To this day, cinema has shyly tiptoed around female sexuality, but luckily co-directors Olivia Griselda and Sarah Cheok are not scared to bring self-pleasure into the spotlight in their charmingly lighthearted but deceptively nuanced animation, She and Her Good Vibrations. Following Jane, a stressed-out, middle-aged woman, worn thin by her overbearing male bosses, the story follows her unexpected escape into pleasure when an accidentally delivered vibrator arrives at her apartment. Avoiding dialogue (besides the odd grunt and moan, voiced by co-director Griselda herself!), the short relies entirely on expressive animation, harping back to the days of slapstick and silent cinema to tell a comic, at times operatic, odyssey of self-pleasure and obsession. Griselda and Cheok brilliantly approach female sexuality with both humour and honesty, reframing a taboo subject matter by applying the universal language of comedy. Through witty character designs, hidden jokes and a genre-bending tone, Jane’s longing for release is rendered empathetically: no longer something to suppress, but an uncontainable force of life to tap into. As their nuanced and norm-challenging animation premieres on DN, Griselda and Cheok discuss how they led a globe-spanning production team, gave an inanimate vibrator expressive character and share the hilarious real-life tale that inspired the film.
I understand this short has been a long time in the making. How did the initial idea come to you and how did the film develop throughout its lengthy production?
Olivia Griselda: The film was inspired by my personal mishap with a vibrator around a decade ago! My good friend visited Thailand and went to the night market there. She purchased a hand massager on a one-for-one discount deal and passed one to me. The hand massager turned out to be a vibrator! Because it was illegal to sell vibrators in Thailand, the seller had marked it as a hand massager. A few years later, in 2017, I was going to acting school Haque Centre of Arts and Creativity (HCAC), and the school organised a bi-monthly real-life story sharing showcase. For one edition, they were looking for stories exploring the theme of cravings. I submitted my vibrator story and ended up sharing my story with 30 people in a room. The female audience, in particular, were laughing loudly. After the reading, some women told me how much they could relate to the story, yet they still felt shy to tell even their close friends that they own a sex toy! Their positive response, alongside my acting teacher Kamil’s encouragement, motivated me to develop this story further for a wider audience.
Fast forward to 2020: I saw an open call for Animated Visions: Story Development Lab, organised by Singapore-based animation festival Cartoons Underground and youth-focused organisation *SCAPE. I had been making live-action films only up until then, but seeing the open call made me realise that animation would be the perfect medium to tell this story because we could tap into metaphors, comedy, and surrealism to explore female self-pleasure, which is still taboo in Southeast Asia. My pitch for She and Her Good Vibrations ended up winning the Best Pitch award. Moreover, through the Lab, I met the film’s co-director, Sarah Cheok, who was one of the judges for the pitching session, as well as our film’s producer, Jerrold Chong, who was one of the Lab’s mentors. We worked on our project from the end of 2020 to early 2023. While 70% of the story is similar to the original script, 30% of the film went through changes during production. For example, the idea for the film’s Korean drama musical fantasy only came towards the end of the production. We felt the original idea for that segment wasn’t working, and we got stuck for a long time until the idea of parodying Korean dramas came about. In addition, during the film’s production, our talented artists and animators constantly surprised and tickled us with hidden jokes and innuendos in their works-in-progress. We laughed a lot during the production!
Seeing the open call made me realise that animation would be the perfect medium to tell this story because we could tap on metaphors, comedy, and surrealism to explore female self-pleasure, which is still taboo in Southeast Asia.
Sarah Cheok: When I met Olivia for the first time at the Animated Visions: Story Development Lab, it was my first time being part of a judging panel. For the final pitching presentation, most groups presented their projects complete with beautifully drawn concept art by very talented artists and filmmakers. Olivia’s presentation really stood out when she simply used stock images to tell the story of She and Her Good Vibrations. Imagine seeing a stock image of a woman’s shocked expression (her mouth in the shape of an “O”) on top of an image of a roller coaster! It was hilarious. I remember the audience laughing while Olivia was telling the story. To me, this showed how strong and resonant the initial story of She and Her Good Vibrations already was. I also thought it was so creative because presenting it this way further sold the comedic tone that the film was going for. The project ultimately won the Best Pitch award, and that’s when Olivia, Jerrold Chong (our producer), and I officially began working on the project together.
What were your cinematic touchstone influences while directing the short?
