Ego comes across a strange little music box shaped as a house. It won’t play the way they expect it to, even when Ego tries to force it to change - rather, they discover that they are the one who must change in order to listen.
For our animation, we intend to communicate the importance of listening, and receiving stories with compassion. In her poem, Tame criticises the “unscathed” - or rather the desensitised - and the perpetrators of misrepresentation towards marginalised groups. She condemns “the press”, who exploit and capitalise the stories of marginalised groups, and the ironic manipulations of those whose jobs are to provide voices to the voiceless. When approaching the poem, we attempted to embody the perspective of “the wider audience”; those who have not experienced marginalisation. We reflected on Tame’s intentions: What is the core message? Where do we stand? How do we respond? As the audience, we felt that it was not our position to speak on behalf of marginalised groups, nor were we in the position to point fingers at the perpetrators of marginalisation - especially as both acts would be hypocritical, from the standpoint of the poem. Hence, we decided that it was imperative for us to maintain a disposition of both neutrality and humanity - speaking as the audience, to the audience - and aligning with Tame’s words “...You don’t need to be able to relate exactly to another person to be able to offer them compassion”.
In our animation, our intended mood revolves around vulnerability. Since our narrative captures an emotional transition - moving between desensitisation to empathy - we aim to encapsulate the increasing rapport between the major elements of our film (the house, Ego, and the “Dweller”). We want to communicate a subtle optimism in the overall atmosphere of our film.
Based on our core focus our animation has four elements. Our first element is our character, Ego, who represents the “wider audience”. Our second element is a house, which symbolises the lives of marginalised individuals. Our third element is “The Dweller” living inside the house, who represents both marginalised individuals and their voices. Our fourth element is the Voice of the Dweller, which is represented by music.
Our narrative features a linear structure, and focuses on the changing relationship between the elements. Initially, Ego attempts to force the Voice out of the house by turning the handle of the music box. However, after learning that there is someone inside, Ego realises that it is not their right to hear the music, but rather the Dweller’s choice to invite them to listen. We also use scale as a narrative convention to explore the transition of Ego’s character journey.
The style of our animation was influenced by naive and semi-lineless illustrations. With a focus on loosely representational lines, our intention was to reflect the ‘naive’ state of the audience, whose understanding of the house is based on assumptions. The lines are mainly minimal at the beginning of the film, and a gradual increase in detail occurs - reflecting the maturing knowledge of the audience persona.
Colour will be used to reflect the transitioning relationship between the elements in our film. The colour palette of our film is mainly monochromatic, with an emphasis on tonal contrasts. In the initial shots of our film, we use a deep, cool toned purple to communicate the emotional detachment between Ego and the house. This decision was informed by our research on colour psychology, where purple was associated with isolation, immaturity and indifference.
Additionally, an amber colour is integrated as an accent against the cool-tones of our film, separating the house from the persona. Amber is associated with energy and safety, and aligns well with our representation of the house as an intimate, private space. To communicate the emotional transition of our film, our colour palette shifts from the cool-toned purple to the warm amber tones incorporated within the house design. The background also becomes lighter, suggesting a shift from nighttime to daytime as Ego becomes ‘enlightened’.
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