UNDER OUR EYES
Client : USI Conference with Gobelins
Team: Solo
Softwares: Procreate, Photoshop, Tvpaint,
EbSynth, After Effects
This project was a diploma test at Gobelins. The idea was to produce a video for USI in two weeks, from writing to delivery. As part of their conference in Paris in 2022, they needed video content to enrich their theme: resilience. The challenge was daunting, but left us free to explore our own sub-theme: mine being health.
For the first two days, I chose the topic of vitiligo to address resilience in the face of one's own mental health, and to talk about tolerance. I quickly came up with the idea of associating diversity in insects with diversity in humans, which is much less accepted.
I chose to work this video as a short film, as if it were a testimony supported by images. Even if the voice I've written isn't a testimonial of my background, observing insects was part of my childhood, and diversity is a subject close to my heart. I read testimonials from people whose lives had been impacted by vitiligo, so that I could write a credible voice, based on real-life experiences, while meeting the needs of the production.
The video was screened, along with the rest of the class' work, at the Palais Brongniart in Paris during USI 2022.
The graphic style is the result of illustrations (Photoshop & Procreate) textured & reworked on After Effects, with some shots requiring animating on TvPaint.
Translated script (written by me, voiced by Perrine Megret)
"Insects are fascinating.
I used to spend my time observing them.
The others didn't want me, so my pleasure was to contemplate their details,
their characteristics. They were all very different
So why wasn't I allowed to have two colors?
"They'd say, "Oh my!
So I did my best to hide them.
It was ugly. But I couldn't do anything about it... it was my body.
I didn't really feel sick, I just had spots.
As I realized that I wasn't the only one discriminated against for being different,
I realized that people tend to forget that variety is a strength.
The unknown is treated as undesirable, but I could see that the richness was right in front of our eyes
in the details that make us up.
So when I managed to cherish my skin, I also decided that I would do everything to protect the diversity that tries to live,
all around us."
