A Timely (and Gorgeous) Red Riding Hood PSA

 

Look at this beautiful and timely PSA created by award-winning filmmaker Lisa Stock! 

Lisa is a long time fairy tale friend, whose work we greatly admire, and we are always blown away by the unique use of fairy tales and myth in her work. She was kind enough to answer some questions for us about this wonderful PSA. 

Read on for a wonderful example of how using fairy tales today can be impactful and empowering, and how an artist who truly understands the bones of a fairy tale can re-envision them effectively to be both timeless and relevant today.

Hi Lisa! Thank you so much for answering our questions today. We were so thrilled to see this gorgeous PSA and can't wait to share it and encourage others to do the same.

Thank you for including my PSA on Once Upon a Blog! As numbers rise and holidays approach I wanted to create something that would inspire - a reminder to take care of ourselves and others - not just Covid, but flu, colds and anything else in the air.

Your PSA is so very timely! What was your inspiration?

This has been such a challenging and exhausting year - finding energy to push through a bit longer can be overwhelming. With holidays (and travels) coming, I wanted to create something imaginative - letting Genre take us outside ourselves to reinforce a much-needed message.  We're getting there!

The figure is clearly a Red Riding Hood character while at the same time very contemporary, but also wonderfully artistic. We know you're a long time fairy tale aficionado and have often referenced various tales in all your mediums. Why did "Red in a pandemic" seem appropriate for this project?

Yes!  I've always associated Red with a journey. We've all been on our own journeys this year into the big, bad wood. At the same time - many are traveling more, either to see family for the holidays or going back into the office for a day or two a week. But mostly, Red's a fighter. She takes on the wood and the wolf by using the wisdom her grandmother taught her to persevere. 

We like how instead of giving the DANGER- WARNING!! signals you could have used with a Red Riding Hood character for a fear-inciting PSA, that instead you show her as assertive and unafraid; much more of a "be smart - take back the narrative" message. There are so many ways Red can represent us and, after a lot of negative and fear-based messages in social media, it was, frankly, a relief to see Red representing a bold positive. Was that something you envisioned straight away, or something that developed as you were working?

You said it - her being assertive and looking the viewer in the eye with her mask on, as if to say "No big deal".  Those three guidelines - wearing a mask, washing your hands, social distancing are small things to ask to help ward off a debilitating illness and keep everyone healthy.

Your model is the perfect contemporary fairy tale figure. How did you find your Red Riding Hood for your shoot?  

That's the wonderful Kayla Klatzkin!! We first met when she auditioned for a part in TITANIA. Those who follow my work will recognize her from the TITANIA Winter Scene (and she'll be in the larger project too). She can morph into any character I give her - it's nice to have a muse like that. She's also appearing as "Glass" in my upcoming experimental take on Cinderella, and will be seen as Dorothy in an Oz-inspired panorama I'm shooting in Dec. It helps that she lives two blocks from me, and is game for anything - but truly, Kayla gets the fantasy world and how to make it seem very natural, this is why I think she pulls it off so well. 

What precautions did you (have to) take for the various aspects of this project?

Thank you for asking. Production was allowed to return to NYC in late July. My pre-production meetings take place over zoom and so far, I've only done outdoor shoots. I wear gloves, a mask, keep my distance, and have plenty of wipes and hand sanitizer. If Kayla can't fix a hair out of place, I'll approach her and she will wear a mask until it's time for the photo - though for the PSA she could keep it on. Kayla did have an indoor shoot later that week and told me they required her to have two negative Covid tests immediately prior to shoot day (the production company scheduled the tests and paid her for that time).  For upcoming larger or indoor shoots - it's testing + one team at a time on set or with the actor. We're making it work!  It's just so great to be back at it!!

We totally get fashion shoot vibes but love how we just want to look as classic, chic (and a little bit badass, boldly and smartly going places) as she does, rather than (just) want the coat and hat. Was that intentional? If so, how did you find that balance?

Yes. We have so many opportunities in mythic/fairytale photography. I certainly appreciate the beautiful dresses and magical locations I see on Instagram, but I always look for/yearn for the story. Just one small element can make your point and move the image from fashion to foretelling. I'm not changing the message - wear a mask, wash your hands, social distance - I'm wrapping it in a mythic skin and giving it a new perspective - one that I hope will catch everyone's eye anew. 

