animation twenty twenty one

If you dissociate, you may feel disconnected from yourself and the world around you. For example, you may feel detached from your body or feel as though the world around you is unreal. Remember, everyone’s experience of dissociation is different.

Dissociation is one way the mind copes with too much stress, such as during a traumatic event.

Experiences of dissociation can last for a relatively short time (hours or days) or for much longer (weeks or months).

If you dissociate for a long time, especially when you are young, you may develop a dissociative disorder. Instead of dissociation being something you experience for a short time it becomes a far more common experience, and is often the main way you deal with stressful experiences.

d i s s o c i a t i o n

line drawing that forms faces, messy - symbolises the feeling of identity loss or questioning ones identity.

"So I've discovered it only happens if I've been angry beforehand. I dissociate, outer body experience, see things, hallucinate, usually screaming or crying.. Only way to ground myself is pain. Nearly died a few times because of it. I'm now on strong meds."

"I can be doing the smallest of tasks then lose all sense of who I am and my purpose and want to crawl into bed, but it feels like I am a strange in my own body."

feeling dissociated due to mental health issues, drugs or just general mood

"So I experienced dissociation between the ages of 15 and 21 but it got significantly worse when I got to uni. If I was ever on my own or commuting to Uni I would notice that I felt really light headed like there was just air in my brain or helium or something - always described it as feeling floaty. My eyes would struggle to focus and my hearing would get muffled a bit like I was underwater. If I was doing something my memory would get all jumbled up for example if I was on a bus going to Uni I would sometimes think I was getting a bus to Exeter College and I would struggle and when I noticed my surroundings outside I would get a bit panicked because I knew it wasn't the correct route. Or if I was cleaning the flat I would feel like I was cleaning the caravans at my old work because the kitchen had smaller fittings etc. It basically felt like I was navigating a world that wasn't quite right."

"I noticed that the more I felt stressed or alone or nervous about a situation, it would happen more. It would also effect my memory quite a lot. It's an ongoing joke with my boyfriend and I that I don't know the show Taskmaster the show because for like six months whenever it was on I would always ask what the show was and react to it like I had never seen it before."

use this website for help when filming bits for animation

- film Elise, Hannah and Abida seperately

- explore the ideas of dissociation explained by instagram Q+A

- load these mini clips onto Photoshop (?) ((ask jess or james about the best software for this))

- layer and trace each frame ((or every other depending on desired look))

- colour in bits that seem necessary

LOZ KEYSTONE @lowkeystoneart on instagram, a tattoo artist I follow. Work featured could be a similar style I want to follow - look into this more and explore the different images on the page.

"I used to dissociate a LOT. I would feel so not there and not even real. It's weird to describe it.. sometimes I would go to the bathroom and feel so strange and would be scared to do a wee incase I woke up and had actually been dreaming or something.. it was like my brain was stuck and everything feels far away. Like watching my life as if it was a movie playing before me. So strange. It started kinda suddenly. And took me years, maybe like two or something.. slowly started becoming less and less intense until I only noticed it sometimes. It still happens but very rarely. It stated intensly when I was like 17."

INCLUDE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEDIA TO AMPLIFY THE IDEA OF QUESTIONING WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS NOT

POV shot of hands

- looking at them, turning them over

- kind of like pins and needle feeling but show that through different colours in a fuzzy effect that comes and goes ((bad way of explaining it but similar to the fuzziness/graininess similar to the brain gif))

- a mix of the real footage and drawing overlay to mimic the effect of this feeling taking over

- watching homemovie or kids show on TV, dissociation begins and reality self starts to appear on TV in an alternate reality.
- watching yourself on TV
- digital line drawing, black and white, basic
-zooms into TV character who starts to look both ways, unsure of where they are/whats going on
- maybe then starts melting, use this as a transition to the next shot.

AUDIO IDEAS:

background music alongside soundeffects either self-recorded or from a free site.

static, glitchy, muffled voices, musical elements - starts calm

email the people from audio/animation lecture - work needed by April latest

3:17 length, maybe a little bit longer to then cut down (fits with title)

include recordings of interviews - if needed by whoever is creating audio

Use of collage to show body identity confusion, error code !!!

Falling through smashed pieces to then be caught by 'puppetmaster' = true reality.

Puppet master playing with strings, controlling the character, struggling to get back to reality.

Loss of memory:

- Photos, bus tickets, bottle caps - things that provoke memories.

Each frame things start to dissappear or get scratched/burnt out to symbolise the idea of memory loss taking place.

Use rostrum room to do this - email James to book.

identity confusion

- THINK cher's outfit picker from clueless

- different bodies, heads etc all mismatching and showing as an error

- error messages turns into crash and then smashes into pieces

mix of digital drawings and collage stop motion - will assist in showing a more chaotic side of things

- animation will use multicoloured lines when transitioning over to the character dissociating.

- dissociation awareness is symbolised by this pin which features multiple colours that highlight the different aspects that go into dissociation.

- the divide between 'reality' and 'dissociated reality' will be shown via black and white lines vs multicoloured ones