Introduction:
‘I Wish I Was There’ is an animated psychological drama, exploring anxiety and chronic illness. It’s the story of a woman who, whilst relaxing abroad on a solo holiday, receives a series of phone calls from the hospital. She decides to ignore these in order to enjoy her vacation, but her imagination gets the better of her… I created it as a personal project in my own time, with no funding. I animated it single-handedly, and it took over a year and a half to make!
Inspiration:
‘I Wish I Was There ’is a personal story, drawing from my own experiences with anxiety and hospital stays. I wanted to capture on screen that feeling of anxiety I so often felt when waiting for an upcoming medical test (or test result) and how it would send me spiralling, as my head jumps to the worst possible conclusion of what might be happening to me. It contributes to my growing collection of films on the theme of mental health: not only to attempt to destigmatise such issues, but also as a cathartic means, as well as using art (animation) as a form of therapy in itself.
The Process:
The filming for the rotoscope reference material took place in Sheffield and Worcester over a freezing cold winter, though you would not know it from watching the film! Despite the shoot being fairly simple (for rotoscope animation, you only really need the basic props the character interacts with and no lighting or sound setups), the animation took several months, redrawing the footage frame by frame and creating a cohesive style for the backgrounds. To achieve some shots, I also had to learn 3D software, Blender, which was not the easiest process!
As this was not a funded film, I was looking to cut production costs where possible, as I was paying for it out of my own pocket. The easiest way to do this was to reduce the number of cast members, so my main constraint in the conception of the story was to use one main actor/ rotoscope reference. To take this one step further, I decided to use myself as the lead. Despite being pleased with the end performance, it didn’t come without its struggles: as it was myself I was viewing on screen, it meant it was sometimes hard to be objective throughout the editing and animation stages.
What it Means to be a Finalist:
Being selected for Worcester Film Festival means so much to me, because not only is it a super amazing event on the filmmaking calendar, but it is also my hometown screening! Having grown up in Worcester and it’s the place where I began my filmmaking journey, it feels like one of those ‘full circle’ moments to have my film showing here and in a cinema that I would go to as a child/ teenager.
Where to Watch/ Follow:
You can keep up with my work on my Instagram @floramartyr as well as my blog floramartyr.blogspot.com for longer, more detailed ramblings about all my creative endeavours!
About The Author