We're loving the homage to Magritte. How did that come about? What made you connect Magritte with Little Red and/or a pandemic? Can you explain a bit about your inspiration in his work? (Ed. - for those who aren't familiar with his paintings, motifs, and location use - I'll put a little reference set of pics at the bottom for folks, as you did for your announcement)

Thank you! I so love Magritte. Once I had the image of her looking straight at the viewer in mind, Magritte's painting "Son of Man" popped into my head. Instead of an apple, it was a mask. Instead of a black bowler hat, it was red - bold, Fall-like colors, changing seasons, change - so many changes this year. But endurance too. I'm a huge Magritte fan and decided to continue the theme throughout the PSA as his symbols lend themselves beautifully to journey and to fairytale. What really inspires me about his work is two-fold: 1. The clean, direct use of symbols and metaphor, and 2. How he places his subjects into their landscapes/roomscapes - they often become one. Anytime I'm creating (film or photograph) I consider how the surrounding environment is also a character or subtext for the story.  To that end - I'll let you and your readers in on a little secret. I purchased the red bowler hat in these images a few years ago for a Magritte inspired project that will one day still happen - hopefully in the next couple of years.  (wink)

For our fairy tale film fans, do you have any fairy tale projects you're currently working on that you'd like us to keep an eye out for? Has the pandemic caused you to consider your work with fairy tales differently? 

Yes to all. Using genre to heighten reality and let each viewer place themselves in the story has become more profound this year. Currently, I'm working on:

• ASHENSONG - an experimental short film based on Cinderella. Set in the 1970’s and following a photographer as she explores the themes of Glass, Ashes, and Midnight. Ultimately, they will lead her to confront her own demons and voices from the past - and a doppelganger trapped in the woods. Covid has directly hit this production with one of my models being split between NY and Hong Kong. After our initial production meeting in late February, she returned to Hong Kong and hasn't been able to get back to the U.S. Rather than wait for all travel restrictions to lift, I've found a wonderful photographer in Hong Kong who is going to photograph her images for the project there. But I look forward to having us all under the same roof for the film's premiere in 2021!

• THE TOWN - this is a series of fantastical moving images, or video portraits that highlight the townspeople (and what lies beneath) where Titania exiles herself to heal. TITANIA will be moving forward in a new way - the narrative and the roll out to audiences will be in groundbreaking fractures of art and narrative. I'm very excited about how this will unfold and we'll launch it at a live TITANIA event in NYC in 2021. Then online @TitaniaFilm 

• FRIDAY NIGHT THEATER & the AMERICANA MYTHIC SERIES - My wonderful patrons on Patreon see everything first and I have quite a few mythic exclusives lined up for them starting this month! I'll be continuing in the style of the PSA by blending genres, artists, ideas to give a slice of Americana, myth and current situations. For instance - once I hit 50 patrons on Patreon I'll be creating a microfilm that mixes the fable of The Scorpion and the Frog with two iconic mid-20th century figures addressing our willingness to trust someone's true nature  - even if harmful. I've assembled a really amazing group of actors, an historical consultant and costume designer and others to help bring these microfilms to life! Come join us - www.patreon.com/LisaStock - subscriptions (in which you see all final projects) start at $1.

The PSA is so very eye-catching; beautiful but also very clear in its message. Where can we expect to see it? 

The PSA was done on my own. I'd be delighted to have people share it - I and the PSA can be found on social media @LisaStockFilm.

Thank you so much for your time today Lisa. We hope many people see your PSA and are encouraged to boldly care for themselves and others this Thanksgiving and holiday season.

You heard her folks: go spread the images!

Use Lisa's PSA to encourage and inspire people to live their best - and healthiest - lives.

Lisa Stock is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York City. Called “a skillful alchemist at work” by Faerie Magazine, her films have been featured in festivals and screenings around the world including London, New York, Austin, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Sydney, aired on PBS, and chosen as a Project of the Day on Kickstarter. Lisa’s work combines the spontaneity of myth & magic with the more somber side of reality to paint vibrant portraits of healing and personal truth. (Bio page: https://www.lisastockfilm.com/about)

Amnesty International PSA: "No Consent = No Fairytale"

A heavier subject today but a prevalent one that's been discussed inside fairy tale circles for a long time. Since the #MeToo era began, the issue of consent in fairy tales has included the public at large and brought to society's attention how prevalent and dangerous the issues surrounding consent remain in our upbringing.

Amnesty International's most recent PSA highlights the importance of having the definitive legal definition of rape as being based on the absence of consent. The campaign focusing on this issue uses something not-too-surprising: a sleeping fairy tale princess being kissed (and felt up) by a prince.

