The power of an individual to make a positive difference in the world is attainable nirvana for the idealist and Polyanna-like foolishness to the cynic. This 90-second film for Amnesty International makes a strong case for the former even in the face of atrocities being committed all over the globe.
We open on a young African American man who smiles confidently into the camera after setting his bicycle aside. Then in what seems a world away we see news footage of a man who is about to be lynched. Suddenly the African-American enters the scene and lifts the noose off the intended victim’s neck, saving his life.
Next an elderly woman intervenes, holding back a line of militia who had been beating demonstrators in the streets. To see this gray-haired, rather frail looking woman stop the violence is an inspiring sight.
A middle-aged man then comes to the rescue in another broadcast news feed scenario, untying a prisoner’s hands and removing his blindfold.
Then another man leaves his world to free people from a dark prison cell.
A pregnant woman exits the safety of her home to stop the beating of an innocent man halfway around the world.
Next a woman in a business suit performs the heroic feet of standing between a firing squad and its target, preventing a foreign government-sponsored execution.
And finally a gal in a jogger’s sweats ends her workout in a lovely neighborhood park to go to far more dangerous turf where she takes a semiautomatic weapon away from a child. This after we see assorted scenes of children being armed and deployed as soldiers.
The camera returns to this last heroine, at which time we see a supered message that simply reads, “You Are Powerful.”
This short for Amnesty International–depicting everyday people briefly leaving their comfortable environments, entering scenes of violence and then helping to stop the atrocities–was directed by Kim Gehrig of Academy Films, London, for Mother, London.
Marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, You Are Powerful is Amnesty International’s brand film and is being screened in movie theaters across the U.K. The piece underscores the good that can be done by those who contribute money, time and resources to Amnesty International.
All the action in the short unfolds to the moving accompaniment of the song “Until the Day is Done,” donated by REM.
Post foursome The seven scenes bringing ordinary folk to the rescue in extraordinary real-life news footage situations were divided among four post houses: Smoke & Mirrors, New York and London; Framestore, London; and Rushes, London.
Collaboration among the houses was paramount as the central idea relied heavily on post, compositing hero characters into news footage so they appear to interact with the events. Fifty days of post work were required but only 11 days were available.
Sean Broughton, creative director for Smoke & Mirrors, New York, related, “Interaction was a key aspect of the film, so each ‘hero’ was shot against green screen, with the distance traveled, terrain, camera heights and angles calculated prior to shoot. Lighting was matched to the pre-selected background scenes and everything was shot with locked-off camera in HD to allow for movement later in post. Kim [Gehrig] wanted to make sure the heroes stood out, so it was an old VHS machine that finished the catalog of work executed in each scene. The hero character was played off to the old tape format and then matted back in.”
Coming together Ed Sayer, Mother’s producer on the job, said, “We gained the eclectic opinions of all this top post talent and when anyone talked, everyone listened. So the film received the benefit of all that experience and the joy of all that talent.”
The Mother creatives were Ed Warren and Pablo Escobar.
Lead VFX artist for Rushes was Rufus Blackwell. Framestores’ Flame artist was Stephane Allender.
The DP was Mattias Montero. Editor was Joe Guest of Final Cut, London.
