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Drawing on Grief: Illustrating Narratives of Loss Through Documentary and Animation

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Thesis(37.13 MB)

Date

2026

Authors

Hoyle, Elizabeth

Supervisor

Ings, Welby
Zalipour, Arezou
Milligan, Christina

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Doctor of Philosophy

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Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Grief is both a deeply universal human experience and an intensely personal one, shaped by the circumstances and emotions of those who experience it. Responding to this inherent duality, this practice led study employs heuristic inquiry to investigate how a filmmaker working at the intersection of animation and documentary might artistically visualise intimate narratives of grief and loss. The research is guided by the central question: How might a documentary filmmaker artistically approach interviews of grief by synthesising rhythm, imagery, and sound? The study positions animated documentary as a creative mode capable of evoking imagination and offering subjective insight into emotional and psychological states that are otherwise difficult to articulate. In the study, three individuals’ recorded experiences of loss constitute points of origin. Their edited interviews are combined with illustration, animation, and sound design to create short film texts that express experience inside the world of actualities. The resulting short films— Grief Elizabeth, Grief Stephen, and Grief Star—are distinct works that together form a stylistically cohesive suite designed to evoke a contemplative engagement with the complex nature of mourning. Across the three films, the researcher’s presence as storyteller is embedded in the visual and sonic composition, shaping the narrative in ways that invite both empathetic identification and reflective space for the viewer. The practice and exegetical discussion extend current discourses on the nature, practice, and implications of animated documentary making, offering an artistic lens to a growing corpus of work that considers the complexity and diversity of grief. Additionally, the project demonstrates how ‘aroha’ can be ethically and meaningfully integrated into documentary practice when working with participants, shaping a mode of collaboration grounded in care. It also shows how a post-disciplinary approach to artistic inquiry can harmoniously draw together thinking from diverse fields to enrich both method and form. Finally, the three documentaries illustrate how recorded interviews can be crafted as a form of poetic language, in which collage and sound operate as a distinctive expressive syntax.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10292/20947

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Doctoral Theses