POMONA & Artistic PhD Research

This is an initial high-elevation overview of the artistic project for my doctorate. While Pomona is an animationfilm in its own right, it also served as a reflection of the theoretical research conducted in my dissertation.

film synopsis

In this hybrid animated short film, we follow Pomona, a small pink woman who discovers ancient Greek statues in an open space. Initially cautious, she accidentally bumps into a statue of Mars, the god of war. Fascinated by his beauty, she climbs to his shoulder, but slips and grabs onto a prominent aspect to avoid falling. From this new vantage point, Pomona notices more Mars statues and begins exploring them swingingly and with increasing confidence. Her adventure ends abruptly when she misses a connection and falls to the floor. As she gets up, she trips over the broken fragment of the statue which caused her downfall. After contemplating whether to take this as a souvenir, she decides to leave it behind and walks confidently into the light. The film symbolically portrays Pomonas encounter with Western ideals of masculinity and beauty, ultimately showing her rejection of these symbols as she moves forward independently toward her future.

credits

Direction and Animation: Julia Dufek
Composition, Voice & Body percussion: Chamin
Composition, Production & Body Percussion: Sophie Rothbarth
Sound Design & Mix: Fabio Coggiola
Additional Voice: Jens Möhler
Storyboard: Arne Jysch
Editor: Barbara Pollut
VFX Assistant: Laura Madhu Dufek

artistic PhD project snippets

A storyboard excerpt – summarizing one plot version of Pomona.

This Bozzetto was sculpted as a preliminary character-design study in plastelina. The photo is showing an aesthetic casting mishap.

Photogrammetry results seen in different editing stages. For final results, calculation artefacts (black specks) had to be removed and all texture file assiged to their respective geometries (patchwork frames).

A complex animation example, showing the puppet Pomona climbing up a laminated Mars statue stand-in. 

The time-laps shows the photogrammetry system setup in the basement studio ULab46 of the Filmuniversitaet Babelsberg, where the project was realised.

Cookie Consent Banner von Real Cookie Banner