This week, Signature share more about Chris Overton, who is widely known for his film, The Silent Child, which he won an Academy Award for the Best Live Action Short Film. Overton shares with us his inspiration when bringing the film to life and expands on some memorable experiences from the filming process.
Photo credit: Alex Fine Photography
A little bit more about the film:
The short film follows Libby, a profoundly deaf child who lives in a world of silence, that is until Joanne, a social worker walks into Libby’s life. Joanne teaches Libby the gift of communication through the use of British Sign Language. The message of the film is that, with the right support deaf children can succeed in every way a hearing child can.
Read for more:
- Hi Chris, first, could you introduce yourself to our Signature readers?
Hi, I am Chris Overton, a filmmaker and director with a passion for telling stories that make a difference. My films aim to raise awareness for important humanitarian issues as well as entertain. It’s a real honour to connect with the Signature readers!
- Inspiration for “The Silent Child”
That came from Rachel and her experience with her dad. A soon as I met Rachel I was thrust into Sign Language and the deaf community. BSL is the only language I have ever connected to, and perhaps because I am on the spectrum I find it visually stimulating. I will always look back on The Silent Child as my film school. Working with Rachel, the rest of the team and getting to direct profoundly deaf actress Maisie Sly is still to this day the most special experience I have had so far.
- Research Process:
We actually shot a documentary as part of our research. We tend to not do anything by halves, so we picked up the camera and started interviewing people about their experiences within education and at deaf school. We also filmed a social experiment which was eye opening. That and getting to know Maisie and her family as well as learning as much sign language as I could. My proudest day was when Maisie said I was equivalent to level 3. That was as good as winning the Oscar for me.
- Reaction to Academy Award:
We didn’t even know you could win an Oscar for a short film when we started it, it was only whilst on set people started to talk about it and said the film felt special and could be a contender. It was a very long road to get there, and it was really magical. Unexpected, but truly magical.
- Casting process for Libby:
We met lots of young actresses with various levels of deafness. Maisie came in and blew us all away. I will never forget her tiny 5 year old hands, signing so eloquently. We all knew she was the one. She was utterly incredible, and we couldn’t believe we found her. We were also equally as lucky to have had support from Maisie’s family, including her siblings Jack and Chloe. Maisie’s parents Elizabeth and Gilson were so supportive throughout the entire process. We were as lucky to have them involved as we were finding Maisie.
- Memorable Experiences from Filming:
I remember a really important scene which didn’t go to plan as Maisie was struggling and was a bit tired. We were disappointed as it was a really key moment we needed. It was the scene around the dining room table from Libby’s perspective, where we try to emulate the deaf experience. We knew it was such an important moment, but it wasn’t right, and we had to move on. 15 minutes later Maisie asked if she could do her close up again and she was perfect. The scene is so impactful and without Maisie doing it again, I am not sure that scene would have been as effective.
- Future Projects:
We have a lot of shorts we are helping to get off the ground as well as a slate of feature projects. It’s tough out there right now but we will continue to tell stories from the heart even if they are harder to make. Me and Rachel are very aligned with our taste- so it feels like a matched made in heaven.
Here at Signature, we would like to thank Chris for taking time to share with us the important message behind the Academy Award Winning Short Film, The Silent Child. It has been great to learn more about the research process within this short film and also how some of the most impactful scenes were shot. We look forward to watching future projects of Chris’.