What is the film about?

A short film about the stages of the OCD cycle: obsession, anxiety, compulsion and relief. Check explores the anxious inner struggle that can often be invisible to others.

The film focuses on OCD checking in particular (the stove knob is off but let me check again…it’s off…but let me just check again…). The aim of Check is to convey the feeling of anxiety, urgency and frustration through beautiful, abstract visuals and looping, chaotic sound effects.

A little background information...

The film was originally planned in the pandemic back in 2021. After years of keeping certain checks at a very manageable level (flaring up a little in certain moments of my life), I was suddenly surrounded by public messaging about not touching certain surfaces, timeframes for washing my hands and cleaning routines for the food shop (to name a few!). I was mindful that I didn’t want certain OCD tendencies that had been kept at bay for years to become something that affected my day to day life. I created Check as a creative outlet and a way to acknowledge the internal anxiety.

How was the film made?

The main challenge was to put across a struggle that’s so internal in an expressive animation. An important part of OCD is the loop/cycle aspect; whether that’s the looping checks in an individual moment or the experience as a whole represented through the OCD cycle (obsession, anxiety, compulsion and relief). It felt necessary to use this cycle and it really helped guide the animation in the early stages.

In terms of visuals, the film was made digitally by taking frame by frame animation/ boils created in Photoshop and layering them in 3D space, also adding further animation in After Effects. I wanted the charm of the hand drawn wobbly lines and textures but the ability to add depth within the shots.

Another key aspect of the film was the sound design which was considered early in the process to inform the structure and pacing of the piece. The sounds become more erratic alongside the visuals, heightening the sense of urgency and frustration. Many of the sounds in Check were recorded in my own kitchen! The plan initially was to use these as placeholders before “proper sounds” were created, but as I got more attached to these sounds of wooden spoons and clanging keys, they felt like they were part of the film in a way I hadn’t expected.