly increase the perceived realism of the film. Bender however emphasizes that the viewer does not literally imagine, being on the battlefield but has an impersonal imagining. He argues that, the great detail of the sound effects in the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan, deepen the sense of immersion in the viewersas they can imagine “the bullets hitting the sand and slicing through the water” (8).

Thus, according to Bender it is the amount and saturation of audio-visual details in the representation of current war films that stimulates a mental simulation in the viewer resulting in a vivid, visceral and immersive sense of realism. Whether the stylistic choices made in the film actually resemble real-life is irrelevant to the experience of realism. To induce a realistic experience the film stylistically needs to adhere to the normative standards of realism as perceived by the audience.

When regarding the above, it is important to note that in general, realism (i.e.

authenticity) and immersion are not inextricably connected to one another. For instance, the lack of immersive techniques (i.e. subjective camera angles, editing, and music) in surveillance footage does not diminish the authenticity of the film. At the same time a work of pure fiction can still provide a deeply immersive experience by just using these techniques. However with combat realism in war documentaries like Restrepo and

Armadillo these two aspects are tightly linked. As mentioned in the introduction, both films are based on true events and try to give the audience an experience of what it is like to be a soldier in Afghanistan. As Bender points out, to achieve the purported experience of combat realism, a film needs to seem authentic and at the same time immerse the viewer in the action. Therefore in this thesis these concepts are mentioned in relation to each other.

2.5 IDEOLOGY

Finally, when considering that the musculature and stylistic traits of film are able to entice an immersive experience of perceived realism in the spectator, another question arises: how does realistic immersion affect the interpretation of the narrative and its ideology?

The term ideology can hold different meanings when linked to for example philosophy, psychology politics and economics. With regards to film, Gianetti provides a comprehensive and useful definition in his book “Understanding Movies”:

Ideology is usually defined as a body of ideas reflecting the social needs andaspirations of an individual, group, class, or culture. The term isgenerally associatedwith politics and party platforms, but it can also mean a given set of valuesthat are implicit in any human enterprise—including filmmaking. Virtuallyevery movie presents us with role models, ideal ways of behaving, negativetraits, and an implied morality based on the filmmaker’s sense of right

andwrong. In short, every film has a slant, a given ideological perspective that privilegescertain characters, institutions, behaviors, and motives as attractive, anddowngrades an opposing set as

repellent (448).

As inscribed in this definition, all films convey an ideology that does not have to be inherently political. Rather ideology in films should be understood as assumptions about the story world, as in fiction, or beliefs about the actual world, like in nonfiction. A film therefore, regardless of genre, always expresses a view of the (real or fictional) world that allows transfer of certain meanings between film and audience.

Immersive and realistic experiences in films then first and foremost convey an ideology of realism. The images claiman indexical quality, i.e. suggesting that what is projected on screen is life-like or even factual. Often in combat fiction and nonfiction there is another ideological layer, making assumptions about the historical and/or political context of the film. A

historical/political meaning is very apparent in Saving Private Ryan. It is an inspiring film about the heroics and sacrifice for a greater cause (Toplin 27). The film reminds the audience of the “Good War”, a noble and necessary war against evil and tyranny. A war in which there seemed to be a clear distinction between good and evil. According to many film historians and theorists, Saving Private Ryan is a skillful reaction to post-Vietnam films (Hasain 351, 352). After Vietnam the concept of the “Good War” was greatly problematized. Many films aboutthe Vietnam War, question the validation of the war en depicted the struggle as a senseless sacrifice of American soldiers, causing severe emotional and physical trauma, and showed the incompetence of American military leadership (Szamuely 49). The countless images of atrocities committed by American soldiers inVietnam made it difficult for the American public, to seamlessly associate war with notions of duty, honor, or moral authority (Kroll 57). As a result there was a crisis of a coherent American identity in post-Vietnam war films. In her article "Memory, war and American identity: Saving Private Ryan as cinematic jeremiad." Owen argues that Saving Private Ryan is an attempt to return the mythic idea of America (259-263). According to Owen, the stylistic properties of the film are instrumental to restoration of Mythic American identity. By using subjective camera perspectives, the viewer becomes an active witness of the horror and destruction that surrounds the lead character of the movie, Private Miller, as he lands on the beach. Through the act of witnessing, achieved by perceived realism, the audience is given a position of moral authority and able to return “home” (i.e. to mythic America). This rhetorical strategy of making the viewer an active witness to the war is therefore an instrumentused to convey the ideology of the film. This approach is however not unique to Saving Private Ryan. Interestingly enough, many of post-Vietnam War films have utilized the same strategy. In the book “Tangled memories: The Vietnam War, the aids epidemic, and the politics of remembering”, Sturken gives a striking example from the movie Platoon (1986):

