It’s a story about getting out of bed. Doesn’t sound very dramatic, does it? But, actually, when you don’t see the point in anything, it really can be. 

This is Under the Blanket, a short film blending real life footage and animation exploring anxiety and that feeling we all get of wanting to disappear under our blanket.

Born out of a collaboration with the London Violence Reduction Unit as part of their Stronger Futures programme, Under the Blanket unearths the fictional worlds we create to escape reality and how quickly they can turn from refuge to prison. 

The idea for the film originally came out of discussions we had with members during The Get In on how difficult it can be to get out of bed sometimes. Film director, Bel Parker talks about the genesis of the film and how the animation came into play. 

“We thought, what’s an imaginative way of representing this idea? Someone hiding under their blanket, it’s not very cinematic is it? But what’s going on underneath the blanket, in their head, that can be absolutely epic.”

We developed this project in consultation with six of our members. We invited the scriptwriter for workshops where our members got a chance to play around with the topic through improv and debate. Once the story was developed, we did the same exercise with the animators so they could create a dream-like world that really represented our members’ experiences.  

We were also able to get key crew members like the Director of Photography and animation team to run workshops for our members explaining their craft and line of work. Thanks to those workshops, the young people developed interests in various aspects of filmmaking, and were able to assist in various roles behind the scenes during the production. On top of the two actors, our members joined the crew as camera assistants, lighting assistants, assistant producers and even costume supervisors!

Under the Blanket is out on The Big Mouth, watch it now!