Worn Stories

Documentary · Netflix

A series about the clothes people keep, and why. Antwan Williams's story starts with the opposite: prison-issue pants that didn’t fit, a sewing kit from a friend who taught him to sew, and what he made out of two pairs — a pair with two left legs, and no CDCR PRISONER down the side. None of it was filmed, so we animated it the way he remembers it, in his own words.

We built the animation from real fabric and materials, collaged and cut out, with hand-drawn elements over the top: clothes made out of clothes. In the beginning the cell is dark and muted, his pants enormous because they are the problem. When the pants are finished, the color takes over.

Sewing took him, in his words, to date nights and family functions.   So the animation takes him there: out of the cell, through the clouds, into a world made of fabric. When reality comes back, he falls a long way down, into his old pants and his cell.

8 part series · 3 min of animation · 2021

Poster for Worn Stories: a well-worn yellow sweater, with a small hole and stains near the hem, hangs on a hanger against lavender, the title printed across its chest. The tagline reads "A show about clothes and the people who wear them" — Netflix.

"It gave me my identity back. I became more human."

— Antwan Williams

Two left legs

Concept

In a collage of fabric and hand-drawn details, Antwan Williams sits on a prison chair inside a giant pair of ill-fitting jeans, their oversized legs showing how much of a problem his pants are for him — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan's fingers thread a needle with colorful thread as he learns to sew — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Wearing his new pants, Antwan flies over the prison fence on a trail of bright patchwork fabric — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan grips the bars of his prison cell as rainbow strips of fabric fall like rain — Worn Stories, Netflix.
A wider view of the dark prison as Antwan looks up from his window at the falling fabric rain — Worn Stories, Netflix.
An early concept of Antwan in prison, sitting within the enormous legs of his jeans — Worn Stories, Netflix.
A prison built from the denim of Antwan's pants, with Antwan behind a barred window — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan dances with his family across a bright yellow landscape, pulled along hand in hand — Worn Stories, Netflix.

Clothes made
out of clothes

Texture Research

Fabric used to build the collages: patches of yellow, lilac, red, pale blue and charcoal cotton — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Fabric: gray and cream striped cotton — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Fabric: a multicolored knit with a loose pale thread — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Fabric: bands of green, yellow, orange and red — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Fabric: close-up of blue and white denim weave — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Fabric: the folded hem of faded blue jeans — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Fabric: green cloth with loose hand-stitching in yellow and black thread — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Fabric: dark blue denim with a pale worn scuff — Worn Stories, Netflix.

Date nights
and family functions

Final Frames

Antwan, in his new pants, rides a bike standing on the handlebars through a landscape made of clothes — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan tumbles from his bike as colored threads fall around him — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan falls headfirst through a gray sky streaked with falling threads — Worn Stories, Netflix.
In his cell, Antwan bends over his work, learning to sew — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan's fingers thread a needle — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan's hands stitch yellow thread into blue denim — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan embraces his wife, holding her close — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan flies through a bright blue sky in his new pants — Worn Stories, Netflix.
Antwan dances hand in hand with his family across a yellow landscape — Worn Stories, Netflix.

Back in the old pants

Final Frame

Behind prison bars, Antwan sits within the enormous legs of his too-big jeans — Worn Stories, Netflix.

Credits

Featuring
Antwan Williams

Based on the book by
Emily Spivack

Episode Director
Claudia Woloshin

Animation Director
Jason Carpenter

Design & Animation
Jason Carpenter

Production
Tremolo Productions

Distribution
Netflix


Rotten Tomatoes
100%

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