Take a look:

While the basis of recognizing rape by the absence of consent is the international standard of human rights, only nine out of thirty-three European countries recognize this "simple truth" (the UK being counted separately in this instance). While at first, it seems like a no-brainer for countries to adopt this as a legal definition, the truth is it gets murky pretty quickly due to the current, very flawed, need to "prove" rape by the victim, usually based on resistance.

From Amnesty International, UK:

"... the remaining European countries are lagging far behind, with their criminal laws still defining rape on the basis of physical force or threat thereof, coercion or inability to defend oneself.  

According to the European Commission’s 2016 survey on gender-based violence, almost one-third of respondents considered that sexual intercourse without consent may be justified “in certain circumstances.” These included, for example, if the person is drunk or under the influence of drugs, is voluntarily going home with someone, wearing revealing clothes, not saying “no” clearly or not fighting back."

When using the images of a sleeping Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, who are under enchantment, or in a death-like sleep, it should be noted these are very apt metaphors for situations in which consent is absent - and it's not due to passivity. The lack of body response or resistance has been proven to be a very real - and involuntary - physical defense. 

"In fact, despite the expectation that a “model” rape victim will fight her attacker back, freezing when confronted with a sexual attack has been recognised as a common physiological and psychological response, leaving the person unable to oppose the assault, often to the point of immobility. For example, a 2017 Swedish clinical study found that 70% of the 298 women rape survivors assessed experienced “involuntary paralysis” during the assault."

This is especially important to consider as there is a very real and justified fear by victims that resistance will equal death. (You can read more about this in the Amnesty International article.) Clearly, survivors are still getting the majority of the blame for being assaulted. How this mentality is still prevalent in 2018-19 is head-scratching.

What fairy tale folk and storytellers should be aware of is the enormous role and obstacle that myth and stereotypes play to adopting the consent-based definition. This, of course, includes how fairy tales are being told and retold. Our modern versions of 'happily ever' after might appear cleaner on the surface (with the "it's just a harmless kiss" mentality) than older tale versions that blatantly include the obsession of a prince with a dead body, or the rape of a sleeping maiden alone in the woods, but it's clear these "sanitized" versions have added to the harm by romanticizing acts of obsession, power and violence over (mainly) women and children. While there are no easy or straightforward solutions as far as retelling fairy tales go (banning just sweeps things under the carpet and does much more harm than good, and any retold version will likely include societal bias and the prevalent social attitudes), these oft-repeated and referred-to tales need to, once again, be revised in their retelling.1

It's not that this isn't being done, by the way. It's that the revised versions, and sometimes older and better variants, aren't the most popular, accessible image of those tales (still!)2. The public generally isn't aware that other ways of telling these stories exist, so the old ones are perpetuated, if at all. While Disney (arguably the strongest pop-culture fairy tale influence on the world) has finally shown a change in the way they tell their (market-dominating) versions of the tales, consistency of resistance to the harmful classic images needs to continue, and how we tell the tales to our children and audiences needs to be far more discerning. There are many (many!) resources of revisionist fairy tales, for young children through grown-ups, but there are also, it should be noted, far more 'healthy' variants or versions of these old fairy tales available - and easily accessible! - for the telling3. The age of the internet means you often don't even need to leave your house to find them. Sometimes it's as easy as going to that (rarely-visited) second or third page of Google search results.

Heigh-ho storytellers!

Footnotes:
1 It obviously isn't enough to just call a rape, a rape, in the retellings. We also need to address the issue of women, and society, accepting marriage to their attackers - and/or a payoff in terms of a crown and increased status - as a 'happy ending'.
2  And it's not (as we heard someone say recently) about removing the "classic romance" of childhood fairy tales. It's about revising what romance is considered to be. 
3  Thanks to the efforts of newly published collections of fairy tales such as the Oddly Modern Fairy Tales series, and storytellers, like Dr. Zalka Csenge Virág who are mining the wealth of old tales in libraries and universities around the world for stories we can - and should - be telling.

Advertising: A Very Different Take On "The Tortoise and the Hare" for Transport for London Ad

This is a completely different take on Aesop's fable. Usually you see it with portrayed with (essentially) a laugh track - this... notsomuch. 

This is a sobering modern retelling, released in March this year (2015).

And it's very effective.

Here's the double-up poster - hare one way with a warning and a tortoise the other with an affirmation

                                   

                                               A not very healthy-looking hare

A happy looking tortoise

                  

In case you hadn't guessed, the campaign is, indeed, marketed at teens, with the idea of #ThinkSlow. 

