The Language of Silence (Copy)
Immersive experience in a Pakistani Beauty Salon, where women share their “secrets”
ROLE
Design Lead
CORE TEAM
Amena Hayat - Director
Ali Ameen - Design Technologist
Heder Hayat - Design Technologist
In Pakistan, the world’s first Islamic nation to appoint a female head of state, only 13 percent of girls are still in school by ninth grade.
The Language of Silence is a mixed reality documentary that reveals stories of real Pakistani women across different socio-economic classes and education levels, who are victims of gender disparity in the country. The project is still under production.
The project was selected by CPH:LAB and UN Women Global Voices VR Film Festival.
Background
The status of gender injustice among Pakistani society differs significantly by community. As a result of this power imbalance that began with education or lack thereof, rampant domestic abuse and a high rate of child marriages and forced marriages still remain. Young girls are forcibly married off to resolve the feuds between different clans. There are 1000 honor killings, 400 acid attacks a year, while punishments meted out to the murderers are very lenient. It is important to note that a vast majority of crimes are never reported. Voicing all this is not safe, however, and silence is the norm.
Define Project Success
The project aims to collect stories, anonymously, from women across multiple sects in Pakistani society, who wanted to share them, as themselves or through an actor.
The goal of the project is to
form a strong community where people share similar experiences can support each other.
be shown in schools and educational institutions in Pakistan.
get selected by documentary/immersive media festivals to increase topic’s exposure.
collect donations to help non-profit organizations in Pakistan.
We hope this project will help educate, enlighten, and empower audiences about intersectional feminism, the terror caused by honor narratives in developing countries, and the effects of poverty on gender discrimination. We also hope the project can financially help organizations who are fighting gender injustice in developing countries.
Design Principles
01Anonymous Story Collection
Due to the sensitive nature of the stories, it is essential to protect people’s identity.
02Balanced Power Dynamic
To explore and interact in the experience, players need to acquire permission from characters. The power dynamic between the player and the characters must be well balanced.
03Dynamic User Journey
Build lighter moments into a segmented structure in a heavy experience. This gives the player time to pause, to shake off sadness.
04Present a Solusion, Not Just Nightmares
Rather than merely presenting other people's nightmares, we expect this project to be more educational and help the audience to understand the solution we are proposing - education.
Experience Flowchart
Story Example
The story of the hymen reconstruction surgery of a bride who has her wedding that same day
We would like for the user to feel what she felt from her point of view, to let them witness what led to her surgery: the cultural influences, the parental controls, the dinner date with her fiance who demanded her be a virgin, and what the doctor had to say about it.
Design Details
The project is currently under production and on pause due to the global pandemic, but here are some of the design details that were/will be executed.
Part of the pre-VR experience & marketing content is Pakistani girls describing their dreams and how they picture their future.
Use actresses to protect women’s identities.
A conversation(Interaction) starts when a character reaches out to the player instead of being picked by the player.
Each woman’s memory has a unique visual style.
Little girls are playing and waiting in the beauty salon in the VR experience.
Story Collection
Ideation
After I joined the team in the summer of 2019, we kept looking for ways to enhance the experience, to present not just nightmares but instead an inspiring experience and potential solutions.
In August 2019, Language of Silence VR got selected for CPH:DOX's talent development program, CPH:LAB, held in Copenhagen in September 2019, spearheaded by Head of Studies Mark Atkin and mentors including Vassiliki Khonsari (founder of iNK Stories), Annette Mees and Phil Harper.
At the lab, the team was able to brainstorm, prototype, and get feedback from professionals in the field. Eventually, we landed on the beauty salon idea for the VR experience.
Iteration and User tests
Distribution Plan
For audience outside of Pakistan (primarily U.S., Europe)
VR Experience that allows users to walk around, targeting immersive film/documentary festivals
For audience inside of Pakistan
Website / Mobile VR, targeting education institutions
More About My Role
Work with the director to come up with visual styles, narratives and user experience, pitch to potential funders
Lead the creative team to experiment and execute the design
What have I learned?
How to work with an international team with team members located in different continents - clear schedule and timeline, clear communication methods, weekly catchup calls, and preferable time blocks of working together as a team…
Balance scope, cost, and time - understand the priority and always refer back to the goal and objectives.
Be aware of the resources in the community.