The viewer of the Vietnam War film thus lays claim to having had an authentic experience of the war. Lurking behind this

characterization is a nostalgia for the war. Just as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial prompted a complex nostalgia for the intense

experiences of the war while providing a space to mourn its loss, a Hollywood docudrama such as Platoon, despite its implicit critique of the war’s futility and cruelty, is seen to depict through its

spectacle the “real” experience of war, through which one acquires the truth. That Platoon could provide this ‘experience’was

contingent on its following certain codes of cinematic realism – portraying the details of a patrol, the boredom, the confusion of combat, the presence of the jungle. Heightened “naturalized” sound of the jungle at night, rapidly edited combat scenes, and on-location shooting gave it at moments the feel of a documentary. Yet it is also highly stylized film with dramatically staged scenes and a prominent soundtrack of classical music (intertextuality) (99).

This example shows that these codes of cinematic realism in war movies are not inherently anti-war or pro-war, but are employed as a rhetorical strategy. By

providing a realistic experience, the viewer is given the impression that they too have experienced the trauma of war and in the process have acquired a better

understanding of the war. This notion is based on the premise that truth or knowledge can be acquired through experience.

2.6 FUNCTION OF REALISM

So, what is then the function of realism in war films? At first glance, realism seems to provide a realistic experience. Through a richness of audiovisual and narrative information the realistic experience is greatly increased. The spectator relates rationally, emotionally and physically to the structure of the film and becomes immersed in the viewing experience. To provide a realistic experience a film does not have to represent actuality but must be perceived as real or life-like. A film has to concur to normative codes of cinematic realism. By drawing the viewer into the film through realism, the viewer becomes awitness on the battlefield, seemingly

experiencing the trauma of war from up-close. This point of view grants a

perspective of moral authority, which allows the viewer to gain knowledge through lived experience. Thus in most cases, realism in war films cannot simply be reduced

to a feature that only offers a thrilling and life-like experience, but often serves another purpose: priming the spectator for the (historical/political) ideology of the film.

3. E

E

R

When the production of The Longest Day started in 1961, Darryl Zanuck set out to make a realistic war movie about the landing on Normandy Beach. To make the battle scenes as convincing as possible Zanuck obtained a huge amount of military resources, such as trucks, tanks, planes and ships from NATO allies and the Pentagon. He even managed to acquire the service of 2.000 French soldiers, even though France was at war with rebels in Algeria. The film met with mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Some praised the documentary look of the film for creating a sense of realism. Others felt that the film did not sufficiently depict the pain and suffering of the soldiers (Toplin 26).

Comparing The Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan gives an interesting insight to the interpretation of realism. Even though there is 36 years between each movie, they both strived for heightened realism, each film engaging the spectator in different ways. The Longest Day is generally information-driven. The film provides a historical perspective to an epic event for American audiences who were still directly (e.g. as a surivivor of the war) or indirectly (e.g. children of survivors) connected to WO II. Saving Private Ryan however catered a different audience, who for the most part, had no recollection of the war. Therefore, Saving Private Ryan is primarily emotion-driven, focused more on experience than authenticity. Here emotion functions as a conduit to transport the spectator to another time, place and situation (28,29). Even though both films were perceived to be realistic at the time of release, a

comparison of both films stylistic traits shows that codes of realism are time specific and ever evolving.

