U.S. nonprofit One Love have launched a new PSA entitled ‘Behind the Post’. The PSA aims to raise awareness of abusive relationships, and to highlight the difference between how people portray their lives online and the reality of the situation.
The initial film is directed by Rachel McDonald of Tool North America and has post-production by Framestore. Thge main PSA tells the story of Will and Zoe (above), it portrays their relationship and hints of signs of trouble early on but shows how the portrayal on social media doesn’t match the reality. Will is shown as a bit unstable and throughout the short film we start to worry a bit more about Zoe and the state of the relationship. Throughout the film we see their online and socxial media pists which seem to contradict what we are starting to see.
The second film portrays a gay relationship between Brad and Bryan which follows a similar pattern to the Will and Zoe, with the reality showcasing a different viewpoint to their online portrayal.
The video launches online with the 10 individual vignettes across One Love’s social channels, and available on their wesbite .
The website invites readers to explore the 10 warning signs of an unhealthy relationship that are featured in the film:
Jealousy
An emotion that everyone experiences, jealousy becomes unhealthy when someone lashes out or tries to control you because of it. Examples can be getting upset when you text or hang out with people your partner feels threatened by, accusing you of flirting or cheating, being possessive over you or even going so far as to stalk you.
Intensity
Having really extreme feelings or over-the-top behavior that feels like too much. Examples are rushing the pace of a relationship, always wanting to see you and talk to you, and feeling like someone is obsessed with you.
Manipulation
When a partner tries to influence your decisions, actions or emotions. Manipulation is not always easy to spot, but some examples are convincing you to do things you wouldn’t normally feel comfortable with, ignoring you until they get their way, and using gifts and apologies to influence your decisions or get back in your good graces.
Isolation
Keeping you away from friends, family, or other people. Examples can be when your partner makes you choose between them and your friends, insisting you spend all your time with them, making you question your own judgement of friends and family, and making you feel dependent on them for money, love or acceptance.
Sabotage
Purposely ruining your reputation, achievements or success. Examples can be making you miss work, school or practice, keeping you from getting school work done, talking about you behind your back or starting rumors, and threatening to share private information about you.
Belittling
Making you feel bad about yourself. Examples can be calling you names, making rude remarks about who you hang out with, your family or what you look like, and making fun of you – even if it’s played off as just a joke.
Guilting
Making you feel guilty or responsible for your partner’s actions. Examples can be making you feel responsible for their happiness, making you feel like everything is your fault, threatening to hurt themselves or others if you don’t do as they say or stay with them, pressuring you to do anything sexual you’re not comfortable with.
Volatility
Unpredictable overreactions that make you feel like you need to walk on eggshells around them or do things to keep them from lashing out. Examples can be mood swings, losing control of themselves by getting violent or yelling, threatening to hurt you or destroy things, and making you feel afraid of them. This can also be lots of drama or ups and downs in a relationship.
Deflecting Responsibility
Making excuses for their behavior. Examples can be blaming you, other people or past experiences for their actions, using alcohol or drugs as an excuse, using mental health issues or past experiences (like a cheating ex or divorced parents) as a reason for unhealthy behavior.
Betrayal
When your partner acts differently with you versus how they act when you’re not around. Examples can be lying to you, purposely leaving you out or not telling you things, being two-faced, acting differently around friends, or cheating while in a relationship with you.
One Love is taking the campaign to high schools and colleges to be included in their curriculum along with a “Behind The Post” discussion guide.
Framestore’s Contribution
Framestore covered their contribution to this campaign their website:
Framestore’s Design Studio created 3D text designs for signs such as ‘Jealousy’, ‘Guilting’ and ‘Isolation’, and overlaid them into the environments of the scenarios within the films. The longer form videos also included user-interface designs from Framestore to juxtapose the couple’s previously smitten text messages and social media posts, which only masked the underlying issues.
For Framestore’s Design Director Anthony Gibbs, the challenge came in balancing the subject matter and designs with sensitivity. ‘We didn’t want to distract from the subject matter’, says Gibbs. ‘Instead we worked to find an elegant way to incorporate the titles and the UI, without adding too many effects. It was important they sat naturally in the environments, to beautifully and subtly complement the nicely shot plates.
Framestore utilized the Element 3D Video Copilot plugin from After Effects to create the 3D text whilst lighting, rendering and compositing at the same time. Texture patterns were mapped onto the 3D, which was then kerned. The fluid process allowed Framestore to get the perfect kerning for the type and roll the content into lighting and rendering most efficiently. Foundry’s Nuke software was used to track the text within the live-action shot.
