Traces of Us
Documentary Film
A portrait documentary exploring identity, memory and the spaces we call home.
PROJECT
Traces of Us
FORMAT
Portrait Documentary
ROLE
Director · Pre Production Lead · EPK Design
YEAR
2025
ACADEMIC PROJECT
MA Film & Television | Falmouth University
A collaborative short documentary exploring memory, identity and the persistence of past selves through the reflections of a veteran, a former musician and a tram driver.
Each story is anchored by a single object that remains in colour within a desaturated world, using selective colour, ambient sound and quiet monologue to connect past and present.
The film closes with VHS style archive footage, reflecting on identity, belonging and the traces we carry forward.
Watch the Film
Creative Approach
The visual approach was built around the relationship between memory and the present. We used a desaturated image with selective colour to draw attention to the objects connected to each contributor’s story, allowing them to act as visual anchors throughout the film.
Interviews were kept quiet and observational, with contributors responding to prompts off camera rather than speaking directly to an interviewer. Ambient sound and restrained music were used to preserve the intimacy of each story, before the film shifts into VHS style archive footage for its final collective reflection.
Selective Colour
Objects used as visual anchors
for memory.
Quiet Portraiture
Reflective monologue and
observational framing
Archive Texture
Archival footage connecting
past and present.
Development & Process
The project was developed collaboratively from concept through to final delivery, with my role spanning creative direction, producing and EPK design. Much of the process focused on finding a visual language that could connect three very different personal stories while still feeling like one film.
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01. Concept & Visual Development
The visual treatment translated the central idea of memory into a series of recurring objects, gestures and quiet observational moments. Each stage was considered through image, sound and tone before filming began.
02. Production Schedule
As Pre Production Lead, I helped shape the project from development into production, while directing the former soldier portrait and contributing to the wider visual cohesion of the film.
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03. Press & Marketing
I developed the EPK and supporting visual identity around the same objects of memory used within the film, carrying the selective colour treatment into the project’s promotional design.
04. Platform Strategy
The project was also developed with an audience and distribution strategy in mind, positioning the film across documentary, artist film and curated online contexts.
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