The interview is based on how soldiers adjust back into civilian life coming back from the military and its way of living.

As we know soldiers have to go through intense training to serve within the military. They are pushed to their mental and physical limits, some being able to cope once leave and some being affected both mentally and physically. Some of the world’s militaries training has even been seen to be unnatural however we are proved wrong as that training has produced some of the most elite soldiers to fight is some of the toughest operations.

Life in the military and life outside of the military are very different. Going from having to stick to a strict routine to coming back into everyday life when you are free to do as you please is not something that a person can adjust to overnight. Many things can contribute to this, for example one of the most common ones are Post Traumatic Stress Disorder also known as PTSD.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening order distressing events. (Conditions , 2020)]

For someone who suffers with PTSD it can extremely difficult for them to adjust back into civilian life and function in a normal way. The smallest things can set off their anxiety from loud bangs to car screeching to aeroplanes to even crowded areas.

In the interview I conducted with Harun Griffiths he states that he suffers with PTSD however he is able to function within society and live a normal life. He states “I just make sure I don’t put myself in situations where I know it’s going to be just a huge crowd that’s uncontrollable or something to loud or like there’s no exits on every side. Like I just make sure that I don’t put myself in jeopardising situations…” As we can see, Harun is someone who does suffer with PTSD but is able to function day to day and just make sure he avoids any situations that may trigger its effects. He also states “…it’s something that strong soldiers, weak soldiers we all go through it and we all have it in our different ways. Some people can’t function because of it and then you got the functioning people dealing PTSD like myself.” Therefore, as you can tell Harun is aware that any type of soldier can get it and no one is immune to it.

As I am someone who does not suffer with PTSD myself it is very hard to voice an accurate opinion on the matter however with anything that may cause a person to not be able to function in society, I believe it is extremely important that they seek help. Mental health is such a big part of our current society therefore with the added effect from the military I believe it is very important to make sure you speak about it and show awareness surrounding the issues it can cause.

Bibliography

Conditions . (2020, 01 24). Retrieved from NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/

“What’s Fufu?” Review

This short documentary film is about the life of a young girl brought up in a poor and disruptive household, she is then moved into foster care. However, her foster parents were white therefore she goes through the issues of keeping in touch with her culture.

From the onset, the viewer is greeted with quite sad and emotional music, therefore we assume her story is going to be upsetting. The use of music in this documentary was extremely useful, because even though there are times where she speaks about positive experiences, the viewer is always brought back to how her life hasn’t been great up until that point. Using music can be one of the more important aspects of executing an emotion filled film as it grips the audience from beginning to end. She described the layout of the flat she lived in and the animation actually showed this lay out while she was describing it. The viewer felt that this was a small touch which is very important so that they feel as though they were there with her. For example, when she talks about the bathroom being on the left. The style of drawing Is mainly black and white at first other than the character herself but later on we start seeing more colour used which could have showed the progression of how her life is going in terms of positivity.

“Ping Pong” Review

This short documentary film seems to be about two people discussing the idea of playing basketball with a ping pong ball. The style of animation used is very interesting in terms of any close-up shots, you only tend to see the characters face and arm. However, far distance shots you can see the whole environment of them sitting down in two chairs next to each other in a room. The viewer feels as though this technique could have been used to give a sense of intimacy when one character is speaking, so that you can focus on what they are saying without seeing too much drawings to distract you. Both characters have accents, and seem to be quite old, which makes it more enjoyable to watch as they are talking about something so random. At one point they start singing together which is really nice to see but it also has a comedic effect as it happens so randomly. Documenting someone with another accent can add a quite rustic effect to the film as they may pronounce words differently or speaking faster, which can just make animating it more fun. The choice of music once again has an effect on the theme of it, tied in with the fact that we know the characters are from a different country. This adds culture to the film.