The Smith Family launches ‘Alice and The Giant Emptiness’ short film via The Solid State, Sydney
National charity The Smith Family has launched a new short film ‘Alice and The Giant Emptiness’ which attempts to capture how disadvantage affects a child emotionally using some of the storytelling tools often found in fairy tales via Sydney creative agency The Solid State.
Disadvantage is a complex topic and there are many approaches offered by organisations which support children from struggling families. To the children experiencing the disadvantage however the first step is simple – they don’t want to stand out in a social environment or be picked out as the ‘poor kid’. Often they just want a school uniform that fits them or a bag just like the other kids. While something like a new uniform doesn’t fix everything it is often a first step in the right direction and has an enormously positive effect on the child’s outlook.
The Solid State are releasing a series of animated films throughout the year based on true stories of kids that have come through the doors of The Smith Family.
The first short film #Alice&TheGiantEmptiness and a website launched last week where people can view the film, buy the song featured in the film or make a donation to The Smith Family.
In the first film the transformation of Alice is symbolic of the deeper change that is possible in these children when people come together to offer help and support. The film is designed to ultimately raise awareness of the statistic that 638,000 children live in disadvantage and give people an opportunity to make a difference to these children’s lives.
Says Danny Lachevre, creative director, The Solid State: “The ‘One In Ten’ series is an exciting opportunity to apply what we have learned from many years of marketing and positioning film and television projects to a cause we are passionate about. We’ve produced a number of promos and television commercials for The Smith Family. They do a fantastic job of helping children and their families through some very difficult issues and we’ve always enjoyed working with them on their campaigns.
“Alice & the Giant Emptiness was an idea we had based on a promo we produced for them a couple of years ago. It combined very simple illustrations with voices of children talking about what they would do to change the world. We thought that approach would be a good way to tell some of the real and inspiring stories they have witnessed in their work.
“Animating these stories gave us the opportunity to emotionally engage existing and new audiences but keep the identities of those involved hidden. We thought this could form a series of stories that could have real impact in raising awareness. We hope that proves to be the case!
“Our team got behind this project in a big way – from our team of designers and animators to sound studio Zig Zag Lane who mixed the film, as well as Big Bang & Fuzz who generously donated the track ‘Find the Light’ to help raise donations. We’d like to thank them all for their hard work and generosity.”
Says Rhys Kelly, head of communications, The Smith Family: “What excited us about this idea was the potential to reach the public in a way that our traditional advertising cannot.
“Every day we are inspired by stories of children from disadvantaged families dealing with some very difficult circumstances. We are there to see some amazing transformations where children and their families can make huge changes to their lives when given opportunities that others might take for granted.
“Over 638,000 children are living in jobless families in Australia today. We find this statistic staggering but we’ve also found many people are unaware how large this group is. The impact of disadvantage on a child’s education can be profound, often resulting in disengagement from education, unemployment and poor health in adulthood.
“We see first-hand the impact of disadvantage on children, especially with their education. These kids often have responsibilities beyond their years. They miss out on the learning experiences and support that other children may take for granted. With no opportunity to improve basic skills they can easily fall behind at school. It’s hard to catch up when there is no extra available support outside of school. Falling behind and losing interest at school, can lead to a pattern of under- achievement right through school, and beyond into the after-school years. We want to stop this happening.
“Telling these stories of children has always been difficult, as most people understandably don’t want their personal lives exposed to the public. So when The Solid State suggested this approach we were keen, as it provided a way for us to tell these stories and still retain the anonymity of the subjects.
“Animation was the perfect vehicle for this as it captures the emotion of the stories in a very honest way but also allows us to tell the stories from a child’s point of view.
We believe the best way to break this cycle is through education. That’s why
we focus on supporting the education of disadvantaged children. We hope these short stories will connect with people and help them to know they can help make a difference – especially through the Back to School time of the year.”