We were very lucky recently to get to work with 4 very talented Flinders film students who put together this short film on anxiety.
Starring our very own Ben, the video normalises the experience of anxiety in university students and provides a simple pointer towards counselling services (like ours, or others) that can be valuable in coping with that anxiety.
We’d like to express our sincere thanks to the students, not only for the end product, but for the professional way they conducted themselves across the whole project.
We were chuffed that students wanted to work with us to develop mental health promotion materials. We’ve improved our communication methods over the last couple of years, but it is a different thing altogether to work with students who have expertise in a medium like film. We are very happy with how the film worked out.
We’re posting it here on the blog initially, but expect to see this film elsewhere as we distribute it more widely.
I asked the student team that put it together to include some brief reflections below.
Fraser Whitehead
Role: Director
I really wanted to make this documentary focusing on student mental health as I think it’s probably the most important issue facing people in our age group. So many people struggle with mental illnesses especially anxiety and feel too scared or apprehensive to seek the help they need. We are really happy with how the video helps to address this misunderstanding. In the future I hope to make more films exploring other aspects of mental health. I’m currently working on one involving depression which will hopefully explore that issue in a similar way.
Nicholas Barone
Role: Cinematographer
Mental health is important, it affects all of us yet there is still stigma surrounding it. It felt important that a group of young people could create a piece about other young people experiencing mental health issues. Through creating and shooting this film, I came to understand anxiety from a different angle. It is reassuring to know this is something we all experience on one level or another. I plan to continue working in the film industry and create films that can have a positive impact.
Lachlon Simmons
Role: Editor
My main interest in helping to create a piece that touches on elements of mental health was to help shed light on the support areas that sometimes go unnoticed. Mental Health has never personally affected me, but others close to me like friends and family. I know that the most important way to deal with mental health symptoms is to get support from others and places like Oasis really go out of their way to help people dealing with these problems. I think what I have really learnt editing this piece is that mental health or specifically anxiety can really affect University Students in ways that I never knew. But, the only way to deal with symptoms of anxiety is head on, that means finding support like counselling.
Daniel Franzon
Role: Producer
Mental health is an issue that affects nearly every person at some point in their lives. Nicholas Barone, Fraser Whitehead, Lochie Simmons and myself all being students were fascinated with the process of counselling at Flinders University because we wanted to see how anxiety and depression can affect a university student. We teamed up with the counselling service at Flinders to create a film piece that can hopefully shed light on the issue and hopefully give a student the courage to seek some help. The process of making this film has taught me that mental health is not something to be ashamed of rather an issue that is best treated when talking to others.
Are you studying in a creative degree? Interested in teaming up with us to produce mental health promotion materials? Contact me – gareth.furber@flinders.edu.au to discuss your ideas