Reflection
I definitely enjoyed creating my own anime-style film based on my research, Insects on Ice. One of my long-time wishes has been to turn my research into a film, and although I still have a long way to go, this project was a meaningful first step.
The first half of my video consists of cartoon-style images illustrating the germ warfare narrative, with the goal of making the content more accessible to the public. I felt that this anime-style storytelling method aligned well with my argument, since my approach to germ warfare during the Korean War focuses on narrative analysis rather than factual criticism. To bring this idea to life, I used AI-generated images in the style of Studio Ghibli, mostly based on still cuts from the North Korean documentary U.S. Germ Warfare in Korea. Studio Ghibli is well known for its anime films such as Spirited Away (2001), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), and Princess Mononoke (1997), to name a few.
In fact, creating Studio Ghibli-style images with AI has recently become a fad in Korea, though I am not sure how popular it is elsewhere. I was inspired by this trend. I’m grateful for AI technology, because without it, I would not have been able to translate the scenes I imagined in my mind into visual form without spending a lot of money or effort. I also added some dramatic narration and dialogue. While a few elements are speculative, they are still grounded in historical evidence and context.
The second half of the video is more focused on academic analysis. In particular, I incorporated feedback I received from the second-year paper colloquium and other venues. I focused on explaining why seonjeon is an essential framework for understanding the germ warfare narrative. Initially, I did not include U.S. reactions, arguments, or counterarguments in the body of my paper. I was concerned that doing so might mislead or confuse readers. However, I came to realize that including them can actually strengthen my argument—particularly in demonstrating why seonjeon is a more appropriate lens for understanding North Korea than the conventional propaganda framework, especially when compared to how socialist propaganda is framed in U.S. sources.
Lastly, I used a combination of tools to create this video—Keynote (for all animations, cinematic effects, and audio/video recordings), ChatGPT (for generating Studio Ghibli-style images), Google Earth (to create dramatic transitions between global locations), iMovie (for video and audio editing), and QuickTime Player (to record screen and extra audio for fixes), YouTube (to add subtitles and share the video with others)—all of which are accessible audio-visual tools that I could easily work with. In particular, I am especially grateful for having learned how to use Keynote animations over the course of the semester. They offered me an easy yet effective way to achieve strong visual and cinematic effects.
I used several accessible tools to create this project:
- Keynote (for all animations, cinematic effects, and audio/video recordings),
- ChatGPT (for generating Studio Ghibli-style images),
- Google Earth (to create dramatic transitions between global locations),
- iMovie (for video and audio editing),
- QuickTime Player (to record screen and extra audio for fixes), and
- YouTube (to add subtitles and share the video with others).
