top of page
  • Writer's pictureAshton Blyth
    • Feb 15, 2022

Study Statement: Finalised

1. Working Title: Definitive Times


2. Aims and Objectives:


Aims:

  1. Discover my own defining moments

  2. Share my defining moments

  3. Allow people to reflect on, and understand, their own defining moments

  4. Help those supporting someone through these defining moments

Objectives:

  1. Watch/sort through old childhood footage

  2. Note significant moments in my life

  3. Interview other trans people / artist's and discover their defining moments

  4. Recreate moments on film that I don't have footage of

  5. Compile footage in a logical order, use storyboarding to help

  6. Transform footage into an animation to put a step between the footage of myself and the audience, making the film easier for a viewer to project onto


3. Context (Including Historical, Contemporary and Theoretical):

  1. Gender Recognition Laws on self ID - highlights how a doctor would not be more qualified than the individual to diagnose gender dysphoria, LGBTQ+ laws throughout history in general - looking at a timeline of changes

  2. Auto- / biographical films, animations and books that allow you a first-person point of view of what it is like to not conform to the binary, or to support those who do not through that journey, allowing a viewer/reader to resonate and emphasise with a person/family/group of people

  3. Judith Butler - gender is performative theory


4. Methodology:

  • Recording my thoughts and feelings on revisiting old footage / memories

  • Recording my conversations with other trans people

  • Screenshots of progress while compiling the footage

  • Video updates while animating small extracts at a time

  • Update all of these within my blog


5. Outcomes:

  1. A live-action film used for reference (this may be made clear in colour changes or background changes)

  2. An animation created from the live reference using rotoscoping

As well as all these steps in-between the two:

  • a black outline of the foreground - characters (of existing footage and re-created moments, live-action of vlogging/reflecting/narrating)

  • a black outline of the whole film (of existing footage and re-created moments, live-action of vlogging/reflecting/narrating)

  • a black outline with colour-fill of the foreground, and black outline of the background (of existing footage and re-created moments, live-action of vlogging/reflecting/narrating)

  • a black outline with colour-fill of the whole film (of existing footage and re-created moments, live-action of vlogging/reflecting/narrating)

  • a version where the memories (existing footage and re-created moments) is in black and white, and the live-action is in colour

  • a version where the memories (existing footage and re-created moments) is in colour, and the live-action is in colour

  • a version where the memories (existing footage and re-created moments) is in black and white, and the live-action is in colour - and also rotoscoped like the rest of the film


6. Work Plan:


Term 1:

  • Compile existing footage that could be used

  • Start reflectively writing while watching the footage

  • Watch films/biographies for inspiration - may cause new scenes to be added

  • Read auto-biographies of trans/gender non-conforming people and their support systems (family/friends) for inspiration of what my own defining moments are - may cause new scenes to be added

  • Start to storyboard the overall film

  • Start to edit footage together

  • Test how the finished film could look: past vs present difference: black and white vs colour, added filters etc.

  • Start to animate from the live-action edited footage


Term 2:

  • Finish storyboarding the film (as finished as can be, expect slight changes with ending)

  • Start to write the scripts/narrations for all the scenes that will need to be re-created for the film

  • Continue to watch films/biographies for inspiration - may cause new scenes to be added

  • Continue to read auto-biographies of trans/gender non-conforming people and their support systems (family/friends) for inspiration of what my own defining moments are - may cause new scenes to be added

  • Continue to animate scenes

  • Create title pages for the film

  • Complete live-action introduction footage for interim show

  • Create research paper questionnaire

  • Make research paper questionnaire live and gather primary research

  • Give out paper questionnaires to LGBTQ+ youth group I'll be working with as well as link to digital version for them to anonymously fill in if they would like, gathers research from a younger age group (13-18)

  • Pass link on to my old college and see if can gather more info from 16-19 age group

  • Pass link to old university classmates, gather more info from 21+ age group


Term 3:

  • Continue to write the scripts/narrations for all the scenes that will need to be re-created for the film

  • Continue to watch films/biographies for inspiration - may cause new scenes to be added

  • Continue to read auto-biographies of trans/gender non-conforming people and their support systems (family/friends) for inspiration of what my own defining moments are - may cause new scenes to be added

  • Start shooting the re-created scenes for the film

  • Continue to animate scenes

  • Write first draft of research paper


Summer:

  • Complete shooting of any scenes involving my sister as an actress

  • Continue to gather anonymous research for my paper via online questionnaire

  • Continue to animate scenes

  • Write second draft of research paper


Term 4:

  • Complete shooting of live-action footage (if have not already done so)

  • Continue to animate scenes

  • Finalise research paper

Term 5:

  • Start the colouring process of the animation

  • Create chapter title pages for throughout the film

  • Get top-surgery, and in doing so shoot the final footage for the film

  • Animate top-surgery footage (black outline)


Term 6:

