This project uses an illusion called an Anaglyph. To properly view this project and its process, please drag the red and blue squares you see above over surfaces that look like the image to the left.
“WILL MY WORDS REACH YOU?” is an animation that builds on the awareness of internet censorship and the rapid consumption of media. This project was created for a class called Speculative Futures, and the intention behind this study is to examine how minimal the attention spans of people are becoming with the trends of using applications such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. These applications, which often provide videos, or “reels,” contribute to how our behaviors and reactions are reflected in our exposure to fake news, as well as misleading media.
This animation also challenges the impacts of censorship and control, as seen in countries like North Korea, where content and culture are bound by political choices and desires.
When viewers watch the animation, they are met with two choices: red or blue gel filters to observe the animation through. Depending on the color, viewers will observe a very uplifting message or a very degrading, harmful spread of words. After observing the animation once, they are told to choose the other color and rewatch the animation, reflecting on how taking a moment to observe and understand can really change your perception of the media you consume.
Creative Process
In the humble beginnings of this project, it started with intentions.
Looking into Anaglyphs, I found the style you see on the right. Very colorful and almost like TV static, it was interesting to look at, and almost everyone I showed it to wanted to know more. However, it was not in the slightest user-friendly without me standing there to show people how it worked. I was also reminded very quickly of how colors can be harmful to usability, as my professor for the class I was presenting this project to was actually colorblind.
I was also still using 3D glasses at this point, but the illusion is useless if you have to explain that users must close one eye to observe it. So I decided to move on to gel filters in the respective red and blue.
when observed using the red filter
The biggest issue with this colorful form of anaglyph is that, in this instance, it is only readable diagonally. Truly not an ideal way to present a ton of words, let alone a statement.
So for my first presentation of this newfound concept, I used my skills in Photoshop and one of my headshots, and played around with the orientation of words. I’d argue that it works, and the effect and presentation overall are good, but if something is going to tell a story, the readers must be able to read it without hesitation.
While looking online for new ways to explore anaglyphs, I ran into a few images that contained only red and blue lettering. And using the 3D glasses I had on hand from the prior experiment, I was able to see that this form was readable and could contain two very different words. This is the form of anaglyph you see in the WILL MY WORDS REACH YOU? video.
However, before I came up with the first rendition of the video, I wanted to play around a bit and see what people thought, so I created some interesting statements that came from my own thoughts, and hung them around the Wheatley Center on Robert Morris’s Campus. And I explored the idea of turning them into Lenticular Prints, as advised by my professor in my animation class – as two frames still count as an animation!
Project Renditions
At this stage, the project was getting into the part where I finally developed the video concept and content. I was deeply inspired by two classes I had, which also had professors who were good friends, bouncing ideas back and forth with each other on how I could tie the project into meeting the requirements for both courses: creating an interactive animation and a project that challenges our thoughts about the future.
I completed the requirements proudly, and must admit that WILL MY WORDS REACH YOU? is one of my favorite projects to present people with for simple interactivity. Having something unexpected, with such meaning that we all can understand and relate to, is at the heart of this project’s development.