Understanding the Menstrual Cycle

The final project for the course Narratives in Science Communication at Leiden University was an open challenge to create a communication artifact that clearly conveys a particular piece of science knowledge.

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Prompted by a discussion with my project partner, I began to do a systemic study of the menstrual cycle. As a male, I was very unfamiliar with the topic, and it was a challenge to find substantial scientific information to use for this study. 

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A surprising result of this experience was the conversations it afforded me. I had many discussions with women about their experiences during this project that opened my eyes to the biases and challenges they face in their lives. This influenced the story that was presented in the final version of the film. 

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The movie itself was a labor of love, my first attempt at stop-motion. A very challenging format, especially when shooting and editing alone. I built a small rig to assist with the shooting on my kitchen table and arranged everything by hand between shots. If you're really paying attention, you can see that in one image I was a bit slow in getting out of the way before the shoot.

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For a first attempt at stop motion, I am quite happy with how it turned out, though I cannot say I would use this technique without a very specific reason in the future.