Objective:
– To educate people on how vaccines are made, patented, and distributed
– To raise awareness of how patents play a detrimental role in access to vaccine
– To spark dialogue around these issues with the public
The Project:
“I’m Just a Vaccine” is a parody of School House Rock’s classic video “I’m Just a Bill’’ from 1976. The animation features a vaccine and a kid having a conversation about the vaccine pipeline and how the Covid-19 vaccine is still inaccessible to much of the world because of restrictive licensing and patents. The video directs viewers to a platform on the Free the Vaccine website that showcases past instances where patents were not enforced on heath (and other) technologies and aims to spark dialogue on these issues.
TRY THIS:
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
What worked?
The video went viral! In less than 24 hours, the video got 100K+ views on Facebook via Occupy Democrats.
The video worked really well because it’s based on an iconic video with an easily identifiable style and contains accessible language about a very complex issue that empowers everyday people to engage with this pressing issue.
-
Original files can be provided for exhibition
Links:
Reflections from Heloise Widdig
What was the process/journey of creating this work?
Daria originally came up with the idea in the Funify R&D squad and we just rolled with it! After discussing the objective of the video and the messages we wanted to get across, Dannie and Heloise formulated the script. We changed the words to get the right messages across while cutting down on the length and still keeping the structure similar to the original. Meanwhile, Daria was the mastermind behind the animation. While staying true to the iconic style of the original, she developed unique characters and setting for the video. After the first draft of the video was completed, Dannie and an actor, Eamon Kinsman, did the voiceover for the kid and the vaccine. In the final weeks before the launch date, Dannie and Heloise created a social media plan for the video’s launch.
What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?
A combination of Daria’s fabulous animating skills, Dannie’s tremendous organizing, writing, and voice-over skills, and Heloise’s writing and support, gave us the foundation necessary to create a successful video and have a great launch.
What were some of the responses to this work?
1.4k likes on Facebook in less than 24 hours and lots of positive comments!
About this project
Creators:
- Daria Bazzi
- Dannie Snyder
- Heloise Widdig
May, 2021
United States, Los Angeles
2 min 44 seconds
Download Original/High-Resolution File: ImAVaccine_Final_16_9_Subtitles.mov.zip
Objective:
We want people to take a stand against vaccine nationalism by signing the European Citizen’s Initiative.
The Project:
Our video shows the contrast of our new reality during the pandemic and how life could be if we were all vaccinated. However not everyone has access to the vaccine. By supporting the European Citizen’s Initiative we can change that and make sure this pandemic ends.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
What worked?
Our video was shared by the official Instagram account of the initiative.
Other Notes:
It was the first project from us as a group.
-
Original files can be provided for exhibition
Links:
Reflections from Julia Billian
What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?
Based on our idea we had to find fitting pictures. Then we put them in a video format, edited the video and added music and sound effects as well as the voiceover.
What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?
Actually using the video as a commericial that would be played on TV would be great.
If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?
Have someone on your team who is a really good editor :D. Just kidding. As long as you find the resources, so where to look for free pictures, music and video clips and have a good idea, you will be fine. There are a lot of tools out there that can help you.
About this project
Creators:
- Samira Shair
- Ludovico Caminati
- Kathi Wolfenstetter
- Maanasa Gurram
- Hannah Dawson
- Max Wielenga
- Alessia Gonfroid
- Julia Billian
- Johanna Twittenhoff
- Owen Lukins
- Sophie Tragert
- Elise Potthoff
March, 2021
Belgium, Brussels
1 min
Objective:
Matthew McConaughey is the face of the University of Texas (UT). He is a professor there and often seen in the university’s marketing materials. Since our team has been struggling to get any professors, staff, or even student leaders from UT to respond to our emails, letters, and phone calls about the Open Covid Pledge, we have decided to shift our target focus to McConaughey, who is fairly active on social media. We have been bombarding him with memes as well as this parody of his Lincoln commercial. Our objective is to get McConaughey to endorse the pledge, adding pressure on UT officials to sign it!
The Project:
A parody of Matthew McConaughey’s Lincoln commercial. Instead of McConaughey endorsing Lincoln cars, we’ve dubbed the video so he is rather selling the Open Covid Pledge.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
Make a version for your community.
What worked?
Our actor who does the Matthew McConaughey impression nailed it! The editing in general is really good, for instance the dubbing is timed well and we even added a more hopeful-feeling music score!
