How Personal Experience Brought Subtlety to This Suicide Bereavement Film
‘The Ripple Effect’ for the charity Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SoBS) follows a family mourning the death of a beloved daughter and sister, after she has taken her own life. Directed by James Arden through Brother Film, the heartbreaking film, which launched yesterday, aims to spread awareness of the support services SoBS offers to any adult impacted by suicide loss in the UK.
The charity offers specialised support groups and bereavement retreats that endeavour to address the inevitable isolation brought about in the wake of suicide, encouraging survivors to share their experiences with others similarly affected.
Having lost his own half sister to suicide, James explains to LBB’s Alex Reeves how he made sure he got the details right in order to do justice to the experience of bereavement by suicide.
LBB> How did you first encounter SoBS and the work they do?
James> I contacted SoBS myself after becoming aware of their work. When my half sister Georgina ended her own life, seeing how her tragedy affected not only her family members but her friends was particularly painful to experience. I know some attended support groups in the aftermath, like those run by SoBS, so I decided to reach out to the charity to see if a film might be a useful endeavour and help raise awareness for others suffering through their grief. After I got involved with the charity, I started to realise how many people a year are affected emotionally and financially by suicide – it’s a massive public health issue.
LBB> Where did the idea for the film begin for you as a director?
James> Inevitably, my own experience of family and friends coming together to scatter a loved one’s ashes informed the initial ideas; wanting to celebrate someone’s life and honour their memory, but also finding it impossible to ignore the tragic reality that they ended their own life, is a difficult and poignant combination.
I wanted to find that balance in the film too – presenting a sentimental scenario to our audience that might be interpreted as a happy moment – even misdirecting viewers so they think they’re watching a young girl packing up to leave home for the first time – before revealing the true situation and delivering an emotional impact in the process.
LBB> It's a narrative that slowly reveals it's about suicide bereavement. What were the big decisions you made about how you wanted to pace that reveal?
James> I wanted the effectiveness of the film to come from the subtle sense of absence felt throughout: a photo of two sisters, but we only see one; a pair of shoes left behind when the rest of the family leaves the house. We actually had even more of these small details from the shoot day, but in the edit they felt too much – giving away too much, too quickly. We scaled them back until the pace felt right and worked for our runtime.
Beyond that, I also wanted each family member to have alone time on screen, between the more supportive group moments – these shots of silent sadness and reflection, where they don’t have to smile for one another, I think ring true for anyone experiencing bereavement by suicide, and are important for the emotional pace of the film. Grief is about ups and downs, so I wanted to portray that.
LBB> What were the other big pre-production decisions that you think helped towards the film's success?
James> Finding the right house location was a huge part of our pre-production. I wanted somewhere that could sell our setting of a characterful family home, but also work architecturally for our full reveal moment: the long pan across the hall from one bedroom to another, making our audience realise the young girl isn’t packing up her own room, but her sister’s. I was determined to capture this moment without cutting away… so we inevitably went through quite a few houses! In the end, we were actually the first people to shoot in the location we landed on – this amazing Georgian house mentioned in Virginia Woolf’s diaries, made visually even more striking by the excellent work of my DP and gaffer, Charles Mori and Al Rice.
I’m also an actor’s director, so casting is something I always focus on – we were truly spoiled for choice by the options presented by Aisling Knight at CBA Casting.
LBB> What was the shoot like? Are there any moments that are particularly memorable for you?
James> We began the shoot pre-dawn at Ruislip Lido, with sunrise dummying as the sunset you see towards the end of the film. We really lucked out with the low winter sun on the day, despite all weather reports pointing to intermittent heavy rain that I’d accepted I’d have to shoot around. In the end, it was a gorgeous morning, although I dropped my brand new headphones in wet mud. That was fairly memorable too.
It was a busy shoot – with exteriors, a unit move, and two floors of interiors all squeezed into one day – but we planned really well and had breathing room with the actors to dive into each vignette and find the emotion. We had a really respectful crew too; several of us had a personal connection to the charity’s mission, so it felt really rewarding to be creating something that hopefully has a positive impact. I'm so glad Brother Film and I were able to make it work.
LBB> There's a lot of detail in the film. Are there any small touches that you're particularly satisfied with?
James> The jetty the family end their journey on was found completely by chance at the end of a recce as we decided to venture a bit further around the lake, thinking it might not be the right spot after all. Luckily, we carried on and stumbled across it. I think it makes our ending even more poignant and beautiful – hopefully viewers agree.