I hate that we seem to need these sorts of PSAs at all, but I'd rather put up with PSAs, knowing they might even save one life, than have the alternative.

Pippa MacSherry, head of marketing operational at TfL, said the work is a natural extension of the long-running ‘Don’t let your friendship die on the road’ campaign. 

“By encouraging a more considered approach to crossing the road, we hope to reduce the number of pedestrian road related collisions. The campaign updates and re-imagines the classic tale of the hare and the tortoise – to show how ‘slow’ wins out,” she said.

Ed Palmer, managing partner at M&C Saatchi, commented: “It’s perilously easy to patronise and finger wag with this audience. Putting a modern twist on a well-known fable allows us to land our message without resorting to the more well-trodden type of cautionary tale to which this audience has become inured. The creative approach was to make safe roadside behaviour more appealing and aspirational for this audience.” 

The campaign will run across video-on-demand, cinema and social from early March and builds on neuro-scientific research which suggests the target age range is less likely to exercise restraint.

Wooden Boy Teaches Us About Sex Ed (Yes, They Went There. It's Actually A Good Thing.)

Note: I have so many stories to get through today and it's already late, so please excuse me not going as much in depth into the stories as usual!

An new PSA about sexual health and awareness of non-symptomatic STDs, stars our favorite not-so-little-anymore wooden boy, Pinocchio. I particularly like the twist that he doesn't know he's lying.

From mediabistro:

...the spot is a reminder to girls everywhere that the dude you meet out at the club might have AIDS or Herpes or something but might not know it. Wrap that rascal, as the kids say. Rubber up! 

All the bawdy puns work to the campaign's advantage here because once you see this  - and your mind fills with all the worst "woody" jokes you've ever heard - it's going to be difficult to forget. That's a good thing. And that's the whole point.

The PSA is actually French, with the English version shown below, but don't worry. There's nothing here a kid hasn't seen before and it's technically safe for work but sexual situations are implied (obviously).

Take a look (and show your teen):

After so much time dancing around adults-only Pinocchio jokes whenever his character enters a storyline, it's great to see them being put to good use.

If you'd like to find out more about the approach to the PSA, as well as the wooden boy effects, you can see a good half-English/half French "making of" video HERE.

Be safe!

Fairy Tale Food Warning

I'm not going to post on the reason this image (originally made for The Guardian by Franck Allais) was being used in "food fight" political campaigns last year (see article here) but I will say that this is an extremely effective view of the fast food way too many kids (and adults) eat way too much of.

Half of the effectiveness of this "PSA" (it's not an ad but works very well as a Public Service Announcement) is in using a kid versus the "fries (fried?) wolf", instead of including an adult in the scene, despite it not being aimed at kids. After all, no one wants to put their kids in danger.

Although the red is on the "wolf" (I know it's a monster) there's no doubt about the fairy tale it's referencing here. I also really like the woods behind being echoed by the dumpster.

Nice job on this!

Don't Let Our Forests Become Once Upon A Time...

As the traditional fourth of July fireworks and festivities get into full swing I thought this Smokey Bear PSA was very timely as well as perfect for the blog.

Did you know Smokey Bear originally came about in response to using Disney's Bambi as a 'Prevent Forest Fires' poster?

From the History of Smokey Bear:

Walt Disney's motion picture, "Bambi" was produced in 1944 and Disney let the forest fire prevention campaign use his creation on a poster. The "Bambi" poster was a success and proved that using an animal as a fire prevention symbol would work. A fawn could not be used in subsequent campaigns because "Bambi" was on loan from Walt Disney studios for only one year; the Forest Service would need to find an animal that would belong to the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign. It was finally decided that the Nation's number one firefighter should be a bear.

Here's an early PSA using Bambi footage combined with an animated Smokey Bear. As it's from 1964 it's in black and white but there was no doubt it reached people:

The Walt Disney Company has since allowed the use of their characters from Bambi (see campaign poster & ad at start of post) and is currently employing Sleeping Beauty to help spread the message of fire safety. There are two approaches. One is the more gentle, 'protect our friends in the forest' which you can see below:

The other is more dramatic, letting us know most fires are caused by humans and could be prevented:

You can see both Sleeping Beauty PSA's at the Smokey Bear website here. In addition to resources for children's education in fire safety, the website has many tips and resources on how to prevent wildfires.