Syncytium
Three generations, One family
THE SYNOPSIS
Lerato (protagonist) is the third generation in her family, branching from her grandmother who is traditional, to her mother who is religious, then her who is stuck in between. As a young descendent in the black communities you are subject to obeying and never to question your elders whether right or wrong. Lerato was forced by her grandmother and mother to pick between them. This created internal conflict within lerato, draining her physically and emotionally. Till she ruptured and smashed bother their forces together, breaking the grungy layers of hostility. Evoking a life she deserves, and what was lost and buried over the years, an unconditional love a family once had.
Trailer
Director/Animator/Writer
The director/animator/writer, this was my first time doing all three at once. It was scary not having experience in directing with my AFDA peers, but I stuck it through because that is what I really wanted. I could have gotten one of the directors to do it for me but it was going to be unnecessary. I have had some experience with directing outside of college with a group of friends who did video clips and skits. So I was not completely useless, if that failed my producer used to take directing so I would have asked him for some basic pointers. Also I direct my animation characters I think that also counts (banter). To talk about the experience, I enjoyed the live action bit even though a lot of organizing went into it. I never would have pulled it together without everybody’s support and cooperation, especially my producer Matthew, he had my back hard and he is really great at what he does. Things I would have changed were the flat batteries, that would have saved time and everybody could have been set free early. Yeah that is all about it that I would have changed, everything else went accordingly. What made me do live action spliced with animation? Uhm, I don’t know I guess it’s our final year and I just wanted to experiment before I was done with doing whatever I liked. Also I think that combination is really intriguing and a great challenge I was keen for. I suppose also I did not want to depend on one medium in case it did not pull through (MAYA). There were a few problems in our first semester MAYA just did not want to work with us, so I had to have a contingency plan of some sort but with perseverance MAYA was concurred and there is a great project to tell the tale. Would I ever do live action again? Yes I would, but not a full on live action film, took much work. Would I leave animation for live action? I think my previous statement would answer that, nope not at all. I am an artist, animation allows me to create it, with character and world modelling, and the twist is I also get to bring them to life that is pretty cool. I am truly grateful for the exposure, the people I have met, worked with and the experiences I have been open too, since I began my life at AFDA, I look forward to using my skills to change, challenge and evolve the world.
Naomi Gumede
Thanks
To everyone who worked and helped this baby come alive, greatly appreciated. Your names will surely be printed on the credits and my heart!
God speed to all.
Sign The Animator
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