  • Finish colouring the animation

  • Finalise animated film
















7. Bibliography:


Books


Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard - Alex Bertie

Bertie, A. (2017) Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard


Performative Acts and Gender Constitution - Judith Butler

Butler, J. (1988) Performative Acts and Gender Constitution


Gender Trouble - Judith Butler

Butler, J. (1990) Gender Trouble


Undoing Gender - Judith Butler

Butler, J. (2004) Undoing Gender


The Transgender Issue - Shon Faye

Faye, S. (2021) The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice


I Promised Not to Tell: Raising a transgender child - Cheryl B. Evans

Evans, C. B. (2016) I Promised Not to Tell: Raising a transgender child



Feature Films


American Pop - Ralph Bakshi


The Lord of the Rings - Ralph Bakshi

Watch for free:


127 Hours - Danny Boyle

127 Hours (2011) Directed by D. Boyle. Available at: Amazon Prime Video https://www.amazon.co.uk/127-Hours-James-Franco/dp/B017BYRBNG (Accessed: … 2022)


Absolute Denial - Ryan Braund

Absolute Denial (2021) Directed by R. Braund. Available at: https://watch.eventive.org/sparkanimation/play/614aa0acbd64d70052977604/61287cb5338451004533123c (Accessed: 8 November 2021)


The Long Day Closes - Terence Davies


Loving Vincent - Hugh Welchman and Dorota Kobiela


Boyhood - Richard Linklater


A Scanner Darkly - Richard Linklater


Persepolis - Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi


Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975


Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky, 2016

Mirror (2016) Directed by A. Tarkovsky. Available at: Amazon Prime Video


The Beaches of Agnes - Agnès Varda


Ulysse - Agnès Varda

Ulysse (1982) Directed by A. Varda. Available at: Amazon Prime Video


Renaissance - Christian Volkman



Short Films/Animations


Once Upon A Time in the Woods - Benjamin Arthur

Arthur, B. (2007) Once Upon A Time in the Woods. 8 July. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIT87On4ktU (Accessed: … 2021)


My Childhood - Bill Douglas


My Ain Folk - Bill Douglas


My Way Home - Bill Douglas

My Way Home (1978) Directed by B. Douglas. Available at: Amazon Prime Video https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B00ET1UZ4M/ref=atv_sr_def_c_unkc_4_1_4?sr=1-4&pageTypeIdSource=ASIN&pageTypeId=B071HBZGGZ&qid=1644616965 (Accessed: … 2022)


Zéro de conduite - Jean Vigo

Zéro de conduite (1933) Directed by J. Vigo. Available at: Amazon Prime Video


Kapaemahu - Dean Hamer, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu and Joe Wilson

Kapaemahu (2020) Directed by D. Hamer, H. Wong-Kalu and J. Wilson. Available at: https://www.kapaemahu.com/ (Accessed: 13 October 2021)


The Animatrix: Kid's Story - Shinichiro Watanabe

The Animatrix: Kid's Story (2003) Directed by S. Watanabe. Available at: Amazon Prime Video


Tragic Story with Happy Ending - Regina Pessoa

Tragic Story with Happy Ending (2005) Directed by R. Pessoa. Available at: https://www.nfb.ca/film/tragic_story_with_happy_ending/ (Accessed: … 2022)


Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days - Regina Pessoa

Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days (2019) Directed by R. Pessoa. Available at:

Not yet online (Accessed: … 2022)


Who I Am - Regina Pessoa

Who I Am (2019) Directed by R. Pessoa. Available at: Vimeo https://vimeo.com/user13462621 (Accessed: … 2022)



Biography/Documentary


A Place in the Middle - Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson

A Place in the Middle (2014) Directed by D. Hamer and J. Wilson. Available at: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIvPktenk0E (Accessed: … 2022)


Kumu Hina - Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson

Kumu Hina (2014) Directed by D. Hamer and J. Wilson. Available at: Amazon Prime Video https://www.amazon.com/Kumu-Hina-Wong-Kalu/dp/B0798V42G9 (Accessed: … 2022)


Leitis in Waiting - Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson

Leitis in Waiting (2019) Directed by D. Hamer and J. Wilson. Available at: Amazon Prime Video


Out in the Silence - Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson

Out in the Silence (2009) Directed by D. Hamer and J. Wilson. Available at: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZC17bl4WHI (Accessed: … 2022)


The Rogers - Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson

The Rogers (2021) Directed by D. Hamer and J. Wilson. Available at: Amazon Prime Video


Recent Posts

See All

Study Statement: Revised

1. Working Title: Definitive Times 2. Aims and Objectives: Aims: Discover my own defining moments Share my defining moments Allow...

Bibliography

Books Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard - Alex Bertie Bertie, A. (2017) Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard Performative Acts and Gender...

Study Statement: Initial Plan

1. Working Title: Defining Moments of a Trans Experience 2. Aims and Objectives: Aims: Discover my own defining moments Share my...

Comments

bottom of page