FROM DESIGNER TO FILMMAKER IN EASTERN AFRICA: RYAN LECLUYSE
WNW Member #9493 Ryan LeCluyse traveled to Eastern Africa a designer and returned a filmmaker, creating Under the Tree in collaboration with Mama Hope. As a reaction to the NGO and international development world often providing broad sweeping facts and statistics, Under the Tree is an immersive portrait of "three distinct entrepreneurs around Eastern Africa who are attempting to better their communities."
We were curious to learn how Ryan came to branch out from his experience as a designer and take on the role of filmmaker: "I fundraised to buy Mama Hope some camera equipment and didn’t have much left in the budget to hire anyone." Ryan also generously offers some great advice for those looking to step out of their comfort zones and explore a new medium or field: "Don’t wait for the ‘perfect timing’ or a paying client. Also, don’t wait around wondering if it’s really a pursuit for you (e.g. I think I like film, but I don’t know I like film). Worst case, you’ll do something and learn a lot in the same time period you’d otherwise be dragging your feet."
Tell us a little bit about your creative background. Who is Ryan LeCluyse and how did he get here?
The path probably all started when I was around 11—I wanted nothing more than to make video games. A mentor from an online video game artist community called Polycount pointed the way, “To work in video games, you need to learn to draw.” That led me to UNCSA, a performing arts boarding school, where my drawing instructor noticed my penchant for typography, “You know, there’s a career called graphic design.” When I made it to design school, a professor taught me, “Design doesn’t just have to sell shit, it can also help make the world a better place.”
The last one really stuck. From then on I realized that, if I could apply what I love to trying to better the world around me, then I wouldn’t want to do anything else. It’s been challenging, but I’ve dedicated my practice to communicating ideas and building products that are based in positive social impact.
"I’ve dedicated my practice to communicating ideas and building products that are based in positive social impact."
What lead you to Under the Tree? How would you describe the project to our readers?
I was working as a designer at Google X. After about 9 months, I realized that I felt too removed from the impact I wanted to have. X was a fascinating place, but it wasn’t for me. Around the same time, a friend introduced me to Mama Hope and the work they were doing really resonated with me. One day, I came knocking at their door with a proposal for how to facilitate the story of their impact and they were totally game. That idea became Under the Tree.
What is it? I describe Under the Tree as a portrait of three distinct entrepreneurs around Eastern Africa who are attempting to better their communities. The idea is as simple as that, but it has manifested as a web series. Each episode is about a single Mama Hope partner and is composed of film vignettes I created from that location/partner.
Had you been to Africa prior to this project? Where in Eastern Africa did you travel for Under the Tree? How long did you stay to get all of the footage, interviews, and intangibles required for the project?
I had never been anywhere in the continent. This was going to be completely new for me! I spent four months between Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. The idea was to stay a few weeks with each partner, getting to know them, their families, their communities, and their projects. I wanted to get a basic trust and comfort level established before I began filming or adopting a point of view. After the initial rounds, I came back to each location for a longer period, about a month, to live with the families and to capture anything and everything.
"I wanted to get a basic trust and comfort level established before I began filming or adopting a point of view. After the initial rounds, I came back to each location for a longer period, about a month, to live with the families and to capture anything and everything."
Under the Tree is not a series of snapshots addressing a broad issue, but rather an immersive exposure to the daily routines and struggles of specific individuals. How did you decide on this approach to addressing these issues of health, education, and livelihood?
Under the Tree started out as a reaction to a lot of what we see coming from the NGO, charity, and international development world: broad sweeping views of facts and figures that paint a simplistic and overbearingly ugly picture… I wanted to ask what would happen if we simply told a story. My hunch was that the inherent issues would still surface, but they would come up in context and therefore be understood on a personal scale rather than an intangible, less empathetic, global one. It also made me much more comfortable talking with and filming people—I didn’t have a hidden agenda and people were much more willing to participate.
