The View from the Cutting Room

Rebecca> Firstly, misdirection - we couldn’t give the game away too early and reveal that she’s narrating her actions for her dad. It was also vital to let the authenticity of the girl’s performance shine through; I had to make sure the audience would care enough about her, before we revealed the twist.

Rebecca> The dad is always there on the sidelines, with his guide dog - if you look close enough they’re in the back of the shots throughout, we just don’t focus your attention on him until the end.

Rebecca> Helping change traditional advertising perceptions of how we imagine blind people lead their lives. I had no idea that this way of commentating between families and friends was a thing - but of course it is. I’m happy we got to reveal a little bit of that.

Rebecca> We had to make it feel like it was happening live - there’s a rush and urgency we had to bring to the edit to capture that chaotic feel. Within all of that, I had to make sure to foreground all the humour and silliness that director MJ Delaney delivered in the rushes. 

Rebecca> It takes a lot of fine tuning to make something feel spontaneous.

Rebecca> Working with the Spice Girls! Inside, the 15-year-old me was jumping up and down on set - what a dream.

Rebecca> Staying true and genuine to the message, regardless of who was on camera. It’s a serious and important issue wrapped up in a game, so I needed to retain some elements of lightness. I edited this with my heart over my head when choosing takes.

Rebecca> With this one there’s nothing to hide. The agency’s concept was really clever: to get people discussing their feelings about mental health via a game we've all played. Director Max Fisher really played it with them - they aren’t just lines fed in. We all know or have varying degrees of experience with mental health issues, so it was really interesting for me to watch the participants open up and allow themselves to be vulnerable. I’m happy we got that across.

Rebecca> How powerful and important talking to one another is. This campaign meant a lot to me and I was grateful to be a part of the movement to get people talking.

Rebecca> It had to be visceral. The reality that this is what a day in the life of a Navy Reserve looks like was always at the front of my mind. It was important to show the real highs and lows of her reactions to training, she might not enjoy every moment, but that's all part of the journey!

Rebecca> Getting 30 hours of training footage down to 60 seconds!

Rebecca> I’ve always admired the Royal Navy ads. Cutting one myself felt like an achievement especially as this one featured such a strong female lead.