Blind and Visually Impaired Community
↑
7
↓
Short film about a blind character (self.Blind)
submitted by Rocket_Watch_4550
Hi, I am an animation student, and my 3rd year film is from the perspective of a blind character.
I am looking for help on this project.
I myself am not blind, so I wanted to know how to go about making this film the right way. I hate it when short films show something personal in a stereotypical or silly way, so I want to do everything I can to avoid that.
I am animating it myself. The length of the film is about 2 minutes and it’s hand drawn animation with a charcoal and pastel texture.
The main character is a fawn, a baby deer. There are many ways to portray her perspective so I decided to put her in a black background, so we see what she sees, and occasionally portray sound, smell and touch as visual images. I am still figuring out how to portray it. The story is about her being lost in a forest, trying to get back to her mother. She identifies her mom by following her calls, faces obstacles like trees, rain and things that get in the way of her hearing, smelling and touching.
You can comment if you have an opinion on this or send me a PM and I would love to describe you the storyboard and ask what your opinion on how to tell this story right. Of course I will definitely credit you in the film and I plan on sending it to festivals when complete.
I relate to the story in that I’ve had obstacles to overcome in my own personal life due to small disabilities, but I want the character to feel authentic and real from a blind person’s perspective. Please let me know in a PM or comment your thoughts if you have any input, interest or questions about this project.
Thank you for reading!
I am looking for help on this project.
I myself am not blind, so I wanted to know how to go about making this film the right way. I hate it when short films show something personal in a stereotypical or silly way, so I want to do everything I can to avoid that.
I am animating it myself. The length of the film is about 2 minutes and it’s hand drawn animation with a charcoal and pastel texture.
The main character is a fawn, a baby deer. There are many ways to portray her perspective so I decided to put her in a black background, so we see what she sees, and occasionally portray sound, smell and touch as visual images. I am still figuring out how to portray it. The story is about her being lost in a forest, trying to get back to her mother. She identifies her mom by following her calls, faces obstacles like trees, rain and things that get in the way of her hearing, smelling and touching.
You can comment if you have an opinion on this or send me a PM and I would love to describe you the storyboard and ask what your opinion on how to tell this story right. Of course I will definitely credit you in the film and I plan on sending it to festivals when complete.
I relate to the story in that I’ve had obstacles to overcome in my own personal life due to small disabilities, but I want the character to feel authentic and real from a blind person’s perspective. Please let me know in a PM or comment your thoughts if you have any input, interest or questions about this project.
Thank you for reading!
80percentaccurate 10 points 2y ago
I know it’s only a school project, but I find it particularly troubling when a project about a certain group isn’t accessible to that group. For example, Southeastern Guide Dogs came out with a cute little animated short about a guide dog named Pip. Which was awesome, but it was totally silent which made it inaccessible to the people they serve. The way around this is to add audio description. I don’t know if you want to go in-depth enough to add a separate audio track to show you have taken into account the blind community if only for a school project, but it’s a thought.
Myntrith 3 points 2y ago
u/Rocket_Watch_4550 For examples of an audio description track, you can look at certain Netflix or Amazon Prime movies that have one, and turn it on.
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Thank you so much! I just watched that short, and it’s so beautiful. It is such a shame there isn’t an audio descriptive version. Thanks for this suggestion! I think I’m going to work on an audio description with a narrator that fits the story, and just make that the final version. I think it might improve the story. I realized when I was writing the script, there were many things in the description my class enjoyed so I could take some of those without making it too wordy. I am watching Ralph Breaks The Internet on DISNEY+ with audio description. I’m trying to research as much as I can about this right now since I’ve never done audio description. I also realized the great thing about descriptions is that it can also feel like a picture book read aloud or an audiobook, which isn’t always done in films since so many things are visual. Filmmaking is so culturally visual so it’s great to see that perspective.
80percentaccurate 2 points 2y ago
They actually did end up doing the short with audio description. I don’t know if they always planned to or if it came out after the fact but it was one of those ones that seemed like it was done pro Bono compared to professionally.