The trend of experiential and emotion-driven combat realism seems to also have found its way to war documentaries with films like Armadillo and Restrepo, shifting from a mainly expository and observational mode to a performative mode of filmmaking (Nichols 31,32). As illustrated in the second chapter, immersion is paramount to drawing the viewer into a movie and providing a realistic experience. It gives the audience the feeling that they are

experiencing the film in a psychological, emotional and even physical way. Until now immersion is mainly explained in terms of affect on the viewer. What still remains

words: what is the relationship between film, the senses and the human body? In search for answers, this thesis will briefly tread outside the strict confines of film theory.

3.2 FILM, THE SENSES AND THE HUMAN BODY

Fields like cognitive psychology, neuroscience and philosophy have taken a closer look at the physical relationship between film and the spectator. Audiences often watch films to be entertained moved, surprised and thrilled. However, movement in films does not always induce desirable physical reactions. Technical nondiegetic movements of the camera, editing and special effects, and physical deigetic movements of objects and/or subjects on screen, can directly affect the spectator’s physiology and cause all kinds of negative bodily reactions like nausea, motion sickness, dizziness and automatic reflexes, proving film does not only engage the mind but also the body of the viewer (Plantinga 2009, 102). In the mid-1990s neuroscientists discovered an even deeper relationship between visual stimuli, the mind and the body. They found mirror neurons in the brain. Those are nerve cells that are activated when one watches another person perform a goal-oriented movement or task. The scientists found that the activity the brain showed when observing others was exactly identical to the brain activity that was measured when participants themselves performed the same operation. According to these findings the brain does not discriminate between observing and doing. Therefore, mirror neurons seem to give the human brain an innate ability to trigger compassion and empathy, and bridge the gap between the Self and Other. In his book “Film Theory: an introduction through the senses”, Elsaesser considers this discovery crucial to understanding the relationship between film and body, since these neurons do not simply prompt mimicry, but are at the basis of human learning by sympathizing and empathizing with another human beings (Elsaesser 135, 136).

Immersion has not only intrigued film scholars, but has also been a major topic within the relatively young field of interactive media studies. In computer-mediated media like computer games en virtual art exhibitions, immersion has an even greater significance. In computer-mediated media the individual is able to interact with the medium. By doing this the individual is no longer just a viewer but also a participant, creating a deeper sense of engagement.

Spielberg was one of the early Hollywood producers to acknowledge this unique quality of interactive media and its potential to converge with the cinematic realism to create a powerful immersive experience. His venture into computer games was influenced by his then teenage son. While watching his son playing videogames, he felt the desire to let children who were too young to watch Saving Private Ryan learn more about WO II, through the same kinds of realism and emotional storytelling. With this thought in mind, he developed the videogame Medal of Honor with his multimedia studio, Dreamworks Interactive. A first-person shooter that allowed the player to relive the events of D-Day through several perspectives, like the film The Longest Day did. With Medal of Honor Spielberg had combined the visual and emotional narrative of film with the interactive capabilities of the videogames, resulting in a financial success and raising the popularity of war games in general (Russel 192, 193).

What makes the experience of war games like Medal of Honor so immersive according to media scholars is the concept of presence, or ‘the sense of being there’ (Cummings 1). According to Sanfilippo, war videogames transcend being a representation by creating presence. They involve the players kinesthetically and blur the borders between fact and fiction, by creating an affective state that simulates the realism of war without resulting in physical or psychological repercussions (Sanfilippo 193). Presence is therefore often emphasized as a driving mechanism for immersion in virtual environments. The main obstacle for interactive media to overcome, when creating a sense of presence, is to shut out the viewers’ awareness of the external world. According to Cummings, immersion can be regarded as an objective indicator of the quality of a system’s technology. As a system becomes more immersive, it becomes more likely that the presented reality will shut out the external world. Such a level of immersion is more likely to be attained if a system engages the viewer by offering high fidelity simulations and engages various senses, finely simulating the virtual bodily actions to the movements of the human body (e.g. kinesthetics), and taking the viewer out of the physical world by self-contained plots and narratives (Cummings 1, 2).

Although the concept of presence has mostly been applied to virtual environments, MacIntyre contests the idea that this mechanism is exclusive to interactive media. He proposes a more general application of the concept of presence that can function as a measure for engagement for other media, since people are also fully immersed in books and movies (MacIntyre 42). As mentioned in chapter 2, Bender applies presence to both films and computer games. He argues that heightened realism is largely the result of an increased sense of presence in both

media. Like Cummings, he also points to the significance of the amount of nuanced information that these media offer, enabling the viewer or player to make an increasingly vivid mental simulation of the story world (Bender 15).

