“We See What We Want to Believe”: Archival Logic and Database Aesthetics in the War Films of Errol Morris
Kris Fallon
Chapter from the book: Fallon, K. 2019. Where Truth Lies: Digital Culture and Documentary Media after 9/11.
Part of
Chapter from the book: Fallon, K. 2019. Where Truth Lies: Digital Culture and Documentary Media after 9/11.
This chapter analyzes the two high-profile war films Errol Morris made in the wake of 9/11 and the war on terror, The Fog of War and Standard Operating Procedure. It argues that both films, although feature length, theatrically released documentaries, demonstrate the influence of digital technology on documentary’s form and content. In The Fog of War, the archival material is digitally altered in order to pose questions regarding its evidentiary status, whereas in Standard Operating Procedure computer generated imagery (CGI) is utilized to illustrate the fluidity of meaning digital images and databases, forming a type of database aesthetics.
Fallon, K. 2019. “We See What We Want to Believe”: Archival Logic and Database Aesthetics in the War Films of Errol Morris. In: Fallon, K, Where Truth Lies. California: University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.80.b
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Published on Oct. 29, 2019