Syv fattige børn

That extra layering

Danmarks Forsorgsmuseum wanted to add an extra layer to their exhibition Syv fattige børn (Seven poor children) – and luckily, they wanted Goodwill film to be the ones to layer up. The project became a hybrid: One side of the project is acting as an art installation being projected onto a wall as a part of the exhibition, but at the same time we were creating a piece of fiction telling a gloomy and fatigued part of Denmark’s history and everyday life.

Historical fiction

We needed to tell a historically based story but furthermost create an emotional bond between the audience and the featured characters, adding an emotional layer through the very alive visual media that the moving picture is. Because of the film’s surroundings consisting mainly of very factual writings on the wall, we played it heavy on evoking what-ever-feeling-anyone-would-feel being faced with the life of the poor and abandoned children of the time that thankfully has passed.  

We did so by focusing on creating very intense scenes and limit the movements in the film, naturally guiding the audience’s eyes to the faces of the children. The sound design also tickles the sentiment of the viewer by preceding the visuals and creating an additionally engagement in the life of the seven poor children.

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