OG: As a live-action filmmaker, I had to watch a lot of animated short films to expand my animation vocabulary in preparation for making this film. While gathering references for our film, I came across a few independent short films by female animated filmmakers exploring female sexuality. These include the animated documentary Le Clitoris by Lori Malepart-Traversy, narrative short Cipka (Pussy) by Renata Gasiorowska, and two-minute short Urges by Angela Stempel.
SC: For the musical fantasy segment in our film, we were inspired by the romantic scenes in Korean dramas, as well as a musical segment in the anime series Aggretsuko, in which the main character Retsuko went on an amusement park date.
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One of the joys of animation is its ability to unite film crews worldwide, remotely. I understand your team came from several countries globally, how did you manage collaborating with this dynamic?
OG: We felt fortunate to have worked with so many talented artists around the world. While some had previously worked together with Sarah or Jerrold, the rest joined us through our open call for animators after our successful Kickstarter campaign. The film was animated on TVPaint, and we coordinated using Google Drive and Workspace. We created a production sheet that broke down the shots and assigned artists based on their individual strengths. For example, some animators are more skilled in animating characters, while others are better at doing fluid or dynamic shots. In the production sheet, we also broke down the character actions. Sometimes in our weekly virtual production calls, Sarah or I would act out certain movements of our main character (our team calls her Jane) to our animators! Our team mainly worked on our film during weekends or weeknights, as most of us were juggling either full-time jobs or multiple freelance gigs. While our production progress may sometimes be slow, all of us were committed to finishing the film!
SC: I felt happy that so many of the artists and animators we worked with were so passionate about our project. During our weekly production calls, we gave feedback on their progress and the artists themselves naturally gave suggestions to add some funny jokes and scenes, which added to the comedy of the film.
Every frame here is a collection of hidden jokes and comical details, often hiding in the gorgeous backgrounds. Could you share with our audience how these details developed throughout the collaboration of directors, art directors, animators and background artists?
OG: At the pre-production phase, my co-director Sarah did an amazing job in creating the film’s concept arts and visuals, infusing them with the fun, vibrant colours of the final film. These concept arts made it clear that the film is comedic in tone and doesn’t take itself too seriously. For co-directing, Sarah, who is animation-trained, is more of the animation expert for this film, while I focused on honing the film’s comedic beats and editing, as well as proposing the film’s sound design and music direction. Our art director Febby Yauwanita was also integral in designing our film’s overall look. From the get-go, she understood the film’s aesthetics quickly, and her early background arts served as the foundation in establishing the film’s world.
SC: As an animator myself, I would say that animation is the perfect medium to include hidden details and jokes. When I did the initial concept art, I was just having fun trying to add all these hidden innuendos that reward the audience for paying close attention. We were very fortunate to have all our collaborators be passionate about making the film the best it could be. I think that it came very naturally to them.
For example, when we were having a progress update with one of our animators, Shahrazad Binti Logan, she showed us her work-in-progress of a simple scene where water was going down the shower drain. She asked us if we noticed anything special about it. At first we did not notice it, then she replayed the animation and explained that the water puddles were phallic-shaped as they flowed into the drain. We thought it was amazing that this happened organically and happily kept it in the final film.
Animation is the perfect medium to include hidden details and jokes. When I did the initial concept art, I was just having fun trying to add all these hidden innuendos that reward the audience for paying close attention.
I’d love to hear more about the musical fantasia! How did you approach creating the sequence with Ernie Goh?
OG: In that segment, we wanted to illustrate our main character Jane’s repeated use of the vibrator. Our initial idea was to illustrate it through the circular motion of electronic gadgets such as microwaves or washing machines. However, we felt that that approach would be too clinical! During COVID (which coincided with most of our film’s production), I was watching a lot of Korean dramas, as well as the anime series Aggretsuko. During a brainstorming session with Sarah and Jerrold on the sequence, one of us mentioned Korean dramas, and that’s how we started changing the sequence to parody Korean dramas. Then the idea of making it musical, like in Aggretsuko, came on top of it. We searched on Artlist for a Korean pop track, and by sheer coincidence, I came across a track whose lyrics fit the sequence really well. So, we ended up using that Artlist track for the sequence.
SC: Ernie crafted the rest of the music in the film, and he was excellent to work with. After Olivia and I had shown Ernie the first cut of our film with the temp music, his initial draft was imbued with jazz influences and complemented the comedic-dramatic tone of the scenes. One of his music sequences, which really impressed us, was for the sequence that extended from Jane testing the different vibration levels to the end of the rollercoaster scene. It was a charming music sequence, complete with ups and downs, just like a rollercoaster ride!
