Powerful Family Action Ad Urges Families Not to Face Their Monsters Alone
Jan 10 2019
Family issues manifest themselves as monsters in new commercial directed by Great Guns’ Duncan Christie for Family Action through And Rising
Great Guns’ Duncan Christie directs a powerful new campaign, ‘Family Monsters’, for the charity, Family Action. The film compellingly combines live-action and animation to create awareness of the breadth of family problems that the charity helps people to deal with.
Creatively devised by And Rising, the quietly gripping 90-second film shows families living with a physical manifestation of their problems: a dark and ever-present monster. These shadowy, animated beings observe silently as each family struggles with isolating issues such as post-natal depression, poverty, alcoholism, and communication breakdown.
Fresh from gaining global accolades (LIAs, CLIOs, The One Show) for his Breast Cancer Now campaign, ‘2050’, Great Guns director Duncan Christie was tasked with bringing this idea to life. Duncan comments: “A key aim of the film is to reduce the stigma around these issues and get people talking - something us Brits aren’t always so good at! It was important that the film felt relatable for families from all different socio-economic backgrounds across the UK, not just for the most vulnerable people Family Action work with.”
With authenticity being a major consideration, extensive preproduction was completed ahead of the two-day shoot which took place in South London. Duncan and And Rising Creatives, Julie
Duncan and cinematographer, Nanu Segal (Bohemian Rhapsody), worked in close collaboration with BlindPig, the animation arm of Absolute Post, to create a seamless combination of live-action and animation elements. Commenting on the process, Duncan says: “This was the first time I had worked extensively with animation. The amount of work that goes into combining live-action and animation is huge. Of course, the film had to be carefully storyboarded but I still tried to leave some degree of spontaneity on the day to capture moments that felt off the cuff and impromptu. Retaining an observational feeling can be difficult when you’re working with animation, but BlindPig’s presence on the shoot meant we could discuss the impact of any changes on the animation.”
The team avoided horror film territory when
‘Family Monsters’ is now online and in Picturehouse Cinemas across the UK.
CLIENT
BRAND: Family Action
CREATIVE AGENCY
CREATIVE AGENCY: And Rising
STRATEGIST: Jack Carrington
PRODUCER: James Faupel
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Will Thacker
CREATIVE PARTNER: Anna Carpen
DESIGN: Samuel Guillotel, Sam Barcham & Matt Longley
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Emma French
CREATIVES: Julie Herskin & Scarlett Montanaro
PRODUCTION COMPANY
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Great Guns
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Laura Gregory
DIRECTOR: Duncan Christie
PRODUCER: Tim Francis
WARDROBE: Joseph Crone
OFFLINE
EDITOR: Max Windows @ Stitch
POST PRODUCTION / VFX
PRODUCER: Belinda Grew
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Ric Comline
2D : Elliott Platt
ANIMATORS: Dominica Harrison, Niall High & Christine Peters
ANIMATION: BlindPig @ Absolute Post
MUSIC
MUSIC : Johnny Parry
SOUND
SOUND DESIGNER: Jon Clarke @ Factory Studios
OTHER
COLOURIST: Matt Turner