Light in the darkness for children who are feeling unwell
Film for Örebro Municipality
The assignment
Idea and planning
Script
Illustration
Animation
Film production
A million heavy feelings. And a tangled lump in the stomach. That’s what it can feel like for children who live in a family where someone drinks too much alcohol, abuses medication, or takes drugs.
But there is help available.
And the feelings can become easier to bear.
Together with Örebro Municipality, we at Byn have produced a film that will get more children to come to Sputnik. And dare to talk about what feels difficult when a parent abuses.
Sputnik is a support organization within Örebro Municipality. Here they offer conversation and group interventions for children, young people and parents who are relatives of people with addiction problems. Previously, Sputnik has made information films aimed at adults, but now it was time to turn to younger children.
The purpose of the film was of course to tell about Sputnik, but also to convey understanding and spread hope. Especially by showing that the child is not alone and encouraging them to “dare to talk about it”.
We at Byn have developed the idea, script, illustrations and animation. All in close collaboration with curators at Sputnik.
In the assignment, we were entrusted with developing a completely new illustration style and a style that would appeal to children between 7 and 12 years old. Here it was important for both us and the client to find an expression that gave room for many different emotions; a style that could feel both serious and playful at the same time.
The perfectly soft and trusting voice belongs to one of the stars at Online Voices and the sound design was handled by our friends at Lavette Film.
The long film is mainly shown in various contexts where an adult – for example, social workers or counselors from Sputnik – meets children. However, there are also short versions for social media.