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Oh cool! In any case I plan on only making one version. I don’t want to be one of those student filmmakers with 17 alternate endings and versions of my film haha, so I should just for the audio one in to the story and write the story for the audio. I wonder how many films make the film specifically with the audio description in mind?
80percentaccurate 1 points 2y ago
That’s a good question. I don’t know. It’s certainly neat that you’re putting this much thought and research into it! Maybe you can let us see if when you’re done if that’s an acceptable thing.
AchooCashew 6 points 2y ago
This sounds like such a fun project. I'm excited for you! You might find it interesting to play around with the idea of visualizing "$1" from passive echolocation. It might make the concept more obvious to sighted viewers if you were to dull the noise in time with the visual of the sound being blocked as well as create sound in stereo, but it sounds like your main focus is the animation at this point. :) Feel free to DM if you'd like to have a longer conversation.
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
I also found there could be a way to have muffled images moving, maybe rotoscoped with a charcoal filter. My figure drawing professor made an amazing student film with a charcoal filter once. In my animatic I made it a little like it’s from a tv screen her ear picks up on, but if it’s closer to something like an ex ray, and the sound wave reveals it, that would also make sense.
AchooCashew 2 points 2y ago
I have no experience with animation, but it sounds like you have some solid ideas to follow. Good luck!
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 2 points 2y ago
Thank you!! I appreciate it.
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Thank you! Super helpful. That’s similar to what I had in mind, but I hadn’t thought of acoustic shadows. I’ll reach out.
LadyAlleta 5 points 2y ago
You could also try making them blind but not totally blind. There's a spectrum of blindness so maybe partially being able to see a scary tree can be an obstacle
Mel_AndCholy 3 points 2y ago
I second this! There are too many misconceptions about blindness being a complete blackout. A lot of people are surprised its a spectrum.
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 2 points 2y ago
I’ll make sure to keep that in mind because from what I hear it’s different for everyone, so it could be a unique sense of vision but with familiar things too that apply to a lot of people. What I have so far are aspects with more muffled images when she hears a sound, but Ill have to dig deeper into it and think about what her exact type of vision is. I’m still trying to see how to show it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Yeah, that’s a really good point. I’ll think if there isn’t a better way to portray that. Since there will be visuals obviously, maybe there’s a way to show her blindness with light and muffled images as I’m using charcoal.
Born-1995 3 points 2y ago
Give the fawn an inner monologue so that the audience can experience the thought process as the character builds a mental map of their environment. Use the visuals to either confirm or contrast what the fawn thinks is or isn’t there. Kind of building a mental picture that is unique but similar to the actual environment. This will allow blind and sighted people to experience the same story in there own way.
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Yep! This is similar to what I tried in the animatic but it wasn’t quite figured out enough. I’ll probably give the character a thought monologue but I’m siding with adding only an audio description.
So I need to go back and make something that reads cohesively and think about what her mental map is like visually. The sound and audio aspect are just as important so I have to figure that out too.
So I need to go back and make something that reads cohesively and think about what her mental map is like visually. The sound and audio aspect are just as important so I have to figure that out too.
BlakeBlues 3 points 2y ago
Yes, Daniel Kish might be some help. Echo identification is pretty important, but also there might be a decent amount of hesitancy. Makes sense, esp without mother. Post updates!
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 2 points 2y ago
I’ll do research on that! There are videos of his echolocation I’ll have to watch. Thanks for the reference. I’ll post updates for sure
siriuslylupin6 2 points 2y ago
How is the project if you need any help with it feel free to ask for help and such. Happy to help.
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
I just sent you a PM, thanks!
siriuslylupin6 1 points 2y ago
Ah, okay I see them.👍
TheBlindCreative 2 points 2y ago
This film idea sounds really cute!!! Many blind individuals have residual vision. Personally, I have a small amount of central vision that resembles seeing through a straw. It would be neat if you could feature a simulated view of impaired vision. PM me if you want to talk more.
Rocket_Watch_4550 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
That’s a really good suggestion. I’m thinking about how to portray that with the visualized sound as well. I would love to talk more I’ll send you a PM
bradley22 1 points 2y ago
This sounds awesome!
Audio description, if needed would be great.
Audio description, if needed would be great.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.