This film is so named after we decided to use the candid shot of Aimee questioning why she had been asked to be a part of the Living Memories project, given her belief that she had a led a “very ordinary” life.  This seemed to fit as our opening sequence, and with that we went on to explore Aimee’s very extraordinary life from her childhood in Egypt, collecting shrapnel from the conflict that played out across the world, to her migration to Australia with her loving husband, John. 

Meeting Aimee proved to be a very rewarding experience, as what we saw from her life left little to be desired considering how fruitful and satisfying it seemed.  She is surrounded by a large family, consisting of four younger siblings, all with their own extended families, along with her own growing family; her husband, two children, and three young grandchildren.  They are constantly in and out of her house, and on several occasions we were able to meet her grandchildren.  We found that considering how much her family plays a part in Aimee’s life, and how much they define her as a person, we would focus primarily on that topic.  We also chose to add small snippets of Aimee’s life so far; therefore Aimee talks about her parents, her experiences in Australia as a new migrant, and the travels she took with her children and her life in relation to her family. 

The approach we took, aesthetically, was to make the piece interesting and quite fun, to reflect Aimee’s vibrant personality.  We chose to construct a paper set for several cutaways, such as a paper boat, paper planes, and paper people, which worked out quite well within the piece.  Aimee also had an abundance of well-kept photos that she pulled out, and there was not a doubt that we would use them in the piece.  There were some much older photos from her childhood that her mother had quickly ripped from the photo albums to take with them when they left during the conflicts in Egypt.  There were also lots of gorgeous photographs from Aimee and John’s wedding day, which when we remarked that she looked beautiful in them, she laughed it off with, ‘Oh, but all brides look beautiful!’  

Aimee’s character is so warm and inviting and her laugh equally so. We wanted to show Aimee in all of her glory and we believe that she comes across through the portrait in a great light. 
- Emma, Joelle, Xavier