Title | BELIEVE IN ME |
Brand | BARNARDO'S |
Product/Service | BARNARDO'S |
Category |
A11. Visual Effects |
Entrant
|
FCB INFERNO London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Idea Creation
|
FCB INFERNO London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
PR
|
FCB INFERNO London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Production
|
ROGUE FILMS London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Production 2
|
FINAL CUT London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Production 3
|
THE MILL London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Production 4
|
FACTORY London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Credits
Owen Lee |
FCB Inferno |
Chief Creative Officer |
Guy Hobbs |
FCB Inferno |
Creative Director |
Ben Edwards |
FCB Inferno |
Creative Director |
Jayshree Viswanathan |
FCB Inferno |
Copywriter |
Chelsey Redshaw |
FCB Inferno |
Art Director |
Helena Georghiou |
FCB Inferno |
Business Director |
Jack Steer |
FCB Inferno |
Senior Account Manager |
Jessie Landers |
FCB Inferno |
Senior Account Director |
Helen St Quintin |
FCB Inferno |
Strategy Director |
Sam Brown |
Rogue Films |
Director |
James Howland |
Rogue Films |
Executive Producer |
Emma Butterworth |
Rogue Films |
Producer |
Devia Gurjar |
Barnardo's |
Director of Marketing, Brand & Communications |
Sian Beveridge |
Barnardo's |
Brand Marketing Manager |
Write a short summary of what happens in the film
A 12-year-old schoolgirl is being stalked by a pack of hyenas. They snap jaws through her letterbox, preventing her leaving home. A VO gives us her perspective. Her school locker contents are strewn across the floor while they cackle, and she hurries past a playground fence as they stare menacingly. It becomes clear the hyenas are a visual metaphor for school bullies, who are the cause of her anxiety. After they chase her home, and hatefully message her into the night, the film reaches breaking point. Sound builds to an unbearable pitch and her bedroom lights black out. The scene changes: she’s in a warm, sunny Barnardo’s centre. We realise she’s with a Barnardo’s counsellor, and the VO we’ve heard is actually her conversation with him. We learn that with Barnardo’s support, she’s now learning to manage her anxiety, and is able to look forward with renewed confidence and hope.
Cultural / Context information for the jury
Barnardo’s is the UK’s largest children’s charity. This film marks a new chapter in the ‘Believe In Me’ creative platform, which strategically recasts the young people that Barnardo’s helps in a more positive and empowered way. Instead of showing them as victims, they were portrayed as resilient individuals who, with expert support and care, can overcome even the worst circumstances. The ‘Hyenas’ film takes this a step further, by tackling the assumption that a so-called ‘Barnardo’s child’ only comes from an abusive or troubled home, and makes Barnardo’s role in the child’s healing process more explicit. The subject matter reflects the vital support Barnardo’s offers to young people with mental health problems, at a time when 60% of young people across England do not receive treatment for their condition, despite being at risk.
Tell the jury about the visual effects and summarise any relevant challenges or techniques.
The key objective of our VFX was to seamlessly blend the real world of the film, with the CGI world of the hyenas. To create empathy for our child, we kept VFX as realistic as possible. We ‘cast’ each hyena based on a real-world counterpart, and shot safari-park footage to inform their actions on camera. This ensures the hyenas look photo-real, and their mannerisms are true to behaviour in their natural habitat. On location we shot with a life-size taxidermy model to accurately light scenes. Each hyena was built from the inside out in post-production. A big challenge was accurately establishing the hyenas in quick shots to dramatise the peril our child feels. So we focused on specific actions that conveyed their menacing nature without feeling gratuitous or fantastical. This helps connect viewers to our child’s experience, irrespective of their own experience of anxiety.