I hereby certify that the final project entitled Chuppi: Animated Short Film about a Child Sexual Abuse Victim, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Master of Design, is a record of my own work carried out under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Deepak John Mathew, Professor and Head, Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. The question presented in this final project has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of any other degree. It is my immense pleasure and privilege to express my sincere greetings and gratitude to my guide and head of the department, Department of Design, Dr.
Deepak John Mathew for his valuable input, guidance, encouragement, sincere cooperation and constructive criticism throughout the duration of my final project. Delwyn Remedios for his guidance on the filmmaking, visual design and animation aspect of the final project. This is a project report for the animated short film Chuppi: Animated Short Film about a Victim of Child Sexual Abuse, submitted as a final project in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Master of Design from the Department of Design, Indian Institute of Design . Technology Hyderabad.
The film is my voice to tell people that it is important to talk about child sexual abuse.
Introduction
What is Child Sexual Abuse?
Statistics of CSA: World Reports
Under the law in most nations, CSA is often used as an umbrella term that defines criminal and civil offenses in which an adult engages in any form of sexual activity with a minor or if an adult exploits a minor for sexual satisfaction.
Statistics of CSA: Indian Reports
The word pedophile is commonly used indiscriminately for anyone who sexually abuses a child, but all child sexual abusers are not fundamentally pedophiles unless they only have a strong sexual interest in prepubertal children. Celebrities who shared #metoo for CSA included Ashley Judd when she was 15, Barkha Dutt when she was 9, Orpha Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Laura Dern, Tahira Kashyap, Kalki Koechlin and Radhika Apte. After the wave of the me-too movement, people became more open to discussing CSA and started sharing their stories on social media.
In her article “I Write 'Me Too' So My Kids Don't Have To,” Colleen Temple says, “I can't let them grow up in a world where they fear men. I don't want them to grow up in a world where they feel like they have to let inappropriate behavior slide because "that's the way the world works." I cannot allow a "boys will be boys" mentality to exist in our world. I don't want them to ever feel like they have to use their looks to get ahead — I want them to understand the beauty of their intelligence, their creativity, their imagination.”
Literature Study
- The Perfection, Netflix Film Richard Shepard
- Kahaani 2, Bollywood Film by Sujoy Ghosh
- Highway, Bollywood Film by Imtiaz Ali
- Satyamev Jayate, Season 1 Episode 2, “Child Sexual Abuse”
We see the focus on extra-familial SM in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with warnings that as a result less attention could be paid to the abuse of children within families. Sexual abuse can cause both short- and long-term physical and emotional damage to children. In the short term, children may face health problems such as sexually transmitted infections, physical injuries and unwanted pregnancies[35].
In the long term, people who have been sexually abused are more likely to develop depression, anxiety, eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the film, Durga, played by Vidya Balan, who works as a clerk in the school, discovers that a girl named Minnie Dewan (Naisha) was always punished in school for sleeping through the night. Just a day before her wedding, she goes out with her fiancé Vinay, whom she does not love, and is kidnapped at a highway gas station, while her fiancé sits anxiously in the car.
The gang that panics when they learn that her father has many connections in the government.
Primary Data Collection
Online Questionnaire
Personal Interview
Collection of Stories
- Story 1
- Story 2
- Story 3
- Story 4
- Story 5
We used to sit on the floor of the village school and he used to come and stand next to us during class hours and shove his feet under our skirts and do all inhuman things. I didn't realize what he was doing and what the other girls thought about it. It looked like he didn't have a place to stand, so he came closer.
At that age I didn't know about all this and I was afraid of him, so I didn't tell my parents. But facing that man at weddings, fake smiling and hiding tears broke me. Every night I cried and every morning I faked a smile so that my parents would be in pain."
My parents sent me for private lessons to a teacher who touched me in absurd ways during the lesson. At first, she didn't believe me and said he might just be expressing love, but I refused to go for that lesson. The next year, my cousin went to the same teacher and he came to me the next day asking what was the reason for dropping out.
When we all friends meet, we still talk about it and plan to take a revenge, the teacher still lives in same house with his family, may be someday”. I told my sister about it but couldn’t muster the courage to tell my parents as this uncle was very respected in the family. Secondly, I didn’t want the family to gossip about it although I made sure that I never let this man come close to me ever again.”.
