Reframing Vivien Leigh: stardom, archives and access

Lead Research Organisation: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: English

Abstract

This project examines for the first time how the legacies of screen star Vivien Leigh (1913-1967) are archived and curated by a range of public institutions in the South West of England. Fragments of Leigh's star image have been preserved within scattered museum and archive collections which position her as a global star with local roots, reconnecting her to the South West where she began her married life and fledgling acting career. The project will take public and academic audiences behind the scenes of these local star archives to illuminate new, unseen histories of the Leigh's life and career as one of the twentieth century's most iconic female stars. It will do so via the completion of a new 95,000-word scholarly monograph (to be published with Oxford University Press) and a range of interactive digital resources and public engagement events that will bring archival film histories to new audiences.

Vivien Leigh's summer 2017 anniversary celebrations and the highly publicized opening of her personal archive at the V&A in 2013 testify to her sustained popularity with contemporary audiences. They also testify to the power of archives to reach non-specialist users. The project takes this intense contemporary focus on memorialising Leigh as its catalyst. It foregrounds original scholarly interrogation of Leigh's collections through collaborations with a range of institutions and archivists who have shaped her legacy for distinct regional audiences. These include The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum (BDCM) and its curator Phil Wickham; The Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) and archivist Shelly Tobin; Topsham Museum and curator Rachel Nichols, and the Victoria & Albert Museum's (V&A) Theatre & Performance curator Keith Lodwick, who is the leading specialist on Leigh archives in the UK. By collaborating with these organisations and individuals, the project will illuminate new stories about the meanings and uses of Leigh's stardom for South West audiences and connect these meanings to Leigh's presence as a European star in Hollywood. It will produce detailed new research around museum artefacts that tell of her uniquely South West connections - including costumes, correspondence, scrapbooks and memorabilia - and the curatorial stories that have resulted in their acquisition and regional significance, connecting them to global Hollywood narratives.

The project has 4 core goals:

1) to foreground new histories of Leigh's archival legacies by interrogating her archival memorialisation in the South West (disseminated through an academic monograph, a public event and public talk, international conference presentations and creation of new digital resources [see 'Dissemination']);

2) through archival research and digital humanities methods, to explore the uses of Leigh's archival legacies for archival institutions and examine the specific meanings of women's star heritage for different communities and audiences (disseminated via project podcasts and Story Map resource);

3) through interview work and co-curation, to foreground the role of the archivist in shaping histories of women's screen stardom (disseminated via project podcasts and public events);

4) as a result of the research process, to host a public exhibition and academic symposium, and to complete the final chapters of a scholarly monograph titled Reframing Vivien Leigh: Stardom, Gender and the Archive.
In achieving these goals, the project will give both academic and non-specialist audiences the means to access archives in physical and digital forms (see 'Case for Support' and 'Pathways to Impact'), and presents new ways to conceptualise women's film histories by placing the archive and archivist front and centre. It will facilitate new access to the way star legacies are forged within regional spaces, producing rich new understandings of the connections between local history and global Hollywood narratives.

Planned Impact

The following will benefit directly from the research:

1. Collaborating museums and their curators (Tobin and RAMM, Nichols and Topsham Museum, Wickham and BDCM) will benefit from the research and digital outputs, which will instigate change by bringing increased visibility and new forms of access to their collections and curatorial practices. The impact of my project is enabling them to further their educational mission and connect their curatorial practices to outreach. By creating new digital resources for documenting and disseminating archive-based research, the project will create a legacy of the preservation of South West film heritage for future generations of users. The project will use and adapt digital methods for showcasing holdings and curatorial processes that are not easily displayed long-term in physical, permanent exhibition spaces, which has the potential to impact upon the future policies of collaborating institutions for audience engagement and user experience.

2. South West publics will benefit from the digital outputs and exhibitions to give an increased awareness of regional film histories and new access to archival materials. They will benefit from the research by being able to take part in a 2-day public exhibition and academic symposium event hosted at the University of Exeter's Digital Humanities Lab. This will be promoted via the participating museums, via the Vivien Leigh Circle fan club network, and via social media - particularly by engaging South West-based media such as the Express & Echo and Exeter Living Twitter feeds to reach local publics. The exhibition will feature physical archival artefacts and a digital Story Map, allowing users to explore the interconnected histories and geographical journeys of Leigh-related artefacts. The exhibition event will be open to the public with talks from myself as project PI and the project RA, and a roundtable discussion and Q&A with curators from RAMM, Topsham and the BDCM. A segment of the exhibition will be curated by members of the public featuring fan memorabilia (see 'Pathways to Impact' for further detail). South West publics will further benefit from the project by being able to attend a public talk given on the research held at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum in Exeter.