-
Original files can be provided for exhibition
Links:
Reflections from Dannie Snyder
About this project
Creators:
- Dannie Snyder
- Ross Blackburn
November, 2020
United States, Austin
1280×720
Objective:
Our greater objective was to get NYU to sign the Open Covid Pledge. We identified a target at NYU and thought including something creative in an email to her would make it more likely for her to engage with the email and respond to us.
The Project:
Improv conversations with COVID-19. In particular: a concerned person wanted COVID-19 to go away, so she talked to someone at a university that was doing COVID-19 research, asking them to open up their licensing so that the pandemic would end sooner. The university rep called their big pharma contact and both were skeptical. But then the Plague Doctor appeared and convinced everyone to agree to the Open Covid Pledge.
TRY THIS:
Make one!
What worked?
It worked! We included an image from our action in our email to our target and she wrote back right away saying she would be happy to meet with us.
Other Notes:
We knew from research that our target had a background in more creative ways of achieving major health aims.
-
Original files can be provided for exhibition
Links:
Reflections from Rachel Karp
What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?
We were most taken with the image of talking to COVID-19 and think this could build into a social media campaign of people talking to COVID about how universities/pharmaceutical corporations/health organizations/government entities can make COVID go away–in a way that is safe, equitable, and accessible to all.
If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?
Things we found that were useful: the person playing COVID-19 changing their profile picture to COVID-19 and turning their camera off, Zoom backgrounds for as many other participants as possible, simple costumes, having an overall outline of what we would say, and trying to move through that outline pretty quickly (because otherwise the improv can get really bogged down). We wanted to make something short–maybe 60 seconds–but we never got it below about 3 minutes. Also, we learned after the fact that using the Zoom recording function doesn’t work because it doesn’t capture the profile image of someone with their camera off, so record through e.g. QuickTime or something that can capture a screen to make sure you get the key image of COVID-19 talking!
About this project
Creators:
- Rachel Gita Karp
- Shivesh Shourya
- Carly Besser
- Esh Garg
- Mahayana Landowne
October, 2020
Image/graphic, Online/web thing, Performance, Video
United States, Brooklyn
2298 x 1349
Download Original/High-Resolution File: Hawks-Action.png
Objective:
The objective was to appeal to the University of Queensland to sign the Open Covid Pledge.
The Project:
Big heart was a stop motion animation made to represent the information that 13% of the world’s population has already pre-purchased over half of the world’s supply of promised covid vaccines and also that as public funding goes into research of the vaccine, we as citizens have a right to have a voice. This information was packaged up to appeal to The University of Queensland who we were targeting in our objectives.
TRY THIS:
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
Make it specific to your community.
What worked?
I think the work found a playful way to represent the ‘of the moment’ statistical information. It attempted to appeal to the sense of ‘doing the moral/right thing’ for the University.
About this project
Creators:
- Tessa Marshall
- Greg Giannis
- zan griffith
October, 2020
Australia, Melbourne
one minute
Link to Original or High-Res file
Other Notes:
This work was an extension of an idea from season one. In season one Tessa and Greg created a giant syringe playing on the idea of Australia’s love of big things.
-
Original files can be provided for exhibition
Reflections from zan griffith
What was the process/journey of creating this work?
This work was playing on the idea of Australia’s love of big tourist icons. In season one a big syringe was built with this in mind. Stop motion was a useful way to reach an audience when you are in lockdown in Melbourne.
What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?
Tessa creates a podcast each week where she highlights the most relevant and up to date covid vaccine information. This was where i learnt the statistic i represented. Greg had compiled information that related to the Australian situation which highlighted that over $4 billion was used for covid vaccine development. I had done a few stop motions before and love to tell a story in short grabs.
What were some of the responses to this work?
It was posted on instagram and a few comments suggested that it was useful information. We never heard back from the University of Queensland who we sent emails to with the animation.
What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?
I love the idea of having a stop motion takeover day on social websites where all the participants of free the vaccine have a go at a stop motion with a free the vaccine message and we flood socials. i imagine some of the most successful stop motions would come from those who had never done one before.
If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?
Have fun with it and treat it like an experiment.
Objective:
We’re asking the target universities to sign the Open Covid Pledge, to stop drug companies profiteering with publicly funded research. In the UK people are used to free healthcare, and unused to thinking about the injustice of health inequalities and the malign role of drug companies. Consequently the universities feel limited pressure. This action was a show of strength from the campaign, to increase pressure on the universities, as well as a public awareness raising effort, through the street presence to a limited extent, but mostly through the social and traditional media interest we generated.
