The D&AD Competition for John Lewis involved telling a story of gift giving. The brief was to provide a video or video presentation showing how gift giving can make an impact on someones life. Further important things to include where the classic John Lewis USP's and themes of family, togetherness, emotion and nostalgia.
My sister and I have the illness Alopecia Areata, a autoimmune disorder that results in hair loss. We have both grown up with it most of our lives, experiencing body image insecurities, bullying for what we looked like, jeering and the feeling of not looking normal or being able to fit in because of our appearance.
Using old family footage, this film tells the story of how my sister and I grew up with the illness (whilst going through previously mentioned hardships) and how family and togetherness got us through those hard times, leading towards the gift that has made an impact on my life to this day. You see us grow up as well as go from having hair to gradually losing it but one thing that is always present is joy, something our family always made prominent despite all struggling.
The music isn't owned by me but was used as a narrative tool to be replaced if the video got shortlisted or succeeded in the competition (it didn't).
As a whole, the short film aims to tell mine and my sisters story but also to raise awareness of the illness Alopecia Areata and to encourage those who have it alongside the underlining theme, that family is everything, especially in hard times.