3. Public audiences beyond the South West will benefit from new access to the interactive digital outputs of the project which will give an increased awareness of histories of female stardom. The new StoryMap resource will help bring visibility to South West film heritage for wider audiences, and the promotion of this resource through social media platforms can reach audiences who are not currently engaged directly with South West museums. Broader public audiences will further be able to read about the project research and findings on the project Omeka site and blog output, and use these outputs as a pathway to access and interact with the StoryMap resource. I will bring audiences to the Omeka site by strategically cross-promoting it with a network of selected online platforms (see 'Pathways to Impact').

4. Other museums and archives beyond the immediate project partners who will be able to incorporate aspects of good practice from this research. They will benefit from the project by being able to review the digital outputs of the research as good practice case studies for developing their own curatorial and public engagement practices. I will exploit social media platforms to make the outputs visible to relevant UK museums and archives.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Title Project artwork 
Description I created original artwork for the Reframing Vivien Leigh project. This artwork was used to brand the project on social media and the Omeka site, and to accompany each episode of the project podcast. It was also used in all display materials at the Reframing Vivien Leigh public exhibition event and project launch. 
Type Of Art Artwork 
Year Produced 2020 
Impact Because this artwork has been used consistently across online and in-person public facing events and platforms throughout the grant, it has been seen by a number of different and intersecting audiences and helped created a recognisable brand for the project. 
URL http://reframingvivienleigh.exeter.ac.uk/exhibits/show/artwork
 
Title Reframing Vivien Leigh podcast series 
Description A new podcast series was created as part of the Reframing Vivien Leigh project. The series uses a single artefact from a museum collection in each episode to tell a larger story about its history, what it tells us about Vivien Leigh and her connection to the South West, and what we can learn from it about the work of archivists and museum professionals past and present who have cared for the artefact. Episode 1 focuses on a costume at Topsham Museum in Devon; episode 2 on a broadtail dress held at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum; and episode 3 on a vinyl record held at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum in Exeter. Episode 4 focuses more exclusively on the work of museum and archive professionals and volunteers and their work behind the scenes. Each episode intersperses narration from the project research assistant Becky Rae and interviews with curators and academics and PI Dr Lisa Stead. 
Type Of Art Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) 
Year Produced 2020 
Impact The podcasts have been live for a short period of time thus far and are currently being promoted through our project social media @ReframingVL. This will allow us to capture data about who the podcasts are reaching, combined with statistical data on listeners through Soundcloud, where the podcast is hosted. 
URL http://reframingvivienleigh.exeter.ac.uk/podcast
 
Title Research videos 
Description I created 5 short videos which offered an audiovisual access point to key aspects of the project research. Each short video featured a range of original photograph and digitised artefacts and audio from interviews with curators and researchers. These included: * Phil Wickham on Vivien Leigh's early star image https://youtu.be/iAVRv-n9l54 * A trip to the Two Bridges https://youtu.be/PRKUfxStixk * Shelley Tobin discusses Vivien Leigh's dresses at RAMM https://youtu.be/kasftBAiU5U * Keith Lodwick discusses Leigh Holman https://youtu.be/81DuSZC5oP8 * Liz Ronchetti discusses Dorothy Holman https://youtu.be/MZXaMoDQGyM 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2019 
Impact The videos are featured on the project Omeka site and embedded within the Storymap, enabling users to access them in multiple formats. They are also now hosted on a dedicated YoutTube channel for the project. These have only recently been releases so viewing data can be added once the project concludes later in the year. 
URL https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUp3qg81TEDnDPNB9SuuhvQ
 
Description The award has now concluded. The most significant achievements from the award are as follows:
* Bringing together an international network of scholars, archivists, collectors and public audiences to share ideas and generate new knowledge about stars and archives through the public events hosted by the project. A great deal of this new knowledge has come to focus on South West dress and fashion histories in relation to Vivien Leigh.
* Creating a new digital hub (http://reframingvivienleigh.exeter.ac.uk) for research around Vivien Leigh and her connection to the South West region that is accessible to a wide audience in visual and audio forms.
* Producing new knowledge about and for regional museums and creating new networks between them.
* Creating new networks between public collectors and historians of popular culture and archival institutions in order to preserve material film histories in new ways.
* The creation of a significant new book publication exploring Vivien Leigh from a uniquely archival perspective and making the case for her relevance to contemporary audiences both scholarly and public.
Exploitation Route The findings of the research are accessible via the new digital archive created for the project Omeka site. Because I invited members of the public to digitise their own collections to be hosted on the site, in the coming months these individuals will be able to utilise the interconnected research on the site to add new context to their own artefacts.
The findings of research within collaborating museum institutions is available to those institutions in the form new digital tools, including a Storymap, 3D models, and a podcast series which can be utilised by each institution on site and on their own digital platforms where they can use them in new ways for their own specific audiences.
The project monograph, which is out in March 2021, will be available to scholars in the fields of film history, star studies, archive studies and feminist film historiography as a tool for presenting new interdisciplinary methodologies that might be applied in future research.
Collaborating curators have also expressed their own interest in continuing research methods utilised in the project, with Topsham Museum staff set to visit the V&A archive to conduct further research within their holdings, for example
Sectors Education

