this young Rennes videographer spent 24 hours in a nursing home in Brittany for a film

For three years, Joris Philippe, Rennes videographer, and Paddy Quinna young Franco-Irish man, makes videos on YouTube. At first, it was to show their passion for music. Now, they film themselves carrying out new experiments. Their latest video titled “24 Hours in a retirement home”lasting 20 minutes, has just been released on the streaming platform. For the occasion, news Rennes met Joris to talk about these moments lived in contact with residents and healthcare teams.

Actu : How did you come up with the idea of ​​making this video?

Joris Philippe: Basically, I was making music and Paddy was filming me. Then, we wanted to open up our range of subjects a little more. For about a year, we have been making videos, some of which have the “24 hours…” format. We started by making a first video dedicated to our experience on a roundabout, and another on a desert island, near Morlaix.
The goal is to access places where we are not used to going. The nursing home was an idea among others, but one to which we quickly became attached. It’s a relatively little-known place. We’re all always a little shocked when we go there. We were interested to see if this was really the feeling we should have by spending a little more time there than a traditional visit.

You spend these 24 hours at the Ty Pors Moro retirement home in Pont-L’Abbé, in Finistère. Why