She and Her Good Vibrations is incredibly playful with its visuals, were there any sequences that were particularly challenging to piece together?
OG: Usually, dynamic animated sequences with camera movements would be the hardest to execute. However, we were fortunate to have animators who were skilled in dynamic shots. As such, we didn’t expect that the hardest shot to execute would be when the Vibrator was lifting up our main character Jane during the musical sequence. The challenge was animating how much the Vibrator was struggling and sweating to carry up Jane’s heavy weight through the tension on its arms and its non-existent facial expressions. It took a lot of attempts before we got the animation right for that shot.
I adored the expressive character designs, especially the phallic co-workers on the Zoom call! Could you shine some light on your design process and your collaboration with the art directors and animation team?
OG: From the pitch stage, it was clear to me that our main character would have to be somebody whom you’d least expect to go through a sexual awakening like in the film. Sarah got this from the get-go when designing her. Sarah also created the character sheets to standardise the look of the main character Jane and the vibrator across scenes. For example, Jane’s nose is always to the left or the right of her eyes, and never directly below or in the center. While she is generally not expressive, she also has a few eyebrow shapes to convey her emotions. By referencing the character sheets, our animators were able to standardise how she looks across different scenes.
We didn’t expect that the hardest shot to execute would be when the Vibrator was lifting up our main character Jane during the musical sequence.
SC: When I started work on the initial concept art, I was thinking: how can I enhance the already absurd and comedic story? For me, the answer was to find a way to incorporate visual comedy into the character designs. I was having fun with the initial sketches and trying to push those absurdities into the character designs, such as the phallic shapes of the co-workers. It was a fun little Easter egg that added an extra layer of comedy into the film. Once you see it, you probably can’t unsee it anymore!
Despite a humorous tone, there’s a quite urgent subtext present in She and Her Good Vibrations, particularly regarding the oppression of female sexuality and self-pleasure. What do you hope audiences take away from your short?
OG: We hope that after watching the film, our audience will be supportive of female sexuality and self-pleasure. Our intention for the film’s ending was to hint at an open, no-shame attitude towards female sexuality.
With the film’s concept originating in a personal anecdote, how do you feel now the tale is out in the world?
OG: I feel relieved that the film is out in the world! Before making this film, I half jokingly told myself that I must finish this film before I die. It’d be my legacy! After finishing the film, we had our first screening at acting school HCAC where I had read my vibrator story and invited my acting teacher Kamil and our Kickstarter backers. It felt like a full-circle moment to return to the place where the story first started. Unfortunately, the acting school had to close down a few months later due to rising rent in Singapore, so I’m glad that we were able to take the story back to the school before it closed down. With the film finally being released online, I hope that it will drive even more conversations around female self-pleasure and reduce stigma around it.
SC: I feel so lucky to have been a part of this film! It is my first film that I’ve made since graduating from university. Also, I’m happy to have met and worked with Olivia and learnt so much from her throughout the whole process! As Olivia mentioned, we hope that this film will continue to reach more audiences in the future to drive more open conversations about female self-pleasure.
Dealing with such a resonant, but rarely discussed subject matter, I can imagine you’ve had some fascinating reactions to the short during its festival run.
OG: I’m surprised and grateful by how well-received the film has been. It has travelled to more than 50 film festivals around the world and picked up some awards too. One country in which the film has screened multiple times is my home country Indonesia. Given that it’s a sexually conservative country, I’m amazed that it got accepted by a few film festivals there. The response from the Indonesian audience was positive, with some female audience members commenting on how much they enjoyed the fun and vibrant aesthetics of the film. I guess the animation format had allowed the audience to feel safer in exploring such a taboo topic.
Another surprising outcome for our festival run is that the film has been popular among porn and erotic film festivals. I also received cold emails from festival programmers around the world who got interested in our film because they were programming erotic-themed programmes for short film and animation festivals. I’m surprised by how well the film has spread through word-of-mouth.
I guess the animation format had allowed the audience to feel safer in exploring such a taboo topic.
Lastly, what can we expect to see from you both next?
OG: I’m currently producing a new animated short film, My Dear Little Red Monster, about a middle school student who tries to hide her period leak during class, but it ruptures into multiple blood blobs that swallow her into her uterus! The film’s director Novella was one of the animators who worked on She and Her Good Vibrations. We’re currently raising money to finish the film, so please support our Kickstarter campaign!
SC: I have also helped on My Dear Little Red Monster, this time on the background art! I’m not working on any personal project at the moment, but open to working on other freelance projects that my friends are working on!