This detour to different fields of research shows that there is an undeniable relationship between film, the senses and the human body. In his book “Moving Viewers”, Plantinga argues affective experience and meaning in film are inseparable. According to his view, affective experience shapes the interpretation of meaning. By not understanding or not paying attention to affective experience one fails to comprehend the thematic workings of a film (Platinga 2009, xvii-xviii). This thesis will follow the same line of thought and try to take the subject out of obscurity, in an attempt to contribute to the ongoing discussion about affect, emotion and (documentary) film. This paper is thus by no means a comprehensive study of immersion in documentaries, but will focus on locating textual devices that increase a sense of (combat) realism, through the use of modes of representation, style, fidelity of audio-visual detail and kinesthetic empathy in relation to the narrative of a film. The textual analysis of both films should not be viewed as reclassification of film theory or a teleological approach to film history, but an exploration of the relationship between documentary film, the senses and the human body.

3.3 METHOD OF ANALYSIS

In a film objects, subjects and settings interact with each other. The film also communicates with the body of the spectator, by means of size, shape, texture, scale, distance, color or other bodily markers, stimulating senses of vision, tactility and sound (Elsaesser 18). In general, the amount of kinesthetic stimuli in (Western) movies has risen. The common style has become more visually and aurally dense and increasingly dynamic, attempting to hold the attention of the spectator and maintain a high and intensified energy level (Plantinga 2009, 122).

Film can be considered as an extension of the senses, the camera functioning as the eye of the filmmaker (Rabiger 102). With the camera, the filmmaker is able to give voice to his perspective of the world, utilizing a film language that resonates with certain human experiences (103). Therefore, choices in the camerawork often correspond to real life

situations. These similarities in the musculature of the film and the human body increase the impact and reinforce the story. In the analysis of Armadillo and Restrepo, the camerawork will be examined on elements and techniques that evoke kinesthetic empathy, like shaking, framing, angles, pans, and tilts, that correspond with human movement. A pan for instance resembles looking around and exploring the environment. A tilt can refer to looking up or down. In addition, these camera movements can represent an emotional state, such as anxiousness (frantic panning or tilting), looking down on someone (low angle), or urgency (camera excessively shaking). Editing is also an important kinesthetic and affective agent that will be examined, as it determines the rhythm. Film language uses rhythms that are similar to the pulse and pace at which our mind and bodily functions (114). Another highly affective device that will be assessed is the soundtrack. Even though humans do not experience emotions as a result of music, music is shown to induce authentic emotions that are experienced in the real world. Musical structures instantly connect to the emotional experience of the viewer, arousing recognizable emotions and adding greater authenticity to the overall audiovisual experience (Have 160). Finally, the analysis will look at the audiovisual fidelity, since the use of more nuanced information enables the viewer is able to make an increasingly vivid mental simulation of the story world and therefore increasing a sense of immersion and presence (Bender 15).

Style and form, however are never indepent of the story. The stylistic and formative choices made in the film are inextricably tied to the structure of the narrative. As in fiction films, the story often develops according to a common structure. To identify the narrative importance of specific scenes, this thesis will use the segmentation of Kirstin Thompson to outline the structure of the plot (Thompson 28). This analytical tool gives a general overview of the narrative structure, and makes it possible to explain the narrative relevance of key scenes that are high in experiential and embodied realism. According to Thompson’s study, Hollywood movies follow a classic structure of four acts:

1. Set-up

2. Complicating action 3. Development 4. Climax

In the set-up, the main characters are introduced and the context is explained. In the complicating action the balance among or between the characters is disturbed, leading to a problem or conflict. In de development the characters try to find a solution for this problem. In the climax the story reaches its peak. In Hollywood films this often leads to a restoration of the balance (happy end). In the analysis several scenes will be picked from each act and compared with each other, to determine which textual devices are used to increase experiential and embodied realism, and how this relates to development of the narrative.

