TITLE:
Five Women
WHAT:
Promotional Sequence for This American Life Podcast
ABOUT:
During the year 2018 sexual assault and sexual harassment were at the center of the national conversation. The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing were taking place and stories were emerging from the ‘Me Too’ movement. It was clear to me that the brave women and men who came forward with their stories were bringing change. This short was designed to promote awareness for a ‘Me Too’ story of five brave women who came forward to tell their story of being sexually harassed and assaulted by one man.
APPROACH:
My goal was to create an approachable and metaphorical sequence that captured the emotions and actions of power, violation, and enlightenment. Enlightenment was something all five women shared in their experience and became the message behind this sequence. I believe to help someone understand, we need to help them feel first, and then together we can expand the boundaries of a difficult conversation and change the world.
ROLE:
Indvidual
MENTOR:
Elaine Alderette
A figure of a woman walks slowly through a desert-like environment. Transparency of the hand shows how sexual harassment isn’t always obvious at first. Actions and behaviors escalate slowly over time. As the hand gets closer the fingers close, trapping the woman inside. We begin to see a tear and a flash of new color entering the frame. The features of this woman are revealed, she is no longer objectified. She is a person and she doesn’t have to stay trapped in this relationship. The woman continues to walk through breaking away from her oppressor.
PROCESS
Mood and Treatment
Keywords: power, control, violation, trap, enlightenment, and empower
I was specifically inspired by the left image, a landscape illustration, which inspired me to use a contrast in scale. The large scale of the hand shows that this person was abusing their position of power. The mountain ranges felt desolate and made me think of how the women in this story felt so small and powerless in their situation. I was also inspired by the image of profile faces standing together in solidarity. Ultimately all these women decided to stand together in their shared experience.
Original Test Frames
Before focusing on the moment of enlightenment I was trying to show how experiences of abuse and trauma are carried throughout our lives.