The Project:
Activists in giant Covid-19 masks joined syringe wielding students in lab coats, beside neon pink dancing protestors, to call on London’s universities to pledge to make their healthcare research on Covid-19 available to the world. The Carnival March for a People’s Vaccine took place on July 27, 2020, from Kings College London (Guy’s Campus) to University College London, asking the universities to sign the Open Covid Pledge, to stop drug companies profiteering with publicly funded research.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Organize one in your community.
Make it even bigger.
What worked?
The costumes! Despite a gray day in London, you couldn’t miss us in our neon pink and giant covid head costumes. There were lots of banners, and placards, and QR codes so that passers by and social media viewers could understand the action clearly.
About this project
Creators:
July, 2020
Installation/Intervention, Performance, Video
United Kingdom, London
1’40”
Other Notes:
It was a great collaboration between Free the Vaccine volunteers and volunteers from Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK, Just Treatment, Stop AIDs, Act Up UK, and other access to healthcare activists.
-
A set of instructions exists on how to make this work
- An original object can be provided for exhibition
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
Links:
157 registers:
Reflections from Rachel Reid
What was the process/journey of creating this work?
Lots of collaborative planning meetings interspersed with lots of glue and paint, following by lots of dancing and lots of walking!
What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?
We benefited from some deep experience in the group, from the activists who thought to consult lawyers about our rights before the action, to people with wide media and communications experience, to artists.
What were some of the responses to this work?
For the giant covid head wearers it varied from Londoner indifference to laughter to lots of pictures. Generally people who approached us were sympathetic and interested.
If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?
Have a sub-group working on communications, including traditional, not just social. There was lots still to do at the last minute (as ever!)
Objective:
Playing on the long standing sports rivalry between schools, this animation was created as part of a social media push to encourage UCLA to sign the Open Covid Pledge before USC.
The Project:
Images of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Southern California (USC) mascots, made entirely of cut paper, are animated to depict the UCLA Bruin kicking the USC Trojan out of frame, and then ringing the Victory Bell.
TRY THIS:
Make it specific to your community.
What worked?
The humor
About this project
Creators:
July, 2020
United States, Los Angeles
7 second video, GIF
Other Notes:
The cut paper elements were assembled and photographed by Kaity, and Vivian added background, digitized the animation, and formatted the animation for various social media platforms.
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?
Vivian has been very encouraging of the idea of stop motion throughout the lab, so it was a true collaboration between the two of us to make this happen. I think we both are pleased with the results.
Objective:
We’re building on Dolly Parton’s $1million donation to support COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt University. To get their attention, to educate them on the Open Covid Pledge, and to add pressure for them to sign the pledge, we chose to produce a viral music video parody of the song “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.
We now want to encourage all universities to sign the Open Covid Pledge, so we are currently discussing the “next challenge”: how to create a full-length video in a way that inspires even more people to get involved and ask universities to make a meaningful change.
The Project:
The #JoleneVaccineChallenge is an interactive project, initially intended to target Dolly Parton and Vanderbilt University. However, with the success of the project, we are now targeting universities all over the world! (Read more under “Objective” below.)
We are making a music video parody of the song “Jolene” by Dolly Parton. Do you know the song? The chorus lyrics, “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene…” have been adapted to “Vaccine, Vaccine, Vaccine, Vaccine.” Check out the video link to see how we rewrote ALL of the lyrics.
The challenge, i.e. the “interactive” element of this project, is twofold. First, we invited all members of the Free the Vaccine campaign to help us make a “trailer” for the music video. The video link here is the trailer, which consists of just the first chorus and verse to the song. At the end of the trailer, we challenge viewers to send videos of THEM lip-syncing/dancing to the song. We made a downloadable track and supplied the lyrics to the whole song for viewers.
TRY THIS:
Record your own lip sync and share it on social media. #JoleneVaccineChallenge
Perform it in your own community.
What worked?
Without Occupy Democrats having shared our video on Facebook, we would have had a MUCH harder time going viral.
Other Notes:
Thousands of people across several social media platforms watched and shared our video. We are continuing to call and email Vanderbilt and Dolly Parton representatives to remind them of our video and its growing number of likes/views.
Based on the initial response to our trailer, we’ve decided that our full-length music video should now target universities all over the world. Our trailer features members of Free the Vaccine from many different countries, emphasizing Parton’s and Vanderbilt’s global impact. In continuing this theme, for the full-length music video, we plan to have a few singers/dancers wearing not only Parton costumes or Vanderbilt t-shirts, but also, for example, t-shirts from other universities.
-
A set of instructions exists on how to make this work
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
- The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)
Links:
Reflections from Dannie Snyder
What were some of the responses to this work?
We have gone viral! That in itself is a huge response to our work.
