The animations were based on interviews with three young people who had experienced issues with drugs and alcohol.
We spoke them about some of their lowest moments and heard about how they had found support from The Base.
These three young people have since gone on to achieve a lot for themselves and their families, eventually becoming peer mentors to help others experiencing difficulties.
They visited the studio and met with us several times, they were so positive and inspiring - we loved spending time with them.
We recorded the audio in the recording space at Hoot Creative Arts in Huddersfield supported by the wonderful Angie Schofield who brought biscuits and tissues (Kath and Angie needed the tissues the most!).
Kath then spent many hours cutting long sections of audio into short punchy sentences and liaised with The Base to make sure the stories were authentic.
Zane then set about designing the animations. He gave each animation a simple and stylised colour palette based on an aspect of the young person themselves.
The young people in the videos have asked for their names to be kept anonymous.
Behind My Smile
How a young man dealt with his mother’s alcohol addiction problems to find his own path in life.
This young person starred in an amateur performance of Disney's High School Musical so the colours used were based on the yellows in the graphics of the show.
It’s a Goal
A young Huddersfield Town football fan and his experiences with cannabis.
To highlight this young person' passion for Huddersfield Town, the whole video was made in Huddersfield Town AFC colours!
Punching for Gold
A talented boxer and how cannabis set him back from realising his championship ambitions. Fettle Animation's Zane Whittingham used his daughter's experiences in a local boxing club to inform his animation in this video.
The animations were nominated for the Royal Television Society Awards during the first Covid lockdown. We sent a pizza to everyone involved and attend a virtual Zoom ceremony (pictured below).
