From the 25th to the 27th of November, Comexposed held their 6th annual edition of Converge, Zimbabwe’s biggest Digital Arts Convention.
This year Converge happened entirely online and featured workshops, panels and discussions from leading artists in Zimbabwe and Africa such as Eugene Mapondera (Sigma Digital Studio, Comexposed), Pious Nyenyewa, (Alula Studio), Jide Martin (Comic Republic) and Blahtee Muchemwa (Blah Entertainment).
But, the real highlight of the entire event was a behind the scenes look at an upcoming immersive, VR film created by Comexposed in collaboration with UK studio, Slurpy Studios called The Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk.
The Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk
The Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk is a VR short film that follows the story of two sentries named Monyo and Minyi who are resident in two warring nations. After a chance encounter in the outlying woods of their land, Monyo and Minyi are joined together by a poisonous leech that begins draining them of their colour. The two sentries are then forced to make a decision that could decide the fate of their lives and nations.
The short film, although animated, is far from childish and sets out to not only entertain but also to enlighten all viewers. The Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk asks profound questions of society concerning racial division and age-old traditions rooted in hatred, whilst also endeavouring to remind us that at the end of the day, despite our differences, we are all connected by our humanity.
The Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk project came into being after Comexposed responded to a Sub-Saharan Africa FestivalConnect Fund call made by British Council.
The Sub-Saharan Africa FestivalConnect Fund was made open to select festivals within Sub-Saharan-Africa and the United Kingdom and set out to foster collaboration and co-programming of artistic work between festivals from both regions. Creatives from the two regions were required to work together on a project that would appeal to people of the 18 to 35 age range and that would be featured at a festival in the United Kingdom and Southern Africa.
Looking to venture into a field different from their usual traditional animation and comic art, Comexposed applied for the grant, seeing it as a great opportunity to explore the interactive, Virtual Reality, mediums of storytelling they had become increasingly interested in.
With years of experience in creating and promoting innovative and engaging content aimed primarily at the youth and having already established connections with a UK creative, Katie Steed (Creative Director of Slurpy Studios) way back in 2014, as well as a festival partner in Chichester International film festival it wasn’t hard for Comexposed to secure funding and start gathering the production team.
This team comprised of Keith Kuhudzai as Executive Producer and Eugene Mapondera as Lead Animator and Creative director, Katie Steed as Director and Aaron Wood as the Producer. Comexposed also enlisted the help of UK artist, Will Hurt as VR Designer and Technical Director, who had previously worked with them on DigiPoems, a project commission by British Council in 2019.
The rest of the team included Zimbabwean Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Animator Tanyaradzwa P. Njerere as Animator and Key artist, aspiring writer Matinatsashe Hove as screenplay writer and Music Producer, Innocent Masamba as Composer.
With the team established, work quickly began on the short film. Production schedules were made and the team pressed forward, focusing first on script development and then moving on to the creation of the storyboards/animatics, character and concept design and building the virtual reality and incorporating sound and music.
Throughout the production of The Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk, the team ensured that themes and ideas relevant to audiences in both the UK and Zimbabwe were incorporated, to showcase the ways in which cultures in the two different continents can interweave and connect.
Aspects of the African and Western were included in the character and concept design, which drew inspiration from the work of Western, Disney concept artist, Mary Blur, whilst also making use of the bright African colours and chevron design found in South African and Zimbabwean art and architecture. The music production team also managed to merge elements of Zimbabwean music and Western music within the film’s score.
The Challenges
Work on the Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk short film moved steadily however, challenges did arise in trying to create a story along with music, animatics and storyboards that were compatible with an immersive 3D environment, especially with most of the team being more familiar with traditional forms of storytelling and film making. As a result, much of the work had to be revised and edited; a long iterative process that was made even more complicated after work was disrupted by the worldwide outbreak of COVID 19 resulting the nationwide lockdowns in late March2020. This also meant that the showcasing of the film at the festivals in 2020 as originally planned could not take place resulting in postponement to 2021
However, the team did not let this deter them and pushed on resiliently, making use of project management tools such as Slack and Zoom to communicate and keep work going as the teams had to work remotely completely. While the original deadlines could not be met because of the disruptions, the team’s hard work and progress was packaged into a vivid and engaging teaser trailer which was showcased at the 2020 Online Edition of Comexposed’ s Converge event.
The trailer is available to view here https://fb.watch/2hA-WIdEzz/
In the words of the director, Katie Steed the making of the Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk short film was quite the “learning process” as VR was a new venture for the entire team. Each member of the team was pushed out of their comfort zones and challenged to step out from the norm and broaden their creative perspectives.
Whilst some members of the team honestly declared they would not venture into VR again, others, such as Eugene Ramirez Mapondera, admitted that Virtual Reality is a form of media he would explore again, jokingly attributing his interest in doing so to his stubbornness but also to the fact that there is always more to be learned, as Master Yi of League of Legends says “The greatest master is the eternal student.”
So, who knows? They might just be more Virtual Reality projects from Comexposed on the horizon. Fans will have to keep their eyes peeled and ears open. But for now, Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk is most definitely a great first venture and if the trailer is anything to go by, viewers are in for a treat when the film is released in 2021.
The Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk short film is still in its production stages but audiences can look forward to seeing the full film at the Chichester International Film Festival which will be held in the UK and at Zimbabwe’s ComicCon event Converge in 2021.
To find out more about the making of the Idea Bridge: Spirit Walk immersive VR short film checkout this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9XD1J6LrKI