Anna Animation Project

UComm Author

04/21/2017 Added

329 Plays

Description

The story of Anna comes to life in an animation project that is a collaboration of three University of Nebraska-Lincoln professors. In 1815, Anna jumped out a window to avoid being sold to a Georgia plantation.

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[00:00:00.954]Animation, research,
[00:00:02.466]and creativity tell Anna's story.
[00:00:05.109]In 1815, she jumped from a window in Washington D.C.
[00:00:09.246]to avoid being sold to a plantation in Georgia.
[00:00:12.609]Animator Michael Burton brings emotion to the scene.
[00:00:16.151]I know that I can create more visceral scenes
[00:00:18.515]and really bring you into a place using animation.
[00:00:21.225]The animated film follows a script
[00:00:23.386]written by Kwakiutl Dreher,
[00:00:24.889]based on the research of Will Thomas.
[00:00:27.635]While studying freedom petitions filed by slaves,
[00:00:30.949]Thomas discovered Anna didn't die in the fall,
[00:00:33.877]as many believed.
[00:00:35.267]She kept her marriage intact,
[00:00:37.658]she eventually gained her freedom in court,
[00:00:41.239]and Francis Scott Key was her attorney.
[00:00:44.073]In the script,
[00:00:45.123]Dreher imagines Anna as a weaver.
[00:00:47.384]A proud woman, who uses her craft,
[00:00:49.882]and her passion, to survive.
[00:00:52.195]And I found that, because of what she said
[00:00:55.086]when she was being interviewed, right,
[00:00:58.146]"they wouldn't let me see my husband".
[00:01:00.330]As long as the husband was there, around her,
[00:01:04.105]then she could handle anything.
[00:01:06.282]Anna comes to the screen
[00:01:07.909]using a technique called rotoscoping.
[00:01:10.193]Live action film is traced with paint, frame by frame.
[00:01:14.758]So if I brought the opacity of my painting away,
[00:01:18.584]you can actually see the person I'm painting over.
[00:01:21.636]I have to scrape this off once I'm done with it.
[00:01:23.947]Restart the whole process again for the next frame.
[00:01:27.046]Students are involved in the project
[00:01:28.994]from animation to costume design.
[00:01:31.545]Makes me feel excited,
[00:01:33.594]knowing that it's gonna be seen by a lot of people.
[00:01:36.643]The team effort, it adds validity,
[00:01:38.922]it adds accuracy and...
[00:01:42.461]I couldn't do this by myself.
[00:01:44.493]When it's finished, Anna's story
[00:01:46.076]will be submitted to film festivals around the country.
[00:01:49.940]I want people to come away with the feeling
[00:01:51.840]that there was a life, a dailyness,
[00:01:54.759]to an enslaved person's life.
[00:01:58.045]How do you handle that day,
[00:02:00.309]when you know that your life is
[00:02:01.954]in the hands of someone else?
[00:02:03.865]A story of family, a story of survival,
[00:02:07.273]a story of freedom-making.
[00:02:09.729]She made her own freedom.
[00:02:11.814](piano music)

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Tags:
Anna
history
slavery
UNL
animation
film

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Anna Animation Project

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