Powerful animation exploring mental health wins Film of the Month

We are delighted to announce that our latest winner of Film of the Month is A Completely Accurate and Realistic Depiction of a Serious Mental Health Crisis, by Oliver, aged 17 from New Milton, Hampshire. Our Special Mention this month goes to Gerard, a film made by eight young people aged between 17-19, from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Through an arresting blend of sound and striking imagery, this month's film offers a powerfully intimate window into a young person's experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Read on to hear more from Oliver about his winning film.

How does it feel to win Film of the Month?

I'm astonished that I've won Film of the Month! It's great for young, passionate filmmakers to be recognised, to help them break into the industry. And it means a lot to put out a film that may reach out to people on the topic of mental health. This gives me the motivation to keep making films, as I am only at the beginning of my career in animation. It's mind-blowing!

What/who are your filmmaking inspirations?

My main inspiration for making animated films came from watching animated short films that Channel 4 used to show back in the 1990s as part of a showcase called Four-Mations. 

Thanks to Channel 4's commitment to animated films and documentaries, I was exposed to some of animation's most recognisable talent; Nick Park, Peter Lord, David Sproxton, Richard Starzak, Peter Peake, Sam Fell, Jan Švankmajer, Phil Mulloy, Sylvain Chomet, Aleksandr Petrov, Bob Godfrey, Daniel Greaves, Michaela Pavlátová, Candy Guard, Steven Harding-Hill, Geoff Dunbar, Paul Driessen, Andrew McEwan, Luis Cook, Mario Cavalli, Joanna Quinn, Run Wrake, Ken Lidster, Zlatin Radev, David Anderson, Paul Berry, Erica Russell, Barry J.C. Purves, Clive Walley, Alison Snowden and David Fine. 

There are lots of other animated films that have also inspired me, most notably Watership Down - one of the best animated films I've ever seen.

What were the challenges in making this film, and how did you overcome them?

The scene with the smiley face and the hand coming out of the computer took quite a while to make, as there were a lot of technical aspects with animating a scene like this. I created a smiley face lolly stick puppet, then I made a 3D paper cut-out computer. After some careful thought, I decided to animate the smiley face and the hand separately, and then, after several retakes, I had to turn each frame of animation into transparent PNG files. There have been a few other challenging scenes, but none were as technically challenging as that particular scene.

What was your filmmaking process? How did you go about creating this film?

The film was entirely made using cut-out animation with a few scenes done using pixilation. Each character and object was first drawn on paper, then I would either cut the drawings out and stick them onto some paper and take a photo, or, when the characters are moving or doing something, I would take a photo and turn each individual drawing into transparent PNG files, along with adding the shadows.

What did you enjoy most about making the film?

I enjoy getting to see the finished film because I can see all of my hard work pay off in the end. It's also fun for me to rewatch my film to see how much I've accomplished over the course of a few hard-working months.

What would you do differently next time?

I have always been open to trying out different styles, mediums and techniques of animation. Whether it would be stop-motion, CGI, hand-drawn animation, paint-on-glass animation, blending live-action with animation, I have got a bunch of ideas that could potentially be made using all sorts of different animation styles.

What message would you like audiences to take from watching this film?

The internet can be a dangerous place, because while there's been a lot of good things on the internet, there's also been a lot of bad things that could lead you into so many dark places. It's important to get a balance in your life, where computers don't have to distract you from real human interactions. The internet is important as a means of communication but it should never, ever replace real human interaction.

Intrusive thoughts can be a real nightmare, but it's important not to suffer alone and to reach out for help as early as you can to get the best outcome, whether it's from your friends, your family, a team of professionals, or a mixture of all.

What are you working on next?

My next project is a series of five short animated films inspired by Aardman and their incredible collection of animated productions. The project is called "Aardthology", and it combines their trademark plasticine stop-motion animation with different techniques to make each film stand out. I am currently working on the fifth and final film from the series, Red Wine, which is about an abandoned machine that powers up by itself after getting an idea about a new drink. I hope to get the Aardthology films out on bowtieanimation's YouTube channel this Christmas.

Special Mention - Gerard

Every month, we select another film we feel deserves to be celebrated alongside the winner. This month, we are delighted to give our Special Mention to Gerard, a suspenseful and mysterious film made by 8 young people, aged between 17-19, from Belfast.

"A man called Mark who is currently experiencing a mid life crisis, looks under his table to find a mysterious man sat there. His name is Gerard."