Bird

Synopsis

The girl suffers from a feeling of great discomfort that comes without warning, like an uncontrollable disaster. When the panic is accompanied by a flapping of wings, a chaotic, dissociated journey into her unconsciousness begins. The film is based on concepts of panic attack and ornithophobia. Through materializing the feelings of people who suffer from panic attack and ornithophobia, the director aim to discuss the core issues of fear, life and death. The film is a collaborative project with the Wellcome Collection. The Wellcome Collection is a famous museum based in London, where displays a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring ideas about medicine and art. The animation techniques in the film contain computer animation, object animation, stop motion animation, and multiple experimental artistic practice, such like cotton, beads, acrylic, and celluloid.

Artist Profile

Wu-Ching Chang

Born in Taiwan, Wu-Ching Chang is an animation director, illustrator, and concept artist who earned MA. Animation at Royal College of Art in the UK and BFA in New Media Art at the Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan. She is the founder of Aco Creative Studio. She has worked on commercial and independent animation, illustration, and game concept arts since 2014. The clients include Channel Four and Tiger Party New York. She had worked as the concept artist and cinematic artist for the game Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition. She creates animated short films by exploring personal experiences and female issues. Her films are often based on cultural context by doing interviews and research in the pre-production stage. Except for 2D animation with hand-painted texture, her films contain multiple experimental practices, such as animating with eggs. Through visual art, she tells stories about life. Her animated short film ' My Grandmother Is an Egg' won the Jury Special Mention Award at Women Make Waves Film Festival, and is officially selected at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, and was exhibited at Ars Electronica. Her animated short film 'Bird' won Hand-Painted Animated Shorts Award at Palm Springs Int. Animation Festival and Best Animation Short Award at Halicarnassus Film Festival. ‘Bird’ is officially selected at Norwich Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, and Bengaluru International Short Film Festival. Her experimental short film ’The Impermanent Sea’ won Best Multimedia Film Award at Global India International Film Festival. Her animated short film 'Mother' won Quality Award at T. Creativity Award and Best Visual Effects Award at 4C Digital Content Awards.

Credits

Producer	Wu-Ching Chang
Director	Wu- Ching Chang
Writer	Wu-Ching Chang
D.O.P	Wu-Ching Chang
Sound Mixer	Mike Wyeld, Oliver Buckland
German Translator	Lin-you Xie

Director's Statement

Chang creates animation by exploring her own experience.

Chang tries to reflect the issue of life, death and fear. Trying to be true to the panic attach and Ornithophobia, the film is done by doing interviews and research in the pre-production stage.