No Offence

Selected from the poem ‘The Visit’ by Jenny Bornholdt (1960)

These two words sparked a memory of my highschool years. I was bullied quite often, with both physically and verbally abusive behaviour which made highschool quite difficult for me. The phrase ‘no offence’ was said after being told I was ugly, fat, a ginger, or the fact I was taller than everyone else, and of course said in dirtier and more hurtful ways. 
With the aim of showing how it feels to be bullied and have it simply “sugar coated” by the phrase ‘no offence’, I have created this short video. I feel this video could go viral, in common comunication such as facebook. I believe it’s a strong mesage to show people that it is not right to bully and it causes a lot of hurt to those who get treated this way. The marsmellows represent me, and my soft insecure personality at the time. The use of music combined with the sound of the marshmellows burning emphasises the feeling of hurt.The burning of the marshmellows represent the burning rage that grew within me. The smoke overpowered for a few seconds, showing that it made a large impact to me and others, and when it bubbles and burns at the finish, is to show that saying ‘no offence’ means nothing, and what’s left is a crumpled mess.  

Directed and filmed by Jane Owen
Song ‘New Day’ by Kate Havnevick