Me And My Shadow

About the project

Me and my shadow is an interactive website that helps people to minimize their “digital shadow”. In other words: minimizing all the information that one leaves behind while surfing on the internet. Because that kind of  information might then be out of ones control. The project has won the title of “most creative” online activism 2013 from the – “Deutsche Welle Bobs Award”.
Our task was to explain the concept of a digital shadow in an original way. The goal was to make a video that is much more poetic and abstract than the usual known explainer videos. This was achieved through the use of frame by frame hand drawn animation, uncanny designs from Leo Koppelkamm and an original music score from Daniel Matz.

The animation

The main challenge in this project was keeping the balance between a completely abstract – poetic video and an informative explainer video. In order to visualize digital shadows which are anamorphic and always forming, changing and growing, we used frame by frame animation that enabled us to create free, flowing, animated shadows which can easily morph into anything. In contrast to the frame by frame animated digital shadows, the “real world” was made using cut out animation which has a more rigid and stiff effect. The informative voice over gave us visual freedom and the chance to be visually symbolic without being vague. Another layer which helped us create this abstract digital world was the unusual sound design and ambience made by the talented Daniel Matz.