Abstract
Abstract The idea for Chainsaw began in two newspaper obituaries steeped in romanticism, anthropomorphism and death. One celebrated the life of an Australian rodeo bull called Chainsaw, the other a Spanish bullfighter. Subsequent research linked to other subjects, from the dangers of chainsaws to Hollywood sex triangles and more: all non-fiction and all, apparently, far from animation. In Chainsaw rotoscoped animation is reality; archival B&W footage is used ironically in the Hollywood dreams and nightmares of the fictional characters. The chainsaw itself is a powerful metaphor for a type of story and a narrative structure. The fictional and non-fictional stories are linked in various ways, set in motion by human drives and desires, cutting through space and time and through the characters’ lives. An old chainsaw safety video provides us with the fictional couple Frank and Ava Gardner, seen then and now, as they move to a bloody denouement. The ‘real’ worlds of bullfighting, rodeo and Hollywood – strange ceremonies devised for entertainment – are saturated in fantasy and romance. In the natural world there is the collateral killing of which humans are unaware. But the trees and beasts and birds will endure after all the human drama and romance are played out.
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