Organization: LA PAROLE AUX SOURDS
Link: https://unsilenced.fr/en
Organization management: GABRIELLE PORTNOÏ, DEBORAH PORTNOÏ
Agency: BETC
Agency management: DAVID MARTIN ANGELUS, CHARLOTTE BALS
Chief creative officer: STÉPHANE XIBERRAS
Creative director: DAVID MARTIN ANGELUS
Art director: ERIKA REYES
Art director assistants: REMI LASCAULT, ALINE AFLALO
Copywriter: NICK BAKSHI
Copywriter assistant: KEVIN FINES
Traffc: KEMI ZINSOU
Music creative director: CHRISTOPHE CAURRET
Sound production: GREEN UNITED MUSIC
Music art director: ALEXANDRE MANY
Music producer: FLORINE PERRAULT
Original soundtrack: HAUTE
Production company: INSURRECTION
Producer: ARNO MORIA, THEO GALL
Director: ALBAN CORET
Editor: HUGO LEMANT
Post-production & VFX: MATHEMATIC
Producer VFX: GUILLAUME MARIEN
Post-producer VFX: JULIE LAGADEC
Dancer: BILLY READ
Choregrapher: ARIEL FUNG
1st air date: MARCH 7TH 2018
Media plan: NO
Format: MUSIC VIDEO (3 MINUTES)
Published: March 2018
Synopsis:
BETC Paris and non-profit La Parole aux Sourds have joined forces to create Unsilenced, the first original song sung entirely through sign language and dance. The ground-breaking project appears at first to be a music video for an instrumental song; only when the viewer arrives at the end of the clip do they realize that the dancer they’ve been watching has actually been sign-singing the lyrics. The film’s powerful message – that it’s easy to miss out on everything the deaf community has to offer when we don’t speak their language – is meant to motivate viewers to learn the basics of sign language.
For more than 70 million deaf people worldwide who depend on sign language to communicate, the hearing world can be an unwelcoming place. Deaf people frequently express feelings of isolation and loneliness because so few hearing people speak their language. Which is why Parisbased non-profit La Parole Aux Sourds – whose mission is to build a stronger bridge between the deaf and hearing communities – partnered with advertising agency BETC to create Unsilenced, the world’s first original song sung entirely through sign language and dance.
On first viewing, Unsilenced appears to be a music video for an instrumental song. It’s only when viewers get to the end of the film that they discover the dancer they’ve been watching is actually deaf and that he’s been sign-singing the lyrics the whole time. Viewers are then invited to visit https://unsilenced.fr/en, where an interactive digital experience reveals the lyrics hidden in his movements. By “turning up the volume” on the film, users discover the message hidden in the
dancer’s signs.
The track for Unsilenced was composed through a unique collaboration between electro-pop band Haute and deaf dancer Billy Read. Read, who lost his hearing at the age of 3 due to a severe case of otitis, worked with the band to write and translate the song’s lyrics into sign language and dance through the help of an interpreter.