Dealing with mental illness and addiction can feel like a long and solitary journey. But the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) wants people to know that they are never alone and will keep fighting with them to find solutions to the answers they need. As part of this initiative, CAMH will build the largest mental health research centre in Canada, where the best minds will come together to find answers to the most complex problems. We needed an emotional centrepiece video that could get potential donors on board to help, while raising awareness and advocating for those suffering from mental health issues and addiction.

The spot is meant to show a progression from feeling alone on a journey to finding hope through community. We achieved this through performance and a dramatic change in the sky, taking the viewer from a dark, solitary place and building toward a sense of hope. As this was entirely shot on a blue screen, our director of photography needed to diligently create the change in lighting in-camera that would match the changes in the sky for the final composite.