Leisure Activities

including Sports

Recreation and Tourism

Culture

Heritage

Museums and Collections

URL http://reframingvivienleigh.exeter.ac.uk
 
Description Non-academic impact can be measured where findings impact collecting policies and acquisitions. For example, members of the public who attended the Reframing Vivien Leigh exhibition event were able to network with curatorial staff from institutions including the V&A and Topsham Museum. As a result, some new archival artefacts have been directly placed within these collections and discussions have begun regarding the placement of other collections which have the potential to expand public knowledge of and access to historical materials from Vivien Leigh's life.
First Year Of Impact 2020
Sector Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural

 
Title Reframing Vivien Leigh Omeka 
Description Omeka site collating archival collections from the project research 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The omeka site is the central hub for the majority of project outputs and has created a significant new interactive public platform collating information and new research about Vivien Leigh in the South West, hosting a wide range of digitised artefacts and exhibitions. The site has created digital tools for collaborating museums The Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Topsham Museum, including 3D models of dress artefacts from their collections and new public-facing tools such as a Storymap and a series of podcasts foregrounding their work and their holdings that can be utilised by them in their own digital and on-site platforms. The site currently hosts 186 catalogued items; 6 collections; 47 tags, and 6 exhibits. The database constitutes a detailed new resource for public and academic users able to access detailed metadata on original archival artefacts connected to the region; to search the database through keywords making their own pathways through the content; to view artefacts in different contexts through exhibitions, Storymap and podcasts outputs, and to interact with images, audio, text, 3D platforms, interactive maps and videos. 
URL http://reframingvivienleigh.exeter.ac.uk
 
Description Collaboration with The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum (BDCM) 
Organisation Bill Douglas Cinema Museum
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution The Reframing Vivien Leigh project created new photography of archive artefacts from the BDCM to populate a new catalogue on the project Omeka site. These images are now available to the BDCM to utilise on their own site. The project created a podcast episode about the BDCM Vivien Leigh holdings featuring curator Phil Wickham which has been made available to the BDCM to utilise on their own website and social media. The project featured a display stand of artefacts from the BDCM in a public exhibition event. This display will remain on public show in the months following the event to promote the collaboration and the holdings of the BDCM (it can be accessed in the Queens Building at the University of Exeter). The curator of the BDCM was included on a panel of guest speakers at the project public exhibition event.
Collaborator Contribution The curator of the BDCM, Dr. Phil Wickham, facilitated access to their collections and shared their knowledge and expertise in providing an interview for a podcast episode for the project. The curator gave the team access to exhibition display resources from the museum and facilitated the use of these materials in the public exhibition event.
Impact * podcast episode * public exhibition at the University of Exeter * new Omeka catalogue of artefacts * ongoing exhibition display case at the University of Exeter
Start Year 2019
 
Description Collaboration with Topsham Museum 
Organisation Topsham Museum
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution The Reframing Vivien Leigh project created 3D digital models of a dress artefact and a display drawer for Topsham Museum. They also created new digital photographs of a range of other artefacts on site, both paper and objects. The project facilitated the acquisition of a new host to display the dress artefact on site at the Museum. The project created a podcast episode and Storymap resource about the museum's Vivien Leigh holdings which are available to be utilised directly by the museum. The project created an academic monograph of 90,000 words featuring a 10,000 word chapter about Topsham Museum, and a copy of the publication will be given to the museum for its collections. The project featured artefacts from the museum in a public exhibition to promote their holdings, and included the volunteer collections manager from the museum as a guest speaker at the event.
Collaborator Contribution Topsham Museum facilitated access to their archives and online catalogues, and facilitated on-site photography by the Reframing Vivien Leigh project team. Museum staff gave interviews for the project podcasts and were present at the public exhibition offering their expertise as guest speakers and bringing artefacts from the museum to the site of the exhibition. Museum staff also offered feedback on draft content for the outputs described above.
Impact * Podcast episode * public exhibition * Storymap * x2 digital 3D models * Chapter in an academic monograph (10,000 words) * new digital collection on project Omeka site * public talk at Topsham Museum
Start Year 2019
 
