ITV’s “Britain Get Talking” mental health campaign returns with this film showing the interaction between father and child. It uses subtitles to reveal how they both really feel as opposed to what they say to one another, reminding the audience of how difficult it can be to open up.
Titled “The Break Through,” the film–directed by thirtytwo (Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace) via Anonymous Content for agency Uncommon Creative Studio–begins with the father watching TV as his young daughter arrives home from school. He offers her a cup of tea and begins to ask her questions about her day. The girl doesn’t seem like her usual self, looking down at her phone and picking at her nails, avoiding eye contact. As her father begins to ask about her troubles at school, his daughter assures him “she’s fine”–though her body language and the subtitles on screen suggest otherwise.
Her father can pick up on the mixed signals so continues to try to connect with her, asking more questions, but still getting nowhere. As the two sit in an awkward silence, eventually her dad pauses the TV, turns to his daughter and lets her know he is there for her to talk to no matter what. After trying again and again, finally he breaks through to her. We see the girl become relieved and begin to really say what’s on her mind. While young people struggling with their mental health may not want to open up until they’re ready, we see that in this case the multiple attempts her dad made, without giving up, helped her to talk about her worries.
The film aims to give adults the hope that they can break through to their teens and the wider campaign seeks to give them the time and the tools to help have those conversations.
Almost half of young people in the U.K. struggle with anxiety and more than 400,000 children and young people a month are being treated for mental health problems–the highest number on record. This new campaign, supported by Mind and YoungMinds, and SAMH in Scotland, aims to address the fact that even though young people are carrying a lot on their shoulders, they often struggle to talk about it. Its core message is how important it is for adults to keep trying, because it takes time to break through.
CreditsClient ITV Creative Agency Uncommon Creative Studio Production Anonymous Content thirtytwo, director; George Saunders, producer; David Faulkes, DP. Casting Karmel Chocrane, casting director. Editorial Assembly Rooms Sam Rice Edwards, editor; Phoebe Armstrong Beaver, producer. Postproduction Time Based Arts Chris Aliano, producer. Audio Soundtree Henning Knoepfel, recording engineer; Neil Athale, producer.
NHS England, M&C Saatchi UK, Director Tom Tagholm Team On PSA Highlighting The Overlooked Signs Of A Stroke
National Health Service (NHS) England has unveiled a multichannel campaign, “Act FAST,” to raise awareness of the individual signs of a stroke and get people to call 999 as soon as they suspect they may be experiencing any one symptom. The push, which is part of the ongoing “Help Us, Help You” campaign, was developed in partnership with M&C Saatchi UK.
The campaign depicts everyday situations where everything might seem relatively normal, but where there’s the sign of someone experiencing a stroke.
A key component of the campaign is this :30--directed by Tom Tagholm of Various Films--which sets up the idea that initially, a stroke might not seem like much, highlighting key symptoms: from struggling to use a paint roller, to not being able to smile when watching TV, to slurring your speech when reading a story to your grandchild. The PSA emphasizes that time is critical, ending with the line: “Face or arm or speech, at the first sign, it’s time to call 999.”
Jo Bacon, Group CEO, M&C Saatchi UK, said, “We want to ensure people take action on the first symptom, rather than waiting for more conclusive signs. To help them understand that even when everything seems normal, something serious might be happening.”
Matt Lee, executive creative director, M&C Saatchi UK, commented: “This is important work. We wanted to explore that precise moment when your world shifts, quietly yet powerfully, off its axis during a stroke. We highlight how a tiny external moment can actually be seismic—an extraordinary gear change, framed in a really ordinary way.”
Director Tagholm shared, “My Dad suffered a stroke a few years ago and was saved from the worst by acting quickly, and by the work of the NHS. So there’s... Read More