Carolina Institute for Faith & Culture

In the final part of my interview with recent Southern Wesleyan Honors graduate Dynestee Fields, we discuss the technical aspects of her documentary “The Voice of the Chicken” as well as what her next project will be.

In this second part of the interview we cover the ramifications of Dynestee’s documentary, we’ll learn about how chickens are genetically modified, the odd place chickens occupy in the discussion of animal rights, how Hurricane Katrina gave chicken advocates unexpected information, how female and male chickens differ, what happens when you show a documentary about chickens to a chicken, and which on-screen talking heads in “The Voice of the Chicken” voice values that best match and clash with Dynestee’s own.

After successfully defended her honors project, Dynestee took the time to talk with me about her project and about its goal: to get people to see and hear the real chicken, not just the one who has been produced for our gustatory pleasure. “The view of chickens that humans have is either food or ‘they’re unintelligent,’” Dynestee told me. “The vocal repertoire is really a way to crack into their world. It’s really central to understanding their world and how they look on what’s going on around them.”