LOS ANGELES, October 21, 2009 | SHOOT Publicity Wire | — Oscar® winning director Ron Howard and award-winning actress Glenn Close collaborate to raise awareness of mental illness in the new :30/:60 PSA "Say" for Bring Change 2 Mind. Created by New York ad agency the watsons, the spot was shot in New York’s Grand Central Station and was edited by Matthew Wood of the Whitehouse, Bicoastal/Chicago/London. Music was donated by Grammy® winning singer-songwriter John Mayer. The emotionally compelling PSA seeks to create better public awareness and understanding of the stigma surrounding mental illness.
"One in six adults has a mental illness," says Maggie Monteith, Creative Director and Partner with the watsons. "That’s some 50 million people in the United States alone. Yet the reality is that mental illness is one of the last remaining diseases that people actually get blamed for having. We conceived this spot to take that rather startling statistic and present it in a tangible way. This is what one in six looks like. Glenn and her sister Jessie had the courage and credibility to introduce this reality into the national conversation. And then Ron took the concept and made it as beautiful as it is evocative. Matt and the team at Whitehouse were integral in telling a big story in a matter of seconds."
"The core message is so useful," notes director Howard. "A lot of people will find that it’s a relief to simply acknowledge that mental health issues are something that every family deals with. Yet it clearly remains stigmatized."
"BringChange2Mind" opens on the Great Hall at Grand Central Station during rush hour. As the camera travels through the crowd we see a man and a woman both wearing white t-shirts. As the shot goes in tighter we realize hers says "mom" and his says "schizophrenia". In the next scene, the camera singles out another couple, also wearing white shirts. We see that the man’s shirt says "post traumatic stress disorder" and the woman’s says "battle buddy." The visual technique continues to build momentum as it reveals yet another couple also wearing white shirts. His says "bipolar" hers says "depression."
The final dramatic reveal finds Glenn Close and her sister Jessie wearing the same white shirts. Jessie Close’s shirt says "bipolar" and Glenn Close’s says "sister". The only two people with speaking roles in the PSA, Glenn Close reveals that in this country "One in six adults has a mental illness," with her sister Jessie finishing the sentence, "And we face a stigma that can be as painful as the disease itself." Their courageous revelation is followed by Glenn Close’s nephew Calen wearing a shirt that says "schizophrenia", together with Glenn’s daughter Annie in a shirt that says "cousin" and Glenn’s niece/Jessie’s daughter wearing a shirt that says "sister".
The final scene is a dramatic overhead shot of the Great Hall. We see there are a number of white shirts in the crowd. Suddenly all of them transform color, blending into the crowd as Close implores us to "Change a mind about mental illness, and you can change a life."
The closing transition, seamlessly integrating those with mental illnesses, was executed by Kieran Walsh, creative director at Carbon VFX. The visual effects sequence required on-set supervision with director Ron Howard, and extensive compositing in Flame.
Of his role in the production, Whitehouse film editor Matthew Wood says "Initially, we wanted to build up the idea that this was a normal morning commute in Grand Central Station and then expose the white shirts as contrast to this," adding "It’s very gratifying to work with such an extraordinary talent as Ron Howard in highlighting a relatively unknown statistic about mental illness."
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