Description Collaboration with the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) 
Organisation Royal Albert Memorial Museum
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution The Reframing Vivien Leigh project created new digital 3D models of two dress artefacts held on site at RAMM. It created an original podcast episode about curatorial practice at RAMM and their Vivien Leigh holdings. It created exhibition content about RAMM and its Vivien Leigh holdings for a public exhibition event. It featured curatorial experts from RAMM as guest speakers at this public exhibition event. It created a new catalogue of images and video content promoting the work of RAMM and their collections on the project Omeka site. It created a new exhibit about the history of Vivien Leigh artefacts on the Omeka site, which, along with the podcast and 3D models, are available to be utilise by RAMM on site and in their own digital media. Information about RAMM and its Vivien Leigh holdings features in a 10,000 word chapter as part of an academic monograph output from the project. A copy of this monograph will be made available to RAMM upon publication.
Collaborator Contribution Assistant Curator Shelley Tobin, an expert in dress history at RAMM, provided expertise and knowledge in facilitating the creation of 3D models on site at RAMM. A conservator mounted dress items for photography as part of this process. Shelley Tobin further facilitated access to their off-site storage facilities and gave a podcast interview about these processes, aspects of which also appear in the book chapter described above. Tobin was also present at the exhibition event and participated in a public talk and Q&A session at this event.
Impact * podcast episode * Omeka collection * public talk and Q&A session at the Reframing Vivien Leigh project launch event at the University of Exeter * 3d models of archive artefacts * 10,000 book chapter in academic monograph
Start Year 2019
 
Title 3D models of museum artefacts 
Description Photogrammetry of museum artefacts to create interactive 3D models 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2020 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact 3D models of 3 historical dress artefacts belonging to Vivien Leigh based at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Topsham Museum and a drawer display of other Vivien Leigh artefacts from Topsham Museum were created in collaboration with the Digital Humanities Lab at the University of Exeter. These models allow users to interact with museum artefacts that are usually kept behind glass or in storage in order to protect and preserve them. Users are now able to get very close to the details and textures of the fabrics, see marks and stains on the garments up close, and rotate each item from all angles to gain perspectives not available when displayed within museum cabinets. In turn, because the 3D models are hosted on the project Omeka site, users have new opportunities to make connections between these models and other related museum collections and artefacts linked through the other digital collections and research stories hosted on the site. 
URL http://reframingvivienleigh.exeter.ac.uk/exhibits/show/3d-models
 
Title Reframing Vivien Leigh Storymap 
Description An interactive digital map built with StoryMapJS was created in collaboration with the Digital Humanities Lab at the University of Exeter to allow users to explore the stories and themes surrounding the archival materials from the Reframing Vivien Leigh project. The map includes text, images, moving image and audio annotations tracing the history of one specific museum artefact from Hollywood to the South West of England, featuring excerpts from curators and archivists. 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2020 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact The development of this output has enabled Topsham Museum to display the history of one of their important artefacts in a new, interactive way. This enables public audiences to interact with museum artefacts up close and in detail through the images and 3D models included in the Storymap, and to place individual artefacts within broader historical and cultural contexts. It make visible connections between Topsham Museum and a much larger global history of film and film stardom and costume history specifically. 
URL http://144.173.201.14/js/storymap.js/reframingvivienleigh/
 
Description Audiovisual Cultures podcast episode 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact I was a guest on the Audiovisual Cultures podcast for an episode dedicated to the Reframing Vivien Leigh project research. The Audiovisual Cultures podcast speaks with artists and scholars in the Humanities about their work. Appearing on the podcast helped bring greater visibility to the Reframing Vivien Leigh project and connect with academic audiences in the Humanities and in Film Studies more broadly by showcasing the research process and research questions underpinning the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.patreon.com/posts/audiovisual-49-28884448
 
