Untethered
A feature length documentary for Sky Sports about Melanie Barratt, the first blind woman to swim the English Channel.
Melanie Barratt, a gold-medal winning Paralympian, swims tethered to an elastic bungee in a small pool on her own. But, after 20 years of fitting personal goals around motherhood, new ambitions are burning - she’s desperate to try open-water swimming. Being blind, the only way to do this is to ask for help, but asking for help is a complex and often controversial issue for disabled people. Melanie has always hidden her disability because of social stigma and internalised ableism, but the lure of new adventures is greater than the shame she feels. What happens next surpasses all expectations as she not only finds community, but also an increasing pride in her identity as a disabled woman. With the support of her ‘Ironfish’ friends, she not only learns to swim in open water but enters the record books by becoming the first blind woman to swim the English Channel
The film was produced by Find It Film and commissioned by Sky Sports.
I worked as a disability and accessibility consultant on the project, as well as writing and voicing the creative integrated audio description. Accessibility was a key focus of the project, but we didn’t just want this to be an add on at the end as it so often is. We wanted the access to be a highly considered and as creative as any other aspect of the film. This resulted in creative audio description being integrated to the film for blind and sighted viewers alike. The audio description was written from a blind perspective, trying not to over describe or describe things that were understandable through sound. Similarly, the audio description had been considered from day one, so where possible audio of the film describes what is happening on screen.
As well as having audio description, there is a touch tour including objects from Melanie’s swim. There is also a BSL version developed with a Deaf consultant, and accessible captions are open on all versions of the film.
Because disability was a key focus we also worked with Lloyd Coleman, Associate Music Director of the Paraorchestra for the original score.