Book trailer for “Love and Theft”
My sister-in-law, Jocelyn Patten, wrote a riveting and important book about her struggles with mental illness. I offered to make a book trailer to contribute to her success with this book and my concept was to show her as a real and relatable human being: a playful little girl, a rebellious teenager, a wonderful sister-in-law and loyal friend.
I first read the book, which I was lucky enough to receive a pre-publication copy. I chose a few compelling sections of the book and made a script. I thought about what elements would be best to support Jocelyn’s voice over, like animating literal hats to her more metaphorical hats. My intent was to show Jocelyn as a real and relatable human being, that she was once a cute and playful child, a teenager, a supportive and loving sister and friend. There’s so much stigma around mental illness, which makes getting help difficult for those suffering and those who try to support them.
I made some sketches of various hats from photo references online to prep for the animation and selected and scanned submitted photos.
II settled on a heavily vignetted nostalgic physical photo album feel, simulating an eye looking for photos of Jocelyn, in more or less chronological order, as she grows into a woman. The animations “draw” themselves on as Jocelyn reads from her book about her experiences.
Then I edited down the video footage from Jocelyn’s book launch, showing Jocelyn, in action, surrounded by her supportive community. (B-roll shot by Bytown Video.) I thought it would be great to have music that felt intimate and emotional, and perhaps a little discordant as the voice over reveals her mental illness. I knew this was right up Michael Olea’s alley—I had been looking for an opportunity to work with him. It was a such pleasure to work with Michael—I couldn’t be happier with the result.