Moving image commission

Lush and Ethical Consumer invite proposals for three moving image artists to each make a three-minute silent video about the anti-animal testing movement, to be shown during the 2013 Lush Prize Awards on 13th November 2013.

There is a budget of £1,500 for each video commissioned.





About the Lush Prize

The Lush Prize is a major initiative which will use resources to bring forward the day when safety testing takes place without the use of animals.

Five cash prizes reward the most effective projects and individuals who have been working towards the goal of replacing animals in product or ingredient safety testing across five strategic areas:

Science

Training

Lobbying

Public Awareness

Young Researcher Awards

It will focus pressure on toxicity testing for consumer products and ingredients in a way which complements the many projects already addressing the use of animals in medical testing.

The Prize is a collaboration between Lush and Ethical Consumer:

Lush is a campaigning manufacturer and retailer of fresh handmade cosmetics with shops in 49 countries. The Prize is one element of its recently-launched ‘Fighting Animal Testing’ campaign.

Ethical Consumer Research Association is a UK-based research and consultancy co-operative focussed on working with companies and consumers around effective ethical choices.





The videos

The three videos will tell the story of testing on animals from three key dates: 19th Century, 20th Century and 21st Century.

We want the three videos to show how far the anti-vivisevtion movement has come since it’s beginnings in the Victorian era.

For a bit of background info, here is an essay on the history of anti-vivisection protest: http://www.vero.org.uk/seminar1.asp

Below is a breakdown of the three videos and their content.

Video 1

19th Century Vivisection

Images of Victorian vivisection experiments mixed with images of the beginning of public protest around animal cruelty



Video 2

20th Century animal testing

Film of LD50 tests etc mixed with images of public protests

http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Toxins/Sci-Media/Video/LD50



Video 3

21st Century Toxicology – the most ‘futuristic’ of all the videos

http://www.xvivo.net/the-inner-life-of-the-cell/

http://vimeo.com/34182381

We would like a creative representation of each of the above themes and time periods, whether that involves the use of archive stills and footage, or takes the themes and uses techniques (or a combination of different techniques) to bring them to life, such as shadow puppetry, ombro cinema or animation.

They will be shown during a slot after dinner, while guests are sitting at their tables or mingling. There will be music and chatter going on at the same time.

Because the videos will be shown without sound, and because the audience are free to come and go as they choose, rather than being seated for a ‘screening’, we are not expecting to get across any detailed timeline of events – rather just a ‘flavour’ of each century in the anti-vivisection movement.

Technical info

The event will be taking place at Kings Place in the Battlebridge Room. The set of three videos will be shown simultaneously on all four 42” Sony HD screens, as well as being projected onto a larger screen.

We may also showcase the videos on the Lush Prize website.



Files: Ideal format is HD 1080 25p .mov files

Length: 3 minutes.

Text: Any text incorporated into the videos must use Arial Black font, in CAPS LOCK, in order to give a sense of cohesion between the three videos and match the Lush Prize branding.

Once final versions are submitted, we’ll collate them into a showreel with title pages and the Lush Prize logo.

Who can apply

Any artist working with moving image can apply. You can apply for one or all three videos, but due to the short timescales we are working with on this project, it might be preferable for us to work with a different artist for each video. We would also prefer to work with artists that can demonstrate a passion for animal rights.

Timescales

Deadline for submission of proposal 16th October

Decisions taken 17th October

Deadline for delivery of first cut 31st October

Final deadline 7th November

How to apply

There is a budget of £1,500 for each video, to cover all production costs and artists’ fees.

Please submit the following information to bryony@ethicalconsumer.org by midnight on Wednesday 16th October 2013:

– Outline of proposed video and costings

– Short statement of interest in the project

– One-page CV

– Examples of previous work

Please send any queries to Bryony at the email address above.