Description:

Inspired by Anne Lister’s diary from the 1800s, the 2D animation ‘The
Undone’ explores the secret ways queer people might have found each other in the heteronormative world of Regency Era England. The story fictionalizes the relationship between Eliza Raine and Anne Lister, two lesbians attending boarding school together, through metaphor and fantasy.

Eliza Raine, a 14-year-old Anglo-Indian girl, is the new student at the Manor Boarding School. Determined to fit in, she does everything she can to hide how out of place she feels. In the school, she catches hints of a mysterious presence in the form of scribbly, disembodied lines in the air. When she discovers her dorm mate Anne Lister is missing, she peeks into the keyhole of Anne’s locked room to see a mysterious creature lurking within: the Undone - a scribbly creature in the shape of a human. Eliza is disturbed by this sight, as she, too, has scribbly, frenetic line work that she fights to keep under control. The Undone covers up the keyhole, clearly avoiding Eliza, but not for long.

The purpose of my project is to explore queer semiotics, informed by facts and enhanced through artistic expression in concept design. It seeks to embrace the conventions of a ‘queer coded’ narrative. Growing up, I was forbidden from consuming overtly queer media, meaning I valued the accessibility of discreetly-communicated queer narratives. I hope to reach younger queer audiences who might not otherwise have access to explicitly LGBT+ media.

To develop ‘The Undone,’ I wrote an original script inspired by Anne Lister’s very first love. Though her diaries recount in intense detail every single woman she was romantically involved with, we unfortunately don’t have much record for what I believe to be her most interesting romantic partner: Eliza Raine. Taking what little information we have about them, I extensively pored through archives and pieced together an original fictional script exploring how these two might have first met. I was particularly interested in their isolated predicament, where Anne (deemed disruptive) and Eliza (of Anglo-Indian heritage, and treated poorly as a result) were placed in an attic dorm separate from the other girls. It reminded me of my own experiences attending a Christian school as a young queer woman, and I wanted to relate the emotions I felt in the 2010s to what the girls might have felt in the 1800s.

This is achieved through experimental animation techniques, utilising line work and colour as a narrative device. This work explores my feelings about coming to terms with my sexuality, as well as representing a part of LGBT+ history that was hidden for many, many years. While the narrative is ‘fantastical’ and abstract in nature, I reference history as much as possible in the character designs, location design and dialogue. I aim to highlight the true story the film is based on and honour the real Eliza Raine and Anne Lister, while also making it relatable to modern audiences.