Liberation Through Hearing

EVENT: IN-PROCESSING ANIMATION WITH LIVE SOUND PERFORMANCE: LIBERATION THROUGH HEARING

IN-PROCESSING ANIMATION WITH LIVE SOUND PERFORMANCE: LIBERATION THROUGH HEARING occurred at 6 pm. – 8 pm. on Saturday 20^th March 2021 @ The Yard Hostel Bangkok

Organised by Graphy Animation

Event Schedule

18:00 Registration

19:00 In-processing Animation with Live Sound Performance: Liberation Through Hearing (15 Minutes)

20:00 Silent auction and the event closed

Why do we make this event?

We (Thanut Rujitanont and Siwat Visuthirungsiuri, founders of Graphy Animation) decided to make this event while our animated short film “Rose Rash” is getting close to the end of the production. We thought that we should use this time to do something with the animation before it will be in the post-production stage and fully completed afterwards.

In the past few years, we have been talking a lot about the conditions and the convention of animation that many animation makers in Thailand have. We think animations in Thailand, especially in Thai animation industry, have had less and less freedom to express themselves. The influence of successful animation studio models that Thais have seen from aboard have much impacts on our perspective of making animation and it somehow limits the potential of animation in Thailand. Here we have no absolute answers and no rights to tell anyone what animations in Thailand should be, but we believe every animation maker should find their own way to create their works without necessity of sticking on anyone’s model.

One of our intentions to make this event is to bring our unfinished animation project, or to be better called as in-processing project, to audiences with hope that sharing the animation’s rough sketches, uncompleted backgrounds and characters that sometimes move but sometimes do not move to completed shots with improvised editing on screen will give some more breath for animation makers. Exploration and experimentation with caring less about the outcome can help animation makers, creators who always need to work with lots of strict mediums, find their own way. Another our intention is to let the attendees in the event who normally watch animations in theatre can undergo an unfamiliar experience that they have not had much chance in Thailand.

Besides, this event is also a good opportunity to let the animation meets people, to explore the animation’s images and sounds through live animation with sound performance and, moreover, to develop this animation project with all attendees as if everyone is helping bringing life to this animation.

In-Processing of Rose Rash, an animated short film

Rose Rash, an approximate twelve-minute animated short film directed by Thanut Rujitanont.

On 25^th July 2018 I attended a seminar named “Movies that Matter” organized by Amnesty International Thailand at G Village in Bangkok. After the seminar I have started to think about making an animation project related to what I am curious and interested in from the event. It took me about six months working on and off making the first-version animation proposal and shaped what I am going to do with the project. In February 2019, I submitted the project to the Résidence de l’Enclume at Brussels, Belgium. In August to September 2019, I had been working on Rose Rash’s pre-production at I’Enclume Studio. With the residence support, I, later on, got a quite complete pre-production that I can make a proper animation proposal. The animation’s production was begun in January 2020 in Japan with the support of Project to Emerging Media Arts Creators, a three-month artist residency programme. However, due to the Covid-19 I needed to fly back about a week before the end of the residency and working on the remained production until now. I also would like to thank you Momo Film Co from Singapore that supported a small funding for the project after we e-meted in the end of 2020.

Live Sound Performance by Beam Wong

While I have been working on Rose Rash’s production, I, somehow, contacted Beam Wong my high school friend to ask him for working on my animation’s sound. Even we have not met each other since high school, I have met him through his short films in film festivals and in a screening programme at Reading Room once. After we met and talked about life and my animation project at BACC, Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, we decided to try to work together on the project.

We went along with the idea that In-Processing Animation with Live Sound Performance is a nice shot to try exploring and experimenting how my images and Beam’s sound can be combined. This event seemed like a pre-work before the post-production begin.

What is “Liberation Through Hearing”?

“Liberation Through Hearing During the intermediate state” is an English meaning of “Bardo Thodol”. In Tibetan, Bardo means a state of existence between death and rebirth, an intermediate state, a transitional state or an in-between state. Thodol means liberation through hearing. I first knew them from “Tibetan book of the dead” the book I read during developing the project. There are many elements in my animation that I got inspired and borrows from the text. The original text describes, and is intended to guide anyone through, the experiences that the consciousness has after death, in the bardo. By some means, I feel like we have been living in the state of Bardo at the moment and if we can attain it, we will be free but if we are still unconscious and blind to the stage we are in, we will stay in this stage forever, a stage of Bardo.

Zones in the event

We intend to create spaces that all attendees can enjoy and see the animation in different forms not just the animation on the screen. The spaces can be divided into two areas: outdoor and indoor.

Outdoor area

In the small garden, there are bean bags, matts, folding chairs and wooden chairs that attendees can sit and feel free to talk while waiting for the screening. We also have Soft Waffle, a type of Thai dessert, with different flavours from Tokyo Hot provided for all attendees.

Screening Zone

At 7 pm., the attendees can see the live sound performance that is being performed simultaneously along with the animation on the screen.

Indoor area

There is a little room at the first floor in the garden area that we intend to let the attendees come in and spend time in the room. We separate the space into four zones.

A Glimpse of Rose Rash Zone

In this zone, we present a pile of watercolour papers that forms the animation with a corkboard displaying the animation’s sketches.

Animation Making Zone

There is a table that we put two portable light boxes, a hole puncher, papers and colour pencils that used for making this animation. We would like to invite the attendees sit and try to draw anything they would like here.

Silent Auction Zone

At the middle of the room, there are eleven original watercolour paintings that Thanut drew for the Rose Rash placed on the tables with a bid sheet each. We intend to invite anyone who would like to bring the paintings back home place bids on silently and anonymously. The starting bid is 0 Baht and the minimum bid is 50 Baht. We think the price is assessable that everyone can try and enjoy.

Mini-Library Zone

While Thanut develops the Rose Rash, there are lots of influences on the way. Books are one of them. So, we intend to let people freely pick and read those books.

We would like to thank you mutual+ Team to capture our memorable night.