Experiencing Interruptions?

In the Fray

Allyson Glenn (Director, Drawing & Video Editing), Silas Friesen (Music Composer), Shelby Lund/Lucy Zhou/Nicole Leroy (Drawing), Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra (Music Performance), John Ogresko (Assisted with Video Editing), and Dean McNeill/David Hannah (Co-Applicants for Funding from Canada Council for the Arts).

Short Description (one-liner)
"In the Fray" is a hand-drawn (digital) animation simulating the phenomena of sound synesthesia made as a multimedia collaboration with the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra (SJO).

“In the Fray” is the second of two pieces made in collaboration with the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra (SJO) for a project called Dimensions in Sound, simulating the phenomenon of sound synesthesia. This project builds on a previous collaboration with the orchestra in 2018, when Glenn created and projected a 3D animation including shapes represented categories of instruments – percussion, brass, and wind – to simulate the movements that she “saw” in her mind’s eye (i.e., timbre shape chromesthesia). Upon receiving the music from the composer, Allyson and her assistants Shelby Lund (Master of Fine Arts (MFA) student University of Saskatchewan), Lucy Zhou (BSc), and Nicole Leroy (MFA), used a rotoscope method to transcribe collaged footage of damaged vintage film. The viewer is lured down a hole to experience a series of analogue and digital abstractions. Like the phrase ‘internet rabbit hole’ where infinite search engine paths lead to disorientation, the title phrase “In the fray” can also suggest a struggle, a deconstruction and re-arrangement of form. This idea is captured by transitions between scenes where geometrical shapes morph and change.

  • Allyson Lorraine Glenn
    Director
    Above the Deluge
  • Allyson Lorraine Glenn
    Producer
    Above the Deluge
  • Silas Friesen
    Music Composer
  • Shelby Lund
    Illustrators (in order of contribution)
    Above the Deluge
  • Allyson Lorraine Glenn
    Illustrators (in order of contribution)
    Above the Deluge
  • Lucy Zhou
    Illustrators (in order of contribution)
    Above the Deluge
  • Nicole Leroy
    Illustrators (in order of contribution)
  • Allyson Lorraine Glenn
    Video Editing (in order of contribution)
    Above the Deluge
  • John Ogresko
    Video Editing (in order of contribution)
    Above the Deluge
  • Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra (SJO)
    Music Performance
    Above the Deluge
  • Canada Council for the Arts
    Funding and Applicants
  • David Hannah
    Funding and Applicants
    Above the Deluge
  • Dean McNeill
    Funding and Applicants
    Above the Deluge
  • Allyson Lorraine Glenn
    Funding and Applicants
    Above the Deluge
  • Pond 5 (full list in end credits)
    Open Source Media
  • Pexels (one listed in end credits)
    Open Source Media
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short, Other
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 8 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 5, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    6,327 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Niagara Falls International Short Festival
    Niagara Falls
    United States
    December 31, 2021
    North American Premiere
    Semi-Finalist
  • New York Movie Awards
    New York, NY
    United States
    January 30, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Hollywood Gold Awards
    Hollywood, CA
    United States
    January 31, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Independent Shorts Awards
    Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    January 15, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Indie Short Fest
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Toronto Independent Film Festival of Cift
    Toronto
    Canada
    National Premiere
    Semi-Finalist
  • Paris Film Awards
    Paris
    France
    February 25, 2022
    European Premiere
    Honorable Mention
  • Tokyo International Film Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    Japanese and Asian Premiere
    Nominee
  • Canadian Film Fest
    Toronto
    Canada
    April 2, 2022
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Allyson Lorraine Glenn

Allyson Glenn is a visual artist based in Saskatoon. Allyson holds an MFA from the University of Calgary (2000) and a BFA from University of Alberta (1998). She has received grants from Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, BC Arts Council, and SK Arts. She is the recipient of a President’s SSHRC from University of Saskatchewan and three Elizabeth Foundation Awards. Her artwork is part of private and public collections including the University of Calgary and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Her artwork has shown throughout Canada, as well as The United States, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Italy, India, and China. Allyson is an Associate Professor for the Department of Art and Art History, at the University of Saskatchewan.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Allyson’s area of specialization is in painting and drawing. In 2017, she participated in a four-week intensive master class at the School of Machines, Making, and Make-Believe in Germany, where she learned how to develop 3D animation with Unity. Her augmented reality projects have been exhibited at The School of Machines, Making and Make Believe (Closer) in Berlin, Germany and Gallery and Art Placement (Bliss and the Dreadful Sublime) in Saskatoon, SK, Canada. In 2018 her virtual reality project called "The Gate" exhibited at the Tech Art show, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Allyson has collaborated with the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra (SJO) in 2018 and more recently in 2021 for multimedia performances including 3D and 2D animations. For the first performance in 2018, she created a 3D animation to simulate the visual synesthesia experience of sound that projected behind the orchestra while they performed "Bewitched, Bewildered, and Bothered" (Richard Rodgers, 1940). For "Dimensions of Sound" the orchestra commissioned local musicians/composers Paul Suchan and Silas Friesen to create music scores in consultation with Allyson about synesthesia-specific responses. The SJO orchestra members recorded the music independently using new technology, then mixed and put together digitally.

The SJO and Allyson will present a live performance with a projection of the animation behind the orchestra in June 2022 (postponed from January). The event will be live-streamed and available on the SJO’s website. The presentation of the animations and later live performance is an opportunity for audiences to contemplate their own experiences of music. The Dimensions in Sound project is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Now Fund.