"Light in the darkest hours"

The #WithSyria campaign are wanting to "turn the lights back on in Syria".

Since then, I have been interested in "Light" being a metaphor for "help"..

This is where I came across this charity campaign video by Marie Curie, where light is used to show exactly that;

In this beautiful advert, a light orb enters homes in the night, bringing light into their darkest hours. The terminal cancer patients talk to the light, they feel happier, they share stories to take away their pain.

In the end in then morning the light leaves and it is revealed the light is a Marie Curie nurse, she asks the question "Did you sleep okay?". From this we know she was their during the night, not only to bring light to the cancer patient, but to relieve the darkness in the family members life, who's job it is day in and day out to care for them 24 hours and end up getting sleepless nights because of it.

This advert demonstrates that not only does Marie Curie bring light to the lives of those shadowed in darkness, but it also shows that they work during the night, they are the light in the night, showing they are unique from other charities as that level of care is highly valuable.

The dark lighting is particularly powerful, as it really adds prominence onto the light source coming from the orb. Exposing the light that the Marie Curie nurses can add to the dark in peoples lives.

I love how the light source is animated. It isn't a cartoonish looking 3D orb, it is realistic and it even reflects off the camera and glares in a really effective way. A 3D orb wouldn't of looked effective and it would not of been approached with the same level of sensitivity.

On the website Creativity Online - Marie Curie I found out the VFX process;

"Created by Saatchi & Saatchi London and post-produced by MPC, the film was shot with real lightbulbs to create natural contact lighting on the skin and surrounding environment. The light rigging was removed in post-production and MPC VFX supervisor Marcus Dryden worked closely with the director to develop the light by repurposing the cluster of light bulbs to create one shining beacon."

It was interesting to find out that REAL lightbulbs were used, in order for them to capture the realistic light source emitting from the orb. I can't imagine the light orb being made better or more effective, it is perfect for what it represents. Beautiful.