Finally, to tie story, form and style together, this thesis will also look at the modes of representation that are being applied in the films. The modes of representation are an expression of the voice of the documentary. The voice reflects the unique perspective of the filmmaker that structures the story of the film (69). The film is therefore not merely a representation of the actual world, but also an expression of the filmmaker’s view of the world. Every voice is unique, with a specific arrangement of techniques, styles, modi and a specific approach of the subject. This thesis will utilize the categorization of Nichols, due to its comprehensiveness and easy application. These modes organize different modes of documentary according to similar traits (Nichols 29,30). A documentary can include several modes, since these categories can overlap and converge. He categorizes documentary film in six “modes of representation” (31,32,184):

1. The poetic mode, deviates from the traditional linear structure to tell a story. Instead emphasis is put on visual association, tone, rhythm or spatial juxtaposition. This mode is often central to experimental and avant-garde films (31).

2. The expository mode stems from a traditional journalistic approach, constructing an argument or a specific point of view. Often the film has an authoritative voice (31). 3. The observational mode tries to capture life or truth as it appears in front of the

camera. This mode is closely related to Direct Cinema (31).

4. The participatory mode emphasizes interaction between the filmmaker and the subject. The mode shows a shared reality, that would not exist without the presence of the camera, like in an interview (184)

5. The reflexive mode underlines the relationship between the filmmaker and the audience, rather than the filmmaker and the subject. This makes the viewer aware of the constructed nature of the representations shown on screen (31,32).

6. The performative mode considers truth as relative and favors a subjective and expressive approach over an objective document of reality. By personal involvement with subjects, the filmmaker strives to evoke a heightened emotional response from the viewer (32).

Identifying these modes of representation will make it possible to understand the approach of the filmmaker. When for instance utilizing a participatory or performative mode, the

filmmaker gets closer to the subject(s) in the film. As discussed earlier in this thesis, by decreasing the literal or figurative distance between filmmaker and subject, the scene can potentially become more immersive. The modes of representation can therefore give insight to how the voice of the filmmaker shapes the perspective of the film, and how this affects the immersiveness of a specific scene or even the entire film.

4

A

A

Armadillo (2010, dir. Janus Metz Pedersen) acquired a lot of attention in Denmark, when the film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival on 20th of May 2010, winning The Critics’ Week Grand Prize. As part of the promotion for the Cannes Film Festival, a two-and-a-half-minute trailer was released in the first part of May. As soon as the first trailer hit youtube.com and the official website, Armadillo was surrounded by controversy and became topic of lively debates in Denmark (Have 157). Discussion about the film first surfaced when rumors started that the film was suspected of having captured war crimes being committed by the participating Danish soldiers. This caused an outcry among Denmark’s political left, who put the topic on the political agenda and which led to an investigation into these allegations. Discussion about the film first surfaced when rumors started that the film was suspected of having captured war crimes being committed by the participating Danish soldiers (Sim 17). After causing a

national uproar and winning The Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes, the film had created such a buzz among the Danish public, that the theatrical release was pushed forward. The documentary premiered on 27 May, a month and a half earlier than was previously announced, without even a completed soundtrack (Have 158).

4.2 PLOT

The mapping of the plot according to the segmentation of Kirstin Thompson (29) will function as a starting point for the textual analyses of the film.

• Act 1: Set up (0:00:34 – 0:07:41) Mads goes to Afghanistan

The film Armadillo follows a platoon of Danish soldiers as they deployed in Afghanistan. In the beginning of the film the viewer is introduced to the main character of the film, Mads. Like four of his fellow soldiers, he graduated from military school and is will soon be sent for Afghanistan. His parents and specifically his mother have mixed feelings about his army career. Mads is adamant about going to Afghanistan and cannot be talked out of it. After a farewell party with strippers and lots of alcohol, the four young men say goodbye to family and friends at the airport.

