‘Chipper’ is a project I worked on in my fourth year of University that was pitched and directed by Jo Helly. It is an exploration of the AFAB experience, particularly within the Customer Service role. Jo was wanting to use lots of strange angles and distorted shots to convey these feelings and themes, so I kept that in mind when boarding.
The main goal was to create something really unsettling. A lot of these concepts were heavily influenced by my own personal fears and experiences. Such as intense staring, chewing noises, and that one pig transformation from Spirited Away that I could have sworn they showed us on screen…
Also, my own terrible eyesight. I think you can see where that came into play!
Other aspects were more influenced by suggestions from the rest of the group, such as having the man morph into a rat in some scenes, or like how the posters shift into rat images when he comes in. Having the manager talk over the establishing shots to really hammer home she’s alone also came from talks within the group.
In the end, I really like how it came out! Hopefully you find it unsettling too!
