Q> The film showcases real people in real situations. What was your experience like directing this cast, and how did you establish the spot’s naturalistic, empathetic tone? 

Femke Huurdeman> It started in our casting sessions, by getting to know who I had in front of me and to feel naturally who would fit in what scene. I saw so many womxn opening up and telling their inspiring stories, so for me it was finding a way to respectfully let them be themselves as much as possible. We also included the talent in making them understand what part they had to play and using their personal stories/skills as part of the scenes.

Q> Femke, one of the goals of the campaign was to make blood into art. How did you initially respond to this aspect of the brief and how is it showcased in the final spot? Was there anything in particular (research, films, art) that influenced your approach? 

Femke> I loved the brief, it was very creative and had room for telling honest stories through bloo-like visuals. At first I wanted to try to do as much as possible in-camera, but in the end we found that mixing digital found footage with projection was the most effective. I think the whole vibe of my treatment was leaning towards more of a '70s psychedelic/surreal cinema/art atmosphere, so I think that’s to be seen back in the end result.

Q> This campaign aims to give a voice to the unseen, unspoken, and unknown truths about women’s bodies. Did you do much research into the subject to ensure the campaign remained wholly realistic? If so, how did these insights influence the direction of the spot? 

Lauren & Augustine> We wanted to ensure that we represented a breadth of flows –– from getting your period again after birth, to perimenopausal flows, to the monthly whirlwind of ever-changing periods, sometimes late, sometimes early, to the emotional, hormonal roller coaster. From horny, to happy, grumpy, hungry, and everything in between. 

Hormonal should not be a bad word! We are minimised by being called “hormonal” in the same way a word like “hysterical” seeks to undermine the complexity of our experiences – our emotional and physical fluctuations should be accepted, celebrated, represented.

Sometimes our flows make us feel empowered, sometimes they make us feel sad and angry, and other times they just really really hurt. From period pain to period sex, we represented the highs and the lows, based on insights we had gathered about all the different kinds of flows and period experiences. 

We also wanted to take the visual representation of periods further - we moved the needle forwards by showing bright red blood instead of blue liquid in Blood Normal, but now we’re ready for the clots, the clumps, the darker older blood, the thinner spotting, the is-it-discharge-is-it-blood - we wanted to make all of these into art, celebrating all the kinds of flows through different visualisations. Some were more realistic, and others heightened our flows into art, poeticising what has often been seen as unsightly.