Description:

Through My Eyes was created for Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and the New Zealand Police. As part of their ‘enforcement’ stream of work there were two different jobs that needed to be done. The first was to get casual and contented speeders, who don’t see themselves as dangerous, to rethink their speeding. The second was to get these same speeders to shift their perception of road Police from ‘out there to catch me’ to ‘out there to protect me.’

So, in a nutshell, we needed to challenge both the way people justify their speeding and the way they feel about the Police who enforce it. No easy feat.

We began the project by interviewing road police and watching countless hours of body footage of traffic stops. What really struck us was that literally every single person caught speeding had an excuse. But, what was equally striking was the patience the officers showed in the face of these endless lame excuses (especially given what they’ve seen).

The idea behind this film was to simply and honestly depict that reality. To show the mundanity, humanity, and the tragedy of a traffic cop’s routine - endless excuses punctuated by the occasional horror.

In ‘Through My Eyes’ we follow a single real Police Officer (Constable Michael Ravlic) as he pulls over countless drivers for speeding. As he listens patiently to their well-worn excuses it becomes clear he is haunted by the consequences of those excuses - the victims of speeding, and the death of one teenage girl, in particular. His average work day is a personally harrowing one.

To have empathy for our hero we need to understand him not just as a Police Officer but as a good man doing a difficult, lonely, and often thankless job. Cinematically we wanted to create a feel of No Country For Old Men meets Police 10/7. To put our audience truly in his shoes the cinematography balances wides of the his car in the lonely NZ landscape with unusually intimate, seldom seen, personal moments in a Cop’s day. Like waiting in line for lunch and Face-timing his young son.

But it is the editing that really brings to life his personal experience. It has the rhythm of a panic attack. We hear the endless excuses layering on top of each other to the point it’s overwhelming. The horrific memory bursts forth and consumes him in a moment of reflection. Finally, he calms. Back to routine. Though this time the familiar traffic stop situation carries a whole new meaning.

Once we understand the weight he is carrying, any excuse for speeding seems utterly pathetic.