A lived-experience animation for the Medical Research Council, bringing one young woman’s experience of juvenile idiopathic arthritis to life through bespoke character animation.
The Brief
The Medical Research Council commissioned Cass Productions to create an animated film exploring the lived experience of an immune-mediated condition as part of communications around its Centre of Research Excellence in Restorative Immunology.
At the heart of the film is Caitlin, who first experienced symptoms of psoriatic juvenile idiopathic arthritis as a child and was diagnosed aged 11.
Rather than using a traditional scripted voice-over, the film was built around Caitlin’s own words. Our challenge was to distil a long and deeply personal interview into a concise narrative that communicated the physical and emotional impact of the condition while retaining Caitlin’s personality and authentic voice.
Finding the Story
Caitlin spoke openly about the sudden onset of pain, the journey to diagnosis and the effect arthritis had on her childhood.
She described having to give up dancing and playing musical instruments, struggling with school attendance and mobility, and feeling isolated from other young people who did not always understand what it was like to live with a chronic illness.
Her story also explores life as an adult with the condition. Although treatment now manages her arthritis extremely well, medication remains part of her life and brings its own practical and emotional considerations.
The final narrative needed to reflect those challenges without allowing the film to become overwhelmingly negative. It also looked towards the future: greater understanding of chronic illness and research that could one day make true remission possible without lifelong treatment.
From Interview to Animation
We developed the animation directly from Caitlin’s interview rather than asking her to record a predetermined script.
This allowed the finished film to retain the natural emotion, language and personality of her story.
Our production team worked through the interview to identify the strongest narrative moments before developing a visual treatment around them.
The animation follows Caitlin through different stages of her life, from childhood symptoms and diagnosis through school, treatment and adulthood.
Developing the Visual Style
Our animation team created a bespoke illustrated version of Caitlin, using photographs from different periods of her life as visual reference.
Personal details helped make the character feel connected to the real person behind the story. These included Caitlin’s distinctive pink hair during her teenage years, which became part of the visual storytelling.
The design was developed using the UKRI and MRC brand palette, with colour, texture and character design refined collaboratively throughout the production.
Animation also enabled us to visualise experiences that would have been difficult to communicate through live action alone: pain moving between joints, isolation at school, the loss of activities she loved, medication and the less visible impact of chronic illness.
Handling a Sensitive Story
A key consideration throughout the project was finding the right balance between accurately representing the difficult aspects of Caitlin’s experience and showing the life she has built alongside her condition.
During development, imagery relating to medication and treatment was carefully balanced with scenes showing everyday life, independence and positive experiences.
We also considered representation within supporting characters and ensured that the animation evolved naturally as Caitlin moved from childhood into adolescence and adulthood.
Because the film was based on lived experience, Caitlin remained an important part of the process and was able to see and respond to the developing animation.
Working to a Press Deadline
The animation was produced to support a major research announcement, requiring a focused production schedule covering interview, narrative development, illustration, storyboarding, animation, sound and final delivery.
Close collaboration between Cass Productions, the client team and Caitlin allowed feedback to be incorporated throughout while maintaining momentum towards the launch.
The Result
The finished animation transforms a detailed lived-experience interview into a concise and visually distinctive story about growing up with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and the possibilities offered by restorative immunology research.
Caitlin responded extremely positively to the film, describing how effectively the team had condensed her lengthy interview while illustrating her story.
The wider project team also responded enthusiastically throughout the approval process, with the final animation successfully bringing together personal storytelling, medical research and the ambitions of the new Centre of Research Excellence.
What We Delivered
Lived-experience interview and narrative development
Audio edit and story structure
Bespoke character and illustration design
Storyboarding
2D character animation
Motion graphics
UKRI/MRC brand integration
Subtitles and accessibility considerations
YouTube thumbnail artwork
Final digital delivery
Creating Animation for Complex and Sensitive Subjects
We regularly work with healthcare, research and public-sector organisations to turn complex or sensitive subjects into clear, human and engaging visual stories.
Whether the starting point is a lived-experience interview, a technical subject or a detailed research brief, our in-house team can develop the narrative, visual style and animation from initial idea through to final delivery.