RMIT Digital Media students utilising their expertise to address human trafficking

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RMIT Digital Media students utilising their expertise to address human trafficking

Nine animated pilots produced by RMIT Bachelor of Design (Digital Media) students in collaboration with Alliance Anti-Trafic (AAT) have aided the NGO in providing preventive education for vulnerable groups, especially female and young girls.

Built on the concept of solidarity, AAT has combatted sexual exploitation in all forms since 2001. Its battle is heavily relied on a chain of support where the more experienced help the less experienced, and “it is where RMIT Digital Media students can give a helping hand while mastering their knowledge and skills in producing animation”, said RMIT Program Manager for Digital Media and Associate Lecturer of Animation, Mr Ricardo Arce-López.

“Thanks to the relationship that one of our lecturers, Dr Hellmut Monz, previously has had with AAT, we connected with the NGO and through discussions, we think from the digital media perspective we can propose many solutions in different formats for the problems they are facing,” he said.

“The content of the animation was derived from AAT's educational materials.

“Students had to do research about their audience, demographic, platform, potential method of storytelling, and decided on the style of the animation that best delivered their intention and content.”

After a course of 12-week long from the first meeting to ideation, visual development respectively, students finally presented their ideas for the plot, storytelling and visual development at a presentation with the attendance of representatives from AAT and their lecturers.

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Founder and CEO of Alliance Anti-Trafic Georges Blanchard (man in orange) gave feedback to students during the final presentation.

AAT founder and CEO Georges Blanchard was so pleased with the final products.

“The student works are great,” he said.

“I respect each and every one of them, and if I have to choose, I want to choose all of them [to showcase on our channels].

“It’s also a great opportunity to involve Vietnamese students to help them be more aware of current issues here in their country and to be more proactive.”

Mr Arce-López, who walked with the students along the process, was proud of the results and praised them for their resilience, courage and creativity.

“Overall, the students have grown and thrown themselves into the process,” he said.

“It was not easy, but every team managed to produce a solution and develop their own voices.

“There were many obstacles along the way, some students worked alone but none of them quit by the end of the course.”

The three outstanding projects that were selected to showcase on AAT channels are Daisy, Dear Amy and Forget Me Not.

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Daisy by team Retro Flies, including Tran Thanh Uyen, Le Gia Han, Tran Quynh Nhi and Nguyen Vo Trong Nhan

Produced by the Retro Flies team of four students Tran Thanh Uyen, Le Gia Han, Tran Quynh Nhi and Nguyen Vo Trong Nhan, Daisy is a mini-series of 10 of 5-minute comedy drama using 2D hand-drawn and digital cut-out from processed images and 3D objects to tell a story of a resourceful and smart flower called Daisy in a Vietnamese garden who goes through everyday struggles to grow up and learn about life.

While keeping it simple so that kids of any nationality and ages can understand without dubbing, the team also embedded a touch of local context through its background of typical Vietnamese balconies and the recording of the cries of street food vendors.

“Animations like Daisy can convey difficult messages in both engaging and informative ways,” said Retro Flies team. “A touch of humour can easily break down taboos around social issues.”

“The team really nailed it,” Mr Arce-López said. “They delivered the empowerment message beautifully with the main character growing though the interactions she has had with the others.”

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Dear Amy by Vu To Thuy Hien

Using the same techniques as Retro Flies to target 15- to 18-year-old teenagers, the creator of Dear Amy, Vu To Thuy Hien chose to tell a story about a shy girl who grows through the interaction she has had with her future self.

And so did Hien over the span of 12 weeks.

“Hien has grown significantly since the first day of the course,” Mr Arce-López proudly said. “Working on a project alone was not easy but Hien successfully produced a complex animation with an empowered message.”

Always loving animation and how it can tell a story in such a way that no other media can, Hien “would love to see the animation industry in Vietnam thrive with more shows that spread positive messages like how Dear Amy did”.

“And if possible, I'd love to take part in creating it when that happens,” she said.

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Forget Me Not by Minki Jin

Using experimental animation created in claymation style design, Forget Me Not by Minki Jin successfully addressed the seriousness of child abuse and human exploitation in a more approachable way.

“Since the AAT representatives said that they didn’t want something too sensitive in visual, I had to carefully consider the background elements that convey grotesqueness and disgust to an extent that viewers would find enjoyable,” Minki shared one of the countless challenges he faced, like other students who have undertaken the Episodic Animation course experienced, which could turn into learning opportunities.

Working on a project of this magnitude in only 12 weeks gave students a chance to learn about time management, budgeting, collaboration, and various animation techniques.

“The opportunity to collaborate with AAT also widened our knowledge of the importance of their works as well as inspired us greatly about what our works can contribute to the betterment of our community,” team Retro Flies said.

Story: Ha Hoang

Campus and community

Communication and design

29 August 2023

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