Snapshot - A Short Film About Autism

It sounds horrible. Am hoping for your sake it's resolved in due course.

This is dragging on with my union, disability advisor versus my manager and HR. To be honest it is quite brutal. At least now I know how my manager feels about me 

Thankyou very much for your kind words.  

Sorry to see your boss isn't as understanding. Is there anyway you can arrange a meeting, so your needs are met?

I know what you mean, when I was a child I particularly liked the Morph character(s) in Tony Hart's art programmes youtu.be/Edi1rTitpqU   I'm going through my Paolo Sorrentino film collection lately and am currently enjoying watching This Must Be The Place which has an autism theme in some ways youtu.be/z6j4BuCZVEM 

All I can say is wow. Such a powerful message that I can relate too. I am being treated as the incapable autistic by my boss citing the demand lead changing environment is something that I am incapable of managing.

This film is uplifting and I wish you the best for your career in the future.

You're more than welcome, and absolutely.

It was also ensured that each location had a breakout room, in case any time got too distressing or overwhelming for anyone.

Thank you for sharing this. It's interesting that each member of the team had a personal connection with autism. 'Nothing about us without us.'

Thankyou very much Neil.

I have the Producer to thank, who I met first and helped slowly introduce not only the idea of making my professionally credited BFI-Funded Short Film debut, but to his creative team who helped me slowly build the script (which has helped improve my scriptwriting skills moving forward!) as well as enter the unprecedented territory of navigating Pre-Production via Zoom together.

We were greenlit funding just before lockdown, but each of the creative team helped instill the faith and confidence in me when it came to making decisions about; casting, as well as how the film should look. Where the cameras should be on set etc.

I couldn't have done it without them all. The Assistant Director helping me articulate creative choices when I struggled on set, the remote editing as we assembled the; edit, colour grade, and sound design.

We all have a personal and close connection with Autism, so the collaboration felt seamless and compromising on any sudden issues that we encountered, felt relatively straight forward to resolve.

I learnt a lot co-ordinating the film via E-Mails, and WhatsApp conversations, but it's through their; support, care and understanding of the film that helped me thrive in turn from start to finish. 

No worries, and thankyou again for your kind words.

Congratulations on your film. What was it like working with (and leading) a team? 

Thank you. That’s really interesting to hear and well done again for the production

Thankyou  Yes, Surge (a great film by the way!) did come up into discussion when we developed Snapshot, alongside films such as Jacob's Ladder and Pi. Yes, after the UK Film Council disbanded, each Film Hub was divided into regions. I used to reside in the North, but have moved since filming Snapshot. My love of Gromit is because of how he is incredibly expressive for a piece of plasticine and a character with no dialogue. 

Well deserved + earned imo  When I first watched your Snapshot yesterday the film Surge came to my mind too youtu.be/10suikzwcjw  I was unaware of Film Hub North until now also. Are you based in the North? Your profile picture looks to be Gromit, Nick Park is from Preston originally (grew up in Penwortham as I did for part of my youth, I've moved around 25 times so far and counting...). 

Thankyou very much. We always thought it would make for a simple solution and reasonable adjustment. Amazing segue and comparison as well! I'm touched.

Quality, I especially like when she reaches out near the end asking if he wants to go out for a walk and they do  Talking of quality, I'm watching La Grande Bellezza / The Great Beauty again at the moment youtu.be/Dyt430YkQn0 

redemption

Thankyou very much JD. It's not a silly question at all.

A fair part of it did. I've struggled with unemployment since graduating from University, and am no stranger to the irony of the success that has come from the literal mantra often used in Scriptwriting; "Write what you know."

Scenes such as The Job Centre and The Bus sequence all draw from my experiences of such when under a lot of pressure and stress. The expectation that you can just find a job on Friday, and start at that workplace the following Monday morning.

My negative experiences with terrible job interviews too, and interviewers that lack the compassion and understanding was the initial backbone of the story. Those tired and tested remarks we are all no strangers to. I've genuinely had interviewers say those things to me, as well as the likes of; "You don't look Autistic", and "Oh, I'm pretty clued up, my Sister's Uncle's Nephew has it!"

Contrastingly, Sandra is based on the few people in my life (my Mother included) who have shown; genuine compassion, empathy and understanding, wanting to reach for a reasonable adjustment or similar solution to help. Giving me time to process, or allowing for a Fidget Cube or similar stimming without judgement.

I used a previous self-made documentary short as reference for describing sensory overloads, as is seen in Snapshot. Especially with the heavy burden of stress and anxiety, the intrusive thoughts often rush faster and faster around my head, until I reach a breaking point of a shutdown or meltdown, both displayed in the film. This is why it was important to have subjective storytelling, so it puts you in Ian's shoes. What he's thinking and how he's reacting to the surrounding words and actions.

Ian's speech at the end was also one of the first things I wrote remaining in each draft of the script, and it was just my personal, unfiltered thoughts. Raw and confessional. His insecurities surrounding the trauma and painful memory, are often how I've dealt with similar in the past. Thinking you can skirt around it or sweep it under the carpet, but for me, the opposite happens, creating a pressure cooker of overwhelming emotions and thoughts, something that's also prevalent from the off within the film.

My solace is often writing and filmmaking, but photography was chosen, as it was easier to craft a visual story around it. Ian's further comfort in the countryside reflects my rural desires. I've never been one for city living!

So, in nutshell, a lot of myself and experiences are in the character of Ian. The stutters, mannerisms and body language. But also the lead actor Josh Ward, put a lot of himself into the character. Also Autistic, he wholeheartedly identified with the role, so channeled a lot of himself into it as well.

Hope the waffle helps!

You're more than welcome. This is why we set out to make this film though. So those who have experienced similar can relate and attempt to explain their similar experiences to others, and those that haven't get an insight and some understanding into it all.

It’s deep, I literally felt what he felt. I found myself in similar situations. I know this pain. I have no more words, thank you for sharing this video!

Congratulations on the production. Probably a silly question, but did much of it reflect your own experience?