Development of script
Storyboard
Timing and Dope Sheet
Production
- Narration
- Visual Treatment
- Tri-color digital format
- Digitally Drawn Wax Crayon Drawing
- Digital Abstract Illustration
- Bi-Chromatic Illustration
- Monochromatic Art
- Crayon Drawings in Toddler’s Style
- Abstract Shapes as character
- Abstract form as Body Shape
- Character Development Process
- Author’s Drawing
- Getting kids to draw characters for the film
- Collected Drawings from various means
- Character Development
- Protagonist
- Antagonists
- Side Characters
- Backgrounds
- Cell Production
This style was developed to keep the visuals and context gender neutral, but give the character a lifelike feel. Made with reference from Toddler's Drawing available online after the visual treatment was completed. The author decided to take references from children's and draw characters for the film, and it did not work out, and the drawings did not have the impact as expected.
Post Production Process
Frame Setting and Animation
Sound Design
They ignited the elephant in the room and created platforms for people to discuss issues and provide food for thought. In the process of pursuing M.Design from Department of Design, IIT Hyderabad, I met many people who were experts in the field of music, art, photography and many more - interacting with people from different streams be it professors. , Industry experts, or my friends, enriched my pool of knowledge and experience. All forms of child sexual exploitation are egregious human rights violations and worldwide public health problems.
The project with film as a medium of expression illustrated that 'converse', 'care', 'confrontation', 'coping' and 'culture' all play an important role together. 34;The NSPCC's Protect & Respect Child Sexual Exploitation Program: A Discussion of Key Findings from Program Implementation and Service Use" (PDF). 34;Evaluation of the Protect & Respect Child Sexual Exploitation Program NSPCC Child Exploitation" (PDF) ).
What is #metoo | India and law to handle sexual .. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbrJyx5ZbeQ. Prevalence of child abuse in the Netherlands. 2003) 'Prevalence and psychological consequences of self-reported childhood physical and sexual abuse in a general population sample of males and females'. http://www.johnbriere.com/CAN%20csa%20cpa.pdf. 2011) 'A global perspective on child sexual abuse: meta-analysis of prevalence around the world'. 2009a) 'The prevalence of child sexual abuse in community and student samples: a meta-analysis'. Available at: http://www.brown.uk.com/childabuse/gilbert.pdf Some methodological problems in estimating. incidence and prevalence in research on sexual abuse of children'. 1994b) 'Current information on the extent and nature of child sexual abuse'.
H (1953) Sexual behavior in human females. 1956) 'Experiences of 500 children with adult sexual difficulties'. 2001) Child sexual abuse: its purpose our failure. 1977) "Father-Daughter Incest: A Feminist Theoretical Perspective". http://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=herman+father+daughter+incest&filter=ii d: 3A10.2307%2Fi358854&Search=Search&wc=on. 2008) "Gender differences in silence following childhood sexual abuse". H (2000) "University students' reactions to male analogue disclosure of sexual abuse". 2010) "Sex differences in characteristics of childhood sexual abuse and victims' emotional and behavioral problems: findings from a national sample of youth." http://www.journals.elsevier.com/child-abuse-and-neglect/#description. validation of reports of child protection services". eds.).
The costs and consequences of child abuse: literature review for the NSPCC. http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/findings/costs_and_consequences_pdf_wdf88910.p df. 1990) 'Early and long-term effects of child sexual abuse: an update'. 2010) 'Sex differences in characteristics of childhood sexual abuse and victims' emotional and behavioral problems: findings from a national sample of youth'. http://www.journals.elsevier.com/child-abuse-and-neglect/#description. 2010) 'Distinct and Cumulative Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Predicting Adult Health and Health Care Use'. Parliament passes bill to protect children from sexual abuse.” https://www.mother.ly/life/i-am-writing-me-too-so-my-children-dont-have-to.
Film Package
Learnings
Films that will question the stigma surrounding specific situations, people and culture, which still exists in our society. One of the most important learnings from the process of making this film was learning the art of getting people to talk about their deeply dark childhoods. Technical demands of making a hand-drawn animation served to teach me how to be patient with the project.
The filmmaking aspect of the project changed my perspective on watching, observing and appreciating a film. Two years of experience in IIT Hyderabad among inspiring and motivating people helped me significantly in making this film. This film will always be close to my heart and I'm glad I got out of my comfort zone to complete it.
It was a challenging project that also inspired me to keep making movies to bring change in our society.
Conclusion
Appendix
- List of Apparatus
- Weblink to Thesis Documents
- Weblink to Reference Films
- Children’s Drawing
- Online Questionnaire
- Personal Questionnaire
Could/Did you tell someone about it later (after growing up) (especially your parents).