As far as viewers accepting the challenge and submitting videos… So far we have only received a handful of submissions. (It’s not too late to send one yourself!) We are currently outlining our schedule for releasing the full-length music video (probably during the first week of December) as well as three “promotional” videos between now and then; three videos (at least) to help boost our views/likes on social media.
Unfortunately, Dolly Parton and Vanderbilt representatives have not been responding to our emails and calls.
What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?
If we had a million dollars, we could probably think of a million ideas! Our team is always bustling around “what if we…?!” Off the top of my head, we would project the final full-length music video onto Dolly Parton’s house(s) and Vanderbilt’s buildings. We discussed the idea of – when COVID cases and social distancing measures relax – a march around Nashville in Dolly Parton costumes. But, why just in Nashville!? Why stop there?! And wouldn’t it be awesome to have the video produced in every language?! We have also discussed how to get famous people to lip-sync/dance for our full-length music video.
About this project
Creators:
- Aly Bancroft
- Stacy Early
- Laura Holzman
- Dannie Snyder
July, 2020
United States, Nashville
1920×1080
Objective:
Get CureVac to sign the Open COVID Pledge
The Project:
The cartoon targets CureVac (a German biotechnology company working on a COVID-19 vaccine) to sign the Open COVID Pledge. It depicts the problem of access to a COVID-19 vaccine and shows ShareVac (in place of CureVac) coming in as a superhero solving the problem of access with the Open COVID Pledge.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
Make a version for your target.
What worked?
The cartoon depicts the problem well and is able to grab the attention of the viewer with its oddness of animations, voiceover and music.
About this project
Creators:
- Caitlin Berrigan
- Christina Meyer
- Daphne Lenz
- Sina Wahby
June, 2020
Germany, Berlin
45 seconds
Other Notes:
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
Links:
Reflections from Katharina Wolfenstetter
What were some of the responses to this work?
People love it! Some people were confused at first, but the oddness of the cartoon has the power to draw people in.
What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?
We would love to work on an English version of both cartoon and website. Additionally we would like to provide the cartoon as a template for other groups and other targets.
Objective:
The objective behind the video was to raise awareness of UT’s role in the pandemic, to raise awareness of the petition, and to move university researchers to sign it.
The Project:
“Push the University of Texas to Openly Share Their Research for COVID-19” is the title of my video on YouTube. The video itself is a music parody of “What a Wonderful World It Would Be [if we freed the vaccine]”, targeting the University of Texas Pharmacy department and representatives from AskBio pharmaceuticals.
TRY THIS:
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
Make a version for your target.
What worked?
The quality of the video and audio (and singing!) wasn’t too shabby. I was very limited to my equipment and space (and singing capabilities), but I managed to produce the video very simply in one day. It could have been even simpler and it still would have been effective. Making a music parody was not as hard as I initially imagined. So, having just made it, whether or not it got the response I desired, was still a success in itself.
About this project
Creators:
June, 2020
United States, Austin
1920×1080
Other Notes:
According to UT, “researchers are racing to develop innovations in fields like virology, immunology, epidemiology and medical engineering to support the fight against COVID-19” (giving.utexas.edu/covid-research/). They have already developed and licensed an innovative vaccine delivery method to AskBio pharmaceutical (hnews.utexas.edu/2020/03/04/new-delivery-method-could-transform-vaccine-distribution-to-remote-developing-areas/).
I believe UT should pledge to make their intellectual property available free of charge for use in ending the COVID-19 pandemic and minimizing the impact of the disease! So instead of just posting online about our petition for UT students/staff/professors and other members of the Austin community to sign urging UT to join other heroic companies and universities in making the Open Covid Pledge (opencovidpledge.org)… I thought instead that I would try to make an eye-catching video with the hopes of gaining more traction on social media.
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
- The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)
Reflections from Dannie Snyder
What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?
I would love a team who could simply help me make social media posts on a regular basis, with targeting popular groups/individuals on social media who might be interested in sharing our video, and with taking other measures for making the video go viral. It would be cool to make the process of sharing the video more interactive, where students/staff/professors at UT in particular could be part of the fun and voice their own opinion rather than merely sharing/re-posting our video. It might mean remaking the video and getting students/staff/professors to lip-synch (see next reflection question).
If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?
I had to unfortunately make this video on my own, but I believe it would be so much more effective if I had a team of people, videos showcasing different UT students/staff/professors lip-synching. For example, the #JoleneVaccineChallenge by another team with Free the Vaccine was very popular (they also made a parody using Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” song to target Vanderbilt University).