Kari Giberson
Breaking the Cycle
“Blank page. Really big blank page. To be filled with thoughts, ideas, memories, inspirations, sketches, feelings, pictures, poems, melodies, mistakes, mayhem, magic, distractions, failures and provoked passions. Embrace it all.”
This is how I started my first brainstorming exercise for The Senior Reflection, led by Andrew Todhunter. The class was instructed to write continuously for 10 minutes with only one strict guideline: absolutely no hesitation or filtering of thoughts allowed. What resulted was an accurate prediction as to what my TSR journal would be filled with over the ensuing 9 months. Reflecting back over the creative process that led me to my final project, I expected to see a linear progression of thoughts and ideas, each building off of one another and culminating in a final cohesive product. But boy was I wrong. Maybe it was the topic chosen, or maybe my brain prefers non-linear functioning. Either way, the contorted, upside-down, intertwined road I am now able to recognize as my own TSR creative process, is one that I value highly.
The Project
“Breaking the Cycle” is a kinetic typography web video that explores the impact of hookworm, one of the world’s most common infectious diseases. Through the story of a young boy named Obi, we begin to understand the daily impact of hookworm on young children in developing countries. Anemia, stunted growth, diarrhea, and absenteeism in school are just a few of the problems associated with hookworm, in addition to its negative economic and societal repercussions. Luckily, simple solutions exist, including a highly effective antihelmenthic drug, Albendazole, which kills any worms residing in the human body, and the simplest preventative solution: shoes. One of the biggest obstacles facing many infectious diseases is neglect. The science is there, but the attention, funding, and resources to deliver cures and implement prevention methods have yet to catch up. “Breaking the Cycle,” hopes to educate and inspire viewers. Not only will viewers come away with knowledge about one of the most common neglected tropical diseases worldwide, but also will have a unique opportunity to make a tangible difference in a child’s life.
The Issue(s)
It wasn’t until fall quarter of this past year, when I took HumBio 121: “Critical Issues in Child Health,” taught by Dr. Maya Adam, that I began to realize my interest in global health. Each lecture in HumBio 121 focused on a specific topic such as breastfeeding, cultural influences on childhood sleeping behaviors, and ADHD. In addition to exploring all the facets of child health, Professor Adam took care to encompass child health on a global level by presenting issues that, although are not relevant to developed countries like the U.S, are extremely important in developing countries. This class inspired me to take Global Public Health, taught by Dr. Paul Wise this past winter quarter, where I was presented with an overview of the health issues that plague many communities around the world. Diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV as well as issues of food security and water sanitation were taught through thoughtful presentations and conversations with guest lecturers possessing in-field experience.
Knowing that I wanted to do my project on a global health issues, I partnered with Victoria Fischman who also shared my interests. Together we explored the issues of malaria but soon found ourselves drawn to the story of the hookworm life cycle and the impact it has on its unsuspecting victims. Shoes. It was the hook we were looking for. Of course the decision between hookworm and malaria was not simple. I found myself swimming in the research and literature surrounding both diseases and stuck in an internal conflict between the academic and practical halves of my brain. Yes shoes were a logical solution. If the worms can’t make contact with your skin, they can’t get into your body. But the critical portion of my brain couldn’t contain itself. How are we supposed to get shoes to the communities that need them? Aren’t drugs proven to be more effective? Isn’t this more an issue of development rather than health? It took me taking my head out of the books (or away from the screen) to realize that for what Vic and I wanted to do with our project, we needed to switch our mindset to one of action.