• Act 2: Complicating action (0:07:40 - 0:37:24) Loss of innocence

The four fellow soldiers leave for Afghanistan. At arrival, they are welcomed by commanding officer Rasmus. He tells them about the camp, the area and promises the young soldiers will see plenty of action. However, during the first few patrols the men do not encounter any enemy forces and start to get bored. As the soldiers settle into the camp they hear stories from more experienced soldiers about armed conflicts with Taliban soldiers, warning them that danger is lurking behind every corner. At the same time the stories heighten the young soldiers’ anticipation for action. A difference is clear, between the new grunts who are still ‘innocent’ and the veteran soldiers who seem to have been changed by the war. At the end of the second act, Mads’ platoon finally encounters enemy forces during a routine patrol and a firefight between both sides follows. It is the first encounter of new soldiers with the reality of war.

• Act 3: Development (0:37:25 – 1:05:03) Encounter with the harsh reality of war

During the next missions the level of violence and life threatening situations increase, even resulting in casualties. Two soldiers from Mads’ camp get hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and three Danish soldiers from another company are killed by Talban insurgents. The young soldiers increasingly get faced with the reality of war and the violence surrounding it. The injured and killed Danish soldiers start to feed a hunger for revenge.

• Act 4: Climax

Transformation, “Fall of grace”

All riled up by the recent events, Mads’ platoon set out on a mission, where they soon get attacked by Taliban soldiers. During the attack, a group of Mads’ fellow soldiers run into five enemy soldiers, killing them with a grenade and gunfire. Back at the base the soldiers celebrate their victory and brag about the close encounter with the five Taliban soldiers, joking that they liquidated the insurgents in the most humane way possible. These boastful comments reach the home front through the parents of one of

the soldiers, causing a big stir in Denmark and an internal investigation into the events that took place. The incident eventually has no negative repercussions for the soldiers, as the problem gets quashed at battalion level. The two soldiers who neutralized the five enemy soldiers are awarded an honorary badge for their courage. The soldiers return home, most of them physically unscathed. However mentally he young men seem to have changed. They appear to have lost their boyish innocence and are alienated from the world. Not being able to carry on civilian life like before the deployment. At the end of the film most of the characters decide to return to Afghanistan for another tour.

4.3 TEXTUAL ANALYSES OF KEY SCENES

The film opens in poetic fashion with panoramic images of the surroundings of Afghanistan, shot with a 35 mm camera. The opening opening scene follows a fairly slow pace at one cut every 8 seconds. The footage is accompanied by minimalistic music that is dominated by long and trembling tones, creating an eerie and unsettling atmosphere. An army helicopter appears onscreen in slow motion. The sound of the rotor blades is augmented into a slow, repetitive, and low-pitched sound. Cognitively and affectively the slow motion images and drawn out sounds create a trancelike or meditative state. The reflective and surreal effect is an homage to the epic opening sequence of Apocalypse Now, where a helicopter slowly flies above what looks like a burning field (Sim 2011, 18). In Apocalypse Now, this image metaphorically associates Vietnam with the dark pits of Hell. By visually referencing to Apocalypse Now, Janus draws parallels between the horrors in Vietnam to the dismay in Afghanistan. Then shot cuts to soldiers walking through a thick cloud of dust (image 2). The scene continues the dreamlike and surreal feeling of the former scene, narratively foreshadowing the obscure events that are still to come. This stylistic choice shows that the film utilizes popular

Hollywood war-film conventions to elicit reflection. A rhetorical strategy, Janus will return to throughout the film.

Image 1 Capture Armadillo, slow motion helicopter. (0:00:50)

Image 2 Capture Armadillo. Soldiers walking through fog of dust (0:00:58)

The film then jumps back in time and shows the graduation of a group of Danish Soldiers who have just finished military school (image 3). The color spectrum and contrast of the image are visibly adjusted. The contrast between the light and dark is increased, and a digital color filter is used to accentuate the primary colors and make other colors look washed out,

having a greenish or grey haze. By adjusting the tone and color the aims for a dramatic and cinematic look creating a gloomy atmosphere and again trying to strengthen this mood by drawing inspiration from common Hollywood war-film conventions. The augmentation of the contrast and colors also affectively emphasizes the subjective approach in the film, expressing the sharp contrast that dominates war.

