re:set - ‘What Do You Take Forward?’

In early June, our Good Planets short film series RE:SET evolved in a big, big way.  The project, which through the question ‘What Do You Take Forward?’ explores our collective experiences and individual realisations through the period. The mindset shifts and habit changes this time has served to shine a light on and accelerate.  Changes that perhaps would not have otherwise come to fruition.

As restrictions eased in the UK and gave us back our freedom to film in person again, we created these 5 outdoor shoots in June. The output will be 5 individual short films, 1 overarching motion piece, and all the accompanying stills. With a secret collaboration to come in the summer too.

One of so many realisations I’ve had during shooting this project, is that as much as this has all been a shared experience, on any given day we’re all at different points on our own emotional curves and roller coasters. It’s been humbling and thought provoking to observe that play out as the project evolves.

It was in retrospect a question that you really had to be ready to explore and deliver a heartfelt answer to. Cathartic for sure to verbalise. An act of courage, yes.  Way harder to answer than I imagined, most definitely.

I am so incredibly grateful to the 5 superheroes of this project Ellie-May, Freddie, Ayo, Ces and Kemi - who, especially at this time, gave us the gift of their time for the shoots. Thank you for your courage to open up, be a little vulnerable, and deliver answers from the heart. Listening to your words was really emotional for me.

When people back your creative idea because they believe in your vision and the impact you want to have- that’s always super special. None of you batted an eyelid when I said call time was 7am, or on a Sunday night, or whatever other unsociable time the light was looking best to shoot.

A special thank you to the geniuses that are Kieran Clancy on the grade, and Sam Hopkins on the edit and sound design.

In March, myself and Tobias (co-director) set out to create a project that would fire out a beacon of positivity at this time.  A project to make people smile, share words that will resonate and help others when they might really need it the most.  When the world can feel divided, a project to make us feel more united.  

In those early months, when we couldn't leave our homes we directed the series using only user generated content.  In June, we were able to film this outside, with just myself, Tobias and one athlete on set at any given moment,  Sound was recorded by the athlete themselves at a different time, and using an iphone to give it more of an authentic and unpolished feel.

This great pause has given us an opportunity to be even better versions of ourselves, contribute at a higher level and move forward in a different and transformative way.