"Under the Tree started out as a reaction to a lot of what we see coming from the NGO, charity, and international development world: broad sweeping views of facts and figures that paint a simplistic and overbearingly ugly picture"
How did you straddle the line between inhabiting the role of "journalist" and embracing your instincts as a creative? Did your background in design influence your approach to this project in any particular ways?
Calling this journalism is probably generous… Really, I simply spent time with people in each of these places and then would write a brief for myself. Creativity came into play when I would then try to imagine outcomes. Then, I’d collect as much material as possible for any imagined outcomes—stories, footage, audio, pictures—the more the merrier.
More specifically, to that last point, I think my background in design kept a final product at the forefront of my mind. As I worked, I could always imagine what it might look like. This was both good and bad, but it certainly allowed me to anticipate what I might need to capture in each phase of production so that ‘designer me’ wasn’t left empty handed.
"My background in design kept a final product at the forefront of my mind... It certainly allowed me to anticipate what I might need to capture in each phase of production so that ‘designer me’ wasn’t left empty handed."
This project seems like a massive undertaking. Did you have a small or large team working with you?
Yeah, it’s big. A year later, I’m still working on it.
There have been core collaborators, but for the most part, I’ve had to take it on myself. Andrew Weathers is a brilliant musician and has done a great job helping me capture a unique feel with his original score. David Gouch is an incredible engineer/design who did a majority of the code that I then tweaked for Episode 2 and will continue to work on for 3. Hannah Clyne, field coordinator for Mama Hope, spent the first month traveling with me and helping me get my sea legs (she also taught me enough Swahili to ingratiate myself to most people I met). Then there have been friends who watch the films with me, read my writing, look for bugs etc… So, the people who have been interested in helping have come and gone and they’ve all been a part of what the project has shaped up to be.
What’s next for Under the Tree?
Next, there are a couple of things: most importantly Episode 3, which marks the end of the series. Beyond that, I’m currently working on how to bring Under the Tree to different platforms. The website has been great for creative control and expression of the truest form, but it’s not so great for getting the message spread and heard. I’m planning some exhibitions on the west coast and potentially another format through which to release the online series.
Under the Tree extends beyond your wheelhouse as a designer into documentary filmmaking. What lead you to mix things up? Do you plan to continue to explore both mediums or do you see yourself transitioning into filmmaking?
It wasn’t so much about mixing it up as much as it was about getting this project done with the resources I had. I fundraised to buy Mama Hope some camera equipment and didn’t have much left in the budget to hire anyone.
But yeah, that dive into filmmaking and storytelling has certainly affected where I want to take my practice. I would love more opportunities to produce documentary work for new technology platforms—like the slew of VR documentaries coming out, how awesome is that!?
"That dive into filmmaking and storytelling has certainly affected where I want to take my practice. I would love more opportunities to produce documentary work for new technology platforms—like the slew of VR documentaries coming out."
What are some top tips you can offer our members who are thinking of stepping out of their comfort zone into another field?
To just make it happen. Don’t wait for the ‘perfect timing’ or a paying client. Also, don’t wait around wondering if it’s really a pursuit for you (e.g. I think I like film, but I don’t know I like film). Worst case, you’ll do something and learn a lot in the same time period you’d otherwise be dragging your feet.
Pitch your idea to some creative peers or an organization you have a line into (even if it’s a nonprofit two doors down) to hold you accountable and get to work.
Who are some WNW members you most admire, and why?
I went to college with Nick Hum. Then and now he impresses me with his approach to design—he is just teeming with crazy and amazing ideas that people are naturally drawn to because they are funny as hell or weird. His work is his voice, and who wouldn’t want his voice added to theirs?
Nitzan Hermon has been a mentor and a friend for a long time. He’s an incredibly thoughtful designer who, I think, approaches design in a very academic and systematic way. He produces work that addresses longevity and the entire ecosystem of a challenge.
Ike Edeani is an incredible photographer who had collaborated with Mama Hope before I knocked on their door. Just looking at his photography of the places I was about to go to really helped inspire my vision for what the films could look like.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Thanks so much for showing the work! I’d simply ask that, if readers are inspired by it, then share it, learn more about the issues it talks about, and keep on doing cool shit.