Description Created and hosted international symposium 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact 60 people attended an international academic symposium titled 'Stardom and the Archive' at the University of Exeter, Feb 8-9 2020, which I organised as part of the Reframing Vivien Leigh project. Presenting delegates and keynotes included speakers from England, Wales, Scotland, Australia, America, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic and Turkey.
Delegates included academics, early career researchers, PGR students (5 of which were awarded bursaries to help with their travel and accommodation costs), archivists, film critics, collectors, UG and PGT students, and members of the general public. Two keynote addresses were delivered by leading scholars from the UK and Australia in the fields of star studies and archive studies. 36 papers were given across the 2 day event with several papers from major figures in the field and work from emergent scholars and ECRs foregrounded.
I also created x5 postgraduate bursaries to support the attendance of ECR scholars at a value of £180 per bursary. These were awarded to delegates in advance of the event to enable them to attend without incurring costs that have to be retrospectively claimed. This was done to address issues of precocity in ECR academia.
The conference will result in extended international networking between scholars and created new interdisciplinary links between film studies, archive studies and archival practice. As a result of the event, a proposal for special issue for the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television is being prepared by PI Lisa Stead. A write up about the event has been featured on the International Association for Media History site: http://iamhist.net/2020/02/stardom-and-the-archive-symposium-report/
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/stardomandthearchive/
 
Description Created and hosted public exhibition 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A public exhibition was held on 9 February 2020 showcasing artefacts from collaborating and connected museums, including The Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Topsham Museum, the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, and The Fashion Museum Bath. The exhibition included a range of digital outputs from the project with which visitors could interact. One section of the exhibition featured content contributed and curated by members of the public from their own private collections, including photographs, creative work, a painting, a scrapbook, and letters.
60 free tickets were offered for the event via Eventbrite (which sold out), with other members of the public visiting the venue throughout the afternoon.
The event was free and open to the general public and included a series of public talks and question and answer sessions featuring curators, fan club members, and a creative writer. Participants were able to interact directly with curators and museum professionals in posing questions and engaging in discussion and were given information about accessing project outputs after the event in a sustained display space with the University of Exeter and through online platforms created by the project, including podcasts, video content, a new online catalogue of artefacts, and 3D models.
The general public were able to interact with a range of new digital displays and resources and interact with original and reproduction artefacts and engage with displays charting the research process of the project. Several members of the public also brought along original materials which we digitised for free on site.
Audience members included fan collectors, members of the public from Devon and elsewhere in the UK, visitors from Australia and America, archivists and museum professionals, UG and PGT students, professional actors, PGR students, academics, researchers, and a member of Vivien Leigh's family.
As a result of the event, exhibition resources will now be made freely available online for existing a new audiences to interact with. The exhibition will also feature in a smaller format on display for the next few months with the University of Exeter. Plans have also now been made to film with local television on site at Museum partners to promote the work featured in the exhibition to wider audience.
During the Q&A session and through feedback forms collected at the event, participants reported that they learned new things about Vivien Leigh through the exhibition, and expressed a desire for further work to be undertaken on her life and career. Two audience members were also able to network with the curators present, and some original archival materials were donated to one of the museums directly at the event, with another collection offered to one of the other museum, for which talks are ongoing. The event thus facilitated original networks to be forged between public audiences and heritage institutions, and enhanced the collections of these institutions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reframing-vivien-leigh-project-launch-exhibition-tickets-77094753483
 
Description Guest on Here's Looking at You podcast 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Pi Dr Lisa Stead appeared as a guest on the Here's Looking at You podcast. This podcasts focuses on women, bodies, performance and sexuality, created and presented by Dr. Ellen Wright at DeMonfort University.
Appearing on the podcast helped bring greater visibility to the Reframing Vivien Leigh project and connect with academic audiences in the Humanities and in Film Studies more broadly by showcasing the research process and research questions underpinning the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://hereslookingatyousite.wordpress.com/2019/05/24/podcast16a-girl-alone-in-the-world-has-to-kee...
 
Description Media interview 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Media interview planned for 18 March 2020 with local television news in the South West of England. Interview to take place on site within holdings of Royal Albert Memorial Museum to discuss the project and showcase some of the archive materials I have been working with.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Reframing Vivien Leigh twitter feed 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact I created a twitter feed for the Reframing Vivien Leigh project in February 2019, which was maintained by the project Research Assistant across the main section of the grant. The feed has disseminated information about the research project as it has progressed, offering text and images of the research process and a look behind the scenes in various museums and archives. The feed was also used to live tweet the Stardom and the Archive conference and Reframing Vivien Leigh exhibition launch event to make both accessible to audiences unable to attend in person. The feed has generated ongoing discussion about research findings with public audiences who interact with the account, and with collectors and curators who interact with the account, and with twitter users directly commenting about having acquired new knowledge about Vivien Leigh and her South West connections by interacting with the twitter posts on the feed. It has resulted in the co-creation of knowledge where public users have added additional information about artefacts the project has been researching. It also helped generate an audience for the Reframing Vivien Leigh exhibition and launch event.
To date, the feed has 425 followers and has posted 559 tweets. The most recent analytics for the last 28 day period note 2196 tweet impressions; 391 profile visits, and 24 mentions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://twitter.com/ReframingVL