Team 3

Idea

While communicating with our Indonesian fellow students, our team found key differences in the interpretation of symbols between the two cultures. One of our Indonesian team members – Bayu – told us a story about a European who became very confused during a meal at a Padang restaurant. Upon sitting down, the waiter began to bring varying selections of food and placing them on the table without taking any order from the customer. This was a bewildering experience for the European, unsure of whether he was obligated to pay for and eat all the food brought to him. However, Indonesians know that at a Padang restaurant, one can choose some food to eat and pay for, and the rest will be taken away. This story allowed us to notice and explore several situations in daily life that can be understood differently by contrasting cultures. These included traffic, clothing, public transportation and the already mentioned Padang food.

Concept

Working on this project we focused on a humorous visualization of the four situations. First there is a master shot of the whole situation. The shot is followed by a zoom-in to the European who gives an explanation of his interpretation of the situation. This is followed by a pan shot to the Indonesian, whose interpretation of the situation is completely different. For the finished animation, we used the style of flat design. To harmonise all four situations, we used the same composition of the image. Each situation consists of a background including a floor and sky or wall. In every situation, the Indonesian is on the left and the European is on the right side of the image. Both of them communicate via a thinking bubble, which reflects the differentiation.