The Script
The next step in production, and arguably the hardest, was writing the script. A lot of careful thought went into each component. We chose to convey the story of hookworm through a narrative involving a boy named Obi. Obi, meaning heart in Swahili, is fourteen years old, the age at which hookworm prevalence is at its highest. The narrative follows Obi through a daily routine of walking to school and fetching water from the community well. We hoped to create an accurate depiction of just how easily someone living in a hookworm-infested area could get infected. From a physiological standpoint, I find the hookworm life cycle to be truly fascinating. From soil to the skin to the blood to the heart to the pulmonary circuit to the lungs and then coughed up into the esophagus then swallowed down into the stomach and finally settling in the intestines. Unreal. To be able to fit this cycle into the greater context of the life of an infected individual was a unique task and not something that was covered in my previous human biology courses. The challenge of deciding on our final take home message was settled fairly easily. The correspondent from Shoe4Africa was quick to jump on the proposed opportunity to have their message and efforts be promoted through our web video. We wanted to leave the viewer with a message that even though they’re thousands of miles away from Obi, there’s still a way that they can get involved.
"A different world cannot be built by indifferent people." Horace Mann
The Medium & The Music
Typography is what language looks like. It is essentially the art and technique of type design. Kinetic typography, also known as “moving text,” is an animation technique that combines text and motion. It is a powerful and creative way to add emotion, define a mood and provide emphasis to visual narrative without the use of actual images. In this form, much thought must be put into the treatment of type. The experimentation of different letterforms, sizes, organization, directions and movements paired with an element of musicality, evokes strong emotions. Kinetic typography effectively adds some of the properties of film to that of text. The movement allows a different kind of engagement with the viewer than static text.
A video from the Vancouver Film School on YouTube, claims that, “A good typographer is someone who communicates a point of view with skill and imagination. They make the type taste good.” Existing videos that have informed and inspired our project include “World Hunger – A Billion for a Billion,” “The Girl Effect,” “Elizabeth’s Life,” “Welcome to AIDS,” and “Starbucks RED.” Each video employs kinetic typography to explicitly deliver a message. While each message is moving in its own accord, this specific medium, a short web-video, provides an opportunity for creators to include a powerful element. This element allows the audience to connect with the message in a way that strictly text-based articles cannot provide. This element is music. Music and sound have the power to illuminate ideas and affect and manipulate emotions. The score that we chose to play over our film, “We move lightly” by Dustin O’Halloran, was a piece that we felt complimented our message and contributed to our goal of captivating the audience. The use of simple piano hooks, gentle strings and an almost haunting echo effect fit well with our message and the flow of our script. And now, the final component: the narrator. With much acting experience under the belt, Mary Glen Frederick, brought life to Obi’s story.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.” - Steve Jobs
Connections
The greatest gift I’ve taken from this creative exploration has been the people. Our mentors and TSR professors were excellent resources for our project, but more so they are inspirations for where following your passions can take you. Professor Paul Wise, our academic mentor, has had a tremendous career in global health, taking him all over the world. His compassion for his students is only surpassed by the love he has for his patients, both the children he treats here in the U.S. and in the Guatemalan village where he has been working for over 20 years. Being able to connect with Professor Wise outside the classroom has made me feel that my time here at Stanford was not wasted. The rewarding feeling that came with having an intelligent conversation about complex global health issues with a Professor I highly respect was enough to make the time put into problem sets and studying well worth it. Seamus Harte, our creative mentor, and an aspiring documentarian is finishing up his first year in the MFA Program in Documentary and Film. His energy and presence at our meetings always brought a renewed liveliness to our project, pushing us to think deeper and bigger than we knew we could. Finally, having the opportunity to spend the year with Professors Sue McConnell and Andrew Todhunter exposed me to many new things from the world of work shopping and meditation to the aesthetic power and thoughtfulness within every beautiful photo.
Conclusion
My education at Stanford, particularly this year, has helped me to realize my passion for global public health. I’m grateful for The Senior Reflection because it has allowed me to delve deeper into the complex issues surrounding global health, while simultaneously providing the opportunity to experiment with a previously unfamiliar art form. With music as my usual creative medium, I relish the power of rhythm and words. Kinetic typography, with its added visual element, has allowed me to realize the full potential of combining sound, text, and movement.