We have produced an animation in collaboration with The Media Room, to show the impact of the social workers on families confronting a variety of difficulties during the pandemic. ‘When the Crisis Came’, is a conversation recorded between Molly and her Home-Start volunteer, Sybille, just after Lockdown had finished. Due to the sensitivity of the subject, we have been advised to avoid showing faces to protect the identity of those involved. The names are fictitious. 

The challenge was to tell the story of a single mum in her struggle of making her life and her children more bearable while dealing with a variety of difficulties. 

We have been looking at ways of merging video and animation via monochromatic black and white illustrated frames, charcoal textures animate across the screen to create a sense of unease, chaos and distress. The textures overlap and slide across the screen to reveal shapes and dissipate or cut in transition to video footage and back. 

The motif of liquid in different forms is used throughout the animation to suggest tension and unease, the feeling of sinking in a chaos of dark textures or the sense of peace when the social worker is visiting. The steaming tea shows both the internal struggle of self-harming and the sense of calm when sitting in front of a cup of hot tea. Hope is illustrated in the ending scene where we picture the mum, her children and social worker at the seaside. 

https://www.homestartbirmingham.co.uk/when-the-crisis-came/