Introducing our new animation
Today we launched a new animated explainer film to explain who we are and what we do.
Suicide is an enormously difficult subject to grapple with so we enlisted the help of two members of our Lived Experience Panel, Jenn and Steph, to ensure the animation addresses the issues they feel most strongly about.
Jenn lost her brother Calum to suicide and Steph has attempted to take her own life over 20 times and we wanted to empower them to tell people how relevant and important our work is.
So this was very much a co-production from the outset.
We wanted to use simple, plain language that related to their own personal experiences, and so we worked with Jenn and Steph to develop a concept which would use their own conversations to explain what we do.
Then we built a storyboard, wrote the script inspired by their real-life conversation, voiced it (recording their voices via Zoom and Smartphones) and designed and built the animation — it even includes life-like illustrations of Jenn and Steph!
The animation begins with Jenn and Steph sitting on a park bench introducing themselves and their story. Then it moves to the sky, towards the stars, as a nod to our optimistic hope that we can reach the heights needed to prevent suicide.
It ends by looking to the work that we plan to do in the future as there’s still so much more to do and it reinforces the important message that, ‘Now More than ever — Every Life Matters.’
Jenn and Steph were delighted with the animation and said their conversation sounded very natural and realistic and you wouldn’t know it had been scripted.
They were maybe being a little kind, but we hope this animation helps people to understand the scale and depth of work taking place at NSPLG, as we support the Scottish Government’s delivery of Scotland’s Suicide Prevention Action Plan, Every Life Matters.
Well over 2,000 people have also signed up to our movement, United to Prevent Suicide. If you haven’t already, please consider doing so.
If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health or feeling suicidal, please don’t hesitate to ask for help by contacting your GP, NHS24 on 111, Samaritans on 116 123 or Breathing Space on 0800 83 58 87.
