Working in Animation

Ever since I heard Brett Morgen of "Chicago 10" speak about using innovative technologies in storytelling, I've been curious how to integrate mixed media in my work. Liberia??? Check? is the first project where I'm working with animation and I'm learning a lot in the process.



I decided after not being able to pull enough young Liberians in Park Hill together for a mock debate about the elections, that I would set up my piece as sort of a "delegates" meeting where representatives from places like Colombia, Palestine, Jamaica and finally, Liberia, are given the opportunity to share their thoughts on the election. My good friend and colleague, Sol Guy agreed to do the voice over for "MC Unite" who is presiding over the meeting. When he calls up PJ - our Liberian delegate - we segue into the footage I have of him in Park Hill asking people on the streets their points of view. It was fun to work on this with Sol because also shot a segment in Liberia so we talked about how interesting it is that Liberia is so fascinated with the U.S. He traveled with the artist, MIA, for his new MTV Canada 4Real.com - check it out to learn more about Liberia.


Lovisa Inserra is my new animator and she is fantastic! We decided to first develop the storyboards for the piece that she will then animate once we get feedback from the Open Call community. Pulling the stills she created into my sequence, I came to realize that when you decide to work in animation, you must also sort of become a sound designer. The background noises of the courtroom, the VO, the music, the clanking of the gavel, all help to enhance the credibility of the scene. So, I had to add about 6 audio channels.



The other interesting thing about working in animation -and probably in fiction in general which I don't get a lot of exposure to - is the ability to "set up" scenes to relay information critical to your story. After going through my interviews and footage with PJ, I realize that in order to best contextualize the relationship between Liberia and the U.S. (in a few seconds!), that I will need him to read from a script. I'll cover the VO with images from the WGBH Sandbox and my own broll I shot in Monrovia, but because I didn't think of this prior to shooting, I will definitely need to make another trip out to Staten Island and will need to indicate it in my rough cut.



I'll end this with posting a few of the stills from the opening. I opted to go for a very colorful, youth feel in order to attract a younger audience.

The Mix for "Liberia??? Check!" (WGBH/POV Short)

Liberian DJ PJ (far right) with Sam and Frank Davis (aka AKG)
in Park Hill, Staten Island

One of the things I enjoy most about the filmmaking process is the opportunity to mix with creative sorts of all types. I met with an artist in my neighborhood - Pete Miser - about music, I have talked with several beginning filmmakers about assisting as a PA and I had coffee with an animator - David Sutton - who will do an opening for my piece. But probably the most fun I had was mixing with the young Liberians in Staten Island during my first shoot there yesterday.

I came up with the idea for my pitch after spending 10 days in Liberia last month for a shoot I'm doing with the UN on young people in conflict settings. I was in awe with Liberia's strong fascination with our country. They L-O-V-E George Bush and think 50% of Americans do too(!) I guess this should not be surprising given it's historical relationship with the U.S. - freed American slaves returned to Liberia in 1822, formed a new government and now the "Americo-Liberians" as they are called, are often the ones running the show, holding political and financial clout. Liberia also has the first female President in all of Africa and they now have strong diplomatic ties to America. So, in Monrovia, e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y was talking about Obama and Clinton and to a lesser degree, John McCain. Being from the States, I became an "official" ear for Liberians to share their thoughts on the elections.

"The White House is about to become the Black House!"

"A woman should not be President when a country is at war. She couldn't handle it!"

"If the United States had a female President, they would take better care of the community."

So when one kid asked me if I thought Liberians should get to vote for the next U.S President since the outcome will have such an impact on Liberia and the African continent as a whole, I appeased his question by developing my pitch, "Liberia??? Check!"

I needed to get more footage though than what I could use from Liberia. Thanks to a wonderful Brooklyn-based writer-now-collaborator, Ruthie Ackerman, I was able to enter the gritty, but fascinating world of the Liberia that's been resettled Stateside. It's in Staten Island and boasts the largest Liberian population outside of Africa. The streets there aren't too different from Monrovia where old women set up shop to sell small goods for income, young men are blasting hip hop from their blown-out speakers and parent-less children weeble-wobble through deserted lots on too-big bicycles. The sunset gives permission for drug deals and gang violence to throw civil war-like tension between the Liberians and the African Americans who lay claims to the neighborhood. The Wu Tang Clan who grew up there refers to it as "Crack Hill" or "Killer Hill." Ruthie has been working with the Liberian refugee community for more than a year now, collecting their stories for a book and a longer documentary film. (If you want to know more about this fascinating community, read her article, "Liberia: From One Battlefront to Another" here.)

Ruthie introduced me to PJ - a 34-year old slim man sporting a gold chain bearing the seal of his home country. Back in the Gambia, PJ was the hit DJ, spinning music for his refugee brothers and sisters before coming to the States. We first met PJ's mom who was questioning his choice of an outfit, urged him to hurry up to not keep his guests waiting and was tending to things he needed from her. Moms and sons in little Liberia are apparently no different than anywhere else.

I couldn't ask for a more perfect "host" to this community than PJ. Outcoming, comical, charismatic and definitely confident, he took to the streets asking Liberians young and old alike who they would vote for in the elections and why while interjecting his own commentary and ideas. I originally had hoped to set up a mock debate and vote with young high school students but the candidness of the interviews with a back-drop of real Park Hill life bustling in the background, gave me plenty of material to work with.

Liberian Auntie Selling Goods on the Street

At the end of the day, I started thinking about how this project has brought together an interesting group of people and situations in such a short amount of time - the ex-combatants in Liberia and a former DJ celebrity in Park Hill and Pete Miser's beats and Ruthie's dedication and the beautiful old Liberian women selling plastics on the streets and the dude in the wheelchair smoking a cigarette. This may seem like a strange mix for a short 3-minute film on the elections, but to me, in many ways, it defines what this election is all about. Isn't it?

On top of the water u see Brooklyn...

...Brooklyn, LIBERIA that is! More on the shoot for UNFPA on young people in conflict settings and natural disasters coming soon!