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In my initial proposal, I talk about making a film from scratch using alternative methods to the way films are produced in the film industry and separate my research to two aspects as follows: 

 

• Aspect 1: The personal and social benefits of using humor and animation in order to create awareness and healing within and beyond the immigrant community 

 

Theoretical research : The power of humor and animation when talking about trauma, especially immigrant stories.

Practical research: Incorporation of humor within the short film that will be made throughout the research.

 

• Aspect 2: Exploring alternative methods of creating an animated short film from script to screen. 

 

Theoretical research: Accessibility and diversity within the animation industry, the impact of colonial history on the process of modern day filmmaking. 

Practical research: Finding ways which are accessible and inclusive to fund and produce animation.

 

Parts of this idea quickly proved to be not only beyond reach but also unnecessary. Through reading about artistic research, following other projects and having regular feedback sessions with Virgilio, I started to get more settled in the idea that I am not saving the world, I am exploring, navigating and harvesting knowledge through my own way of artistic research. 

 

After the presentation at the Research Retreat, my plan was to begin with exploring auto-theory. After the passing of a few months, it became clear that I wasn’t finding the motivation to do so. But instead of writing, I had been animating. I had begun animating short works for about 10 seconds, without any idea of where they would lead me. I followed lines, shapes and colours and often ended up discussing the outcome with my psychoanalyst.The animated shorts were like visual portals into my subconscious,it was fascinating how each frame appeared with new information and took me on a journey. Now, I have about 13 short animations. I call them ‘automatic animation’s . I am planning on making a larger collection and exploring the space in which they can exist. 

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I want to focus on this method of animating while I continue my research. For example, I have started to invent ways to engage others in this way of animating. I included it in on of my drawing classes and not only was the result fantastic, the playfulness and humour that this ‘game’ brought to the students during it was wonderful. 

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Other artistic projects

 

I have been working on writing and directing a video game. I had received funding from the VAF before I started the PhD to create a prototype of a game based on my previous short film. Although it has support from an institution in its early phase,I plan to navigate the future of it differently.For example, the game will be free to access from all possible platforms etc. It will be a game where everything that will happen within will be based on associations of a mind, my mind. It will be surrealistic, absurd and funny. That’s all I know so far. 

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I am also working on a short film that I will animate in the months of december, january and february. It is based on a phone footage I took while on the bus, combining a vague dream and a brief starting point. I plan to explore the intersection between automatic animation and preproduced narrative storytelling with this film.