The screen then abruptly cuts to the soldiers, a month before graduation, where they are wrestling each other on a field (image 4). This scene shows the comradery between the main characters of the documentary, still carefree and innocent before going to Afghanistan. This scene is filmed using a handheld camera, showing light uncontrolled movement as the camera pans and tilts, to reframe the characters as they wrestle. This raises the kinesthetic energy of this scene, compared to the former. However, by staying stationary and using a stabilizer, the amount of jerky movements of the camera is limited. Furthermore, the cameraman observes the soldiers from a distance, preventing the viewer of getting immersed into the action. However, the energy and pace of this sequence has increased considerably compared to the openings scène. This scene runs from 0:2:06 – 2:23 and has an average of one cut per 1,5 seconds. In addition, the quick pace is accompanied by non-diegetic hard rock music, further elevating the energy of this scene.

Image 4 Capture Armadillo. Soldiers wrestling (0:02:06)

Then the film suddenly breaks the high paced rhythm, and cuts to the parental house of Mads, one of the main characters of the documentary (image 5). The whole family has gathered here as they discuss Mads decision to join the army. In this scene (0:02:23 – 0:03:56) the pace decreases substantially, to one cut per 5 seconds. The soundtrack does not contain music only diegetic sound. The camera is immobile using a tripod, emitting no kinesthetic movement like random framing or sudden movements. The camera observes the family meeting from a distance and closes this distance only by optically zooming in on the family members (image 5). This creates distance between the viewer and the subject, maintaining the observational mode from the earlier scene. The peacefull setting, calm camerawork and low pace create a calm and pensive mood.

Image 5 Capture Armadillo. Mads and his parents at the dining table (0:03:11)

Again the film contrasts the rhythm and style by suddenly cutting to an animated title labeled “Farewell Party” (image 6). The appearance of the title is accompanied by the same hard rock music that was played during the soldiers who were wrestling. The screen cuts to footage of the actual party. The boys are accompanied by strippers and indulging in excessive amount of alcohol. The film introduces the main characters of the documentary, by freezing the frame and superimposing animated titles displaying the name of the person (Image 7). Like before, this scene (0:03:56 – 0:04:53) considerably raises the pulse of the former scene, with an average one cut per 2 seconds. Adding to the kinesthetic energy of the scene, is the use of handheld camera without a stabilizer, showing more random movement and off center framing, placing the characters closer to the border of the screen. Compared to the former scene, the image quality of this segment is lower, resulting in a grainy image. As a result, the camerawork looks more spontaneous and natural, mimicking the kinesthetics and fidelity of amateur home videos. The camera stays at a distance, maintaining the observational mode of the former scenes. The increased and more spontaneous movement of the camera, combined with the raising of the pace through editing and the rythm of the music, elevate the excitement of the scene considerably.

Image 6 Capture Armadillo. Animated title “farewell party” (0:03:56)

Image 7 Capture Armadillo. Introduction of Mads (0:04:10)

In the final scene of this act the screen and soundtrack again abruptly cut to the next scene. The main characters are leaving for Aghanistan and saying goodbye to family and friends. The non-diegetic music being played is discretely melancholic and ambient reflecting the

sadness present during the farewell. In the final scene of the act (0:04:54 – 0:07:41), the pace drops again to one cut per 9 seconds. The cameraman is still observing from a distance, using a handheld camera with a stabilizer. The camerawork is stable, exhibiting little kinesthetic movement and the characters are framed more in the center of the screen (image 8). The image quality is grainy, partly preserving the home video style of the scene of the farewell party.

Image 8 Capture Armadillo. Mads saying goodbye to his mother (0:06:29)

In the first act the rhythm is constanly changed from a high paced, high-energy scenes to slow paced and low-energy scenes. The editing and rhythm of the non-diegetic music control the pace, while the mise en scene, camerawork and movement affect the energylevel of the scenes. By abruptly switching the pace and the energy of the scenes, the viewer is taken on an emotional and kinesthetic rollercoaster, reflecting the tumultuous period leading up to the deployment of the soldiers.

Act 2: Complicating action (0:07:40 - 0:37:24)

In the second act the main characters arrive in Afghanistan. Like the first act, scenes of their arrival and life at the base, stylistically resemble the structure of the first act. Poetic, low paced, high fidelity, low kinesthetic scenes are mixed with observational, high paced, home video like, higher kinesthetic scenes (image 8). The non-diegetic music consisting of deep