Douglas Watkin

Douglas Watkin is recognised for his work as a director and documentary flmmaker with his telling of the stories of Indigenous Australia. Cairns-born Watkin is from an Erubam Le family (from Erub/Darnley Island in the Eastern Torres Strait); his grandmother was displaced from the island during the Second World War. The making of The Queen & I was a new approach for Watkin, who drew on archival resources to assist him to re-create historical scenes from 1954. He used his knowledge of film-making techniques to develop the sequence of images and sound in telling his father’s story, which he has described as more than a moving graphic novel.

The style of The Queen & I aims to reflect The Phantom comics you used to read at the back of old newspapers, using an ‘animatic’ design rather than a fully animated computergenerated piece associated with contemporary movies
Douglas Watkin

Watkin’s film uses hand-drawn images as the basis for the animation. The use of black drawing on a yellowed background contributes to the historic feel of the work. The artist worked collaboratively with animators to create the thousands of frames needed to make the ten-minute film. Animated films have traditionally been composed of twenty-four frames per second to give the illusion of movement.

The narrative for The Queen & I, 2011, is based on a family story about my father, Edward Watkin. Edward was a Cairns mechanic and by happenstance became one of the drivers in the Queen’s cavalcade during her inaugural visit to Australia in 1954.
Douglas Watkin

The visit of the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth in 1954 was a signifcant event in Australia’s history in the decade after the Second World War. It is thought that about seventy-five per cent of Australia’s population caught a glimpse of the queen during her two-month tour, and around 40,000 people were in Cairns for the occasion depicted in Watkin’s film, some waiting overnight or travelling many kilometres from inland and along the coast.

Torres Strait Islanders played an important role in the 1954 royal visit, with a group of forty-five dancers travelling from Thursday Island to perform, as well as presenting displays of art and craft.

In The Queen & I Watkin tells a personal story about a historical event that touched his family’s life. This is a delightful and uplifting flm, to which every viewer can relate, a story told with compassion, humour and respect.

  • How is the illusion of movement and action created by Watkin in this film?
  • What details in the film tell the time and place of the events that took place?
  • What film techniques can you identify in The Queen & I? What is similar or different about viewing a film in a gallery compared with in a cinema?
  • What are The Phantom comics? Try to find one.
  • Have you ever been in a crowd that has gathered to see a famous person pass by? Describe the atmosphere of anticipation and the moment you saw them. You could ask your parents or elders about their memories of signifcant historical events.
  • Why do you think the royal visit in 1954 was so important? Find out about contemporary graphic novels and animations created by artists
  • Does your family have a ‘famous person’ story? Perhaps someone met or came close to meeting a celebrity or royalty. (If not, perhaps you could invent one!) Create an image to tell this story. You could use a graphic novel or comic book style to show what happened. You may wish to research historical images of the time in order to add an authentic look to your work.
  • Find out how to make your own animation. You could start with a simple ‘flip book’ or explore how to turn your drawings into short films using digital media.
  • Ask a senior family member to tell you about an historic family story. You might consider recording the conversation and then writing your own version to share with your family.
  • Do you have any historical family photographs? Scan or make copies and experiment using these images as the basis for your own work.