An electronic brain scan would seem the stuff that would resonate with engineers and medical technicians, but not necessarily register on the emotional barometer of everyday people.
However the scan that unfolds on this screen is moving, touching and alarming all at once.
Amidst the animated brain waves, we make out the outline of a couple kissing.
Next, a hand places a wedding ring on another’s finger.
The brainwaves surround yet another distinct image, the profile of a pregnant woman.
This is soon followed by an adult hoisting up a baby.
A couple is then seen dancing.
And then presumably that same animated pair–now older as suggested by their slower, more deliberate gait–walk off into the proverbial subset.
Finally we see a parting of their hands–the male hand being the same one that placed the wedding ring on his bride’s finger a generation ago.
A super then appears on screen, which reads, “Protect life’s memories.”
This is followed by a call for us to support Alzheimer’s research.
An end tag carries the logo for the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia, accompanied by its website address, alzheimerbc.org.
Steve Gordon of Untitled Films, Toronto, directed and shot this PSA, titled “Brain Scan,” teaming with Toronto-based animation shop Hatch Studios for Vancouver, B.C. agency Rethink Canada.
Larissa Ulisko was the design director for Hatch Studios. Editor was Christina Humphries of Rooster Post Production, Toronto.
Time to Rethink
The project brief called for bringing awareness to the importance of research against Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. So Rethink looked for a way to combine the science of research with an emotional story about the effects of memory loss. Thus the use of a brain scan to display a lifetime of memories that would be lost to Alzheimer’s.
Upon initially seeing the script, director Gordon related, “It hit me right away and I thought what a clever, simple, relevant idea. It was the simplicity, honesty and the wonderful idea that made me want to do it.
“So the challenge,” he continued, “was how do we create it, how do we make it work in 30 seconds and how do we make it look real. So we, being Rooster Post Production and Hatch Studios and myself, watched hundreds of YouTube videos on brain scans and decided the best way to make this work was to shoot all the scenes as silhouettes, but then again shoot them in such a way that the one scene would transition into the other, then we had to frame the shots so we had enough space to show the whole brain and they way it worked as an MRI.”
Another prime inherent challenge was reflecting a lifetime of significant memories in such a tight time frame. Gordon said the daunting task centered on “how do we show a life in 30 seconds and show the scan from the time it starts to photograph to the end. This was another challenge, because 30 seconds is 30 seconds and the transitions and the time it took takes a lot more than 30 seconds, so we had to drop quite a few scenes, but had to be sure that the idea of one’s memorable moments in life still came across. So from the time we shot it, till the time it was finally approved took over three months, but well worth it.”
As for the disciplines entailed, the job was described by Gordon as “animation heavy. But as much as animation heavy, it’s a process of layers, starting with shooting on ALEXA–and the directorial process was harder than any other, because I had to think about the editing and transitions whilst shooting and when we cut out some scenes we had to rethink.”
Rethink creative director Ian Grais noted that while animation heavy, Gordon’s live action was an important element. “The live action helped us in terms of realism and the movement of the human characters within the brain scan. Rooster and Hatch then brought those scenes together with the animation.
Gordon added that the image had to be degraded to make it look authentic. “This was tough for me, always wanting the best image quality, but being true to a brain scan.”
The PSA was launched earlier this month to coincide with the start of Brain Awareness Week, which took place March 12-18.
