Private Project

Panty Raid

Two figures steal lingerie and make a flag to display. Partially inspired by a photo of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's fraternity brothers with a lingerie flag made at Yale in the 1980s, the film also references Greek rush week practices in Athens, Georgia.

  • Vivian Liddell
    Director
  • Vivian Liddell
    Producer
  • Vivian Liddell
    Soundtrack
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Art, animation, experimental, short, claymation
  • Runtime:
    1 minute 32 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 28, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    No Dialogue
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Vivian Liddell

Vivian Liddell is an interdisciplinary artist based in Athens, Georgia who works with painting, fiber and craft techniques, sculpture, printmaking, photography, animation and sound. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she received her B.F.A. in Photographic Design from the University of Georgia and her M.F.A. in Painting from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad. She is an Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of North Georgia.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This is my second short, animated film. I started making clay figures as maquettes to try out lighting and color for my paintings, and then became interested in the expanded narrative potential of bringing the characters in my paintings to life through film.

I’ve spent two decades in “The Classic City” (Athens, Georgia) surrounded by a dual Greek culture. Fraternities and sororities separate students by gender and play a part in cementing gender roles and power structures for the next generation; ubiquitous Classical architecture (often accompanied by manicured landscape) is a constant reminder of Western ideals. After a career of painting the female figure and exploring themes related to the male gaze and the lingering inequalities that women face, I’ve focused the past five years on the male figure and his domain.

I create tiny “plays” with handmade props and plasticine figures to reenact imagined dramas that might happen on any home football game day. These sets become animations and act as anchors for works in various media. My work relies on humor but asks serious questions about how branding, everyday rituals, and consumerism play into established power dynamics. “Panty Raid” is the first of two animations that were inspired by some young men that I saw carrying rocks up a hill here in Athens during rush week’s fraternity recruitment. One of them had been sidelined by his potential brothers and was wearing a traffic cone as a kind of dunce hat. I’m just starting work on the second animation, which focuses more on the Sisyphus theme. I started “Panty Raid” right after Roe v. Wade was overturned, and I remembered a photo I’d seen a few years before of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s fraternity brothers at Yale with a flag they’d made from women’s lingerie.

All aspects of the "Panty Raid" animation, including props and music created by Vivian Liddell. Copyright Vivian Liddell 2023.