Ideas

I want to create a video surrounding the theme of animal rights as it is a personal issue that I feel very passionate about and I think that choosing this theme will allow me to explore how to express my views on how animals are treated at the hands of humans in the medium of video and film. I have explored this theme through Fine Art and Fashion briefs which I may incorporate into this one.I really enjoyed as the root of the project is an issue that I care about.

Concept / Scene development

I am interested in creating a piece that makes the viewer question their own person habits regarding the use of animals for human consumption and exploitation. My concept is to reverse the roles of humans to be the ones of animals and vice-versa. There will be conversation about food and fashion referring to human products as if they were animal products. A family will be the centre of the story, they could wear a pig or cow head. Each character could be a cow, a pig, a lam, turkey, etc. Or each family could be one animal with variations to the mask to make each character individual.

I picture the opening as a dinner or lunch scene, perhaps Christmas or Thanksgiving. They will have food displayed on the table. One or two dishes that are made of human parts amongst vegetables, roast potatoes, etc.

The story could surround a group of teenagers (three or four). A woman gives a talk at their school about human cruelty, as opposed to animal cruelty. The main character is angry with the things this speaker says, they go home and carry on talking about the talk at school at the dinner table (second dinner scene). In this scene we see how the main character is uncomfortable eating human products and perhaps rejects eating them.

The next day the main character is talking at lunch time or after school about the talk the woman gave. There are many conversation about how good human burgers taste and how much they love fresh flesh - something along those lines. The main character sees logic in what the woman said in the talk and expresses these views to the rest of friends. The friends are opposed to the main characters newly acquired opinions about the treatment of humans.

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Production notes

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If it is a mask how will the facial expressions come across? I will have to have a mask that allows more some facial expressions to come through, mainly the eyes and mouth.

I would like to create a kitchen and dining room, I am going to design this, do a mood board - thinking about production design.

Plot

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Iris is having dinner with her family when they are told that the next day at school there is going to be a talk about human rights. The next at school Iris and the rest of the class attends the talk. She and her friends mock the speaker. Iris is angry and disagrees with what the speaker said, he goes home and complains to during dinner to her family. In the following days and weeks she does some research of her own and starts to see logic in what the speaker talked about regarding human rights. She then has a conversation at lunch time with her peers. They are still mocking the speaker and at this moment Iris starts to think she might change her eating habits. Iris decides to go to become a non-human eater.

Story

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The world is reversed. Animals are humans and vice-versa. Iris, a young student is confronted with the issue of human rights. She questions her upbringing and the world around her, exploring the issue of human rights and how they are used for many animal purposes, food, fashion, entertainment…

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Reference articles:

article about animal rights artists:

http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/23203/1/the-artists-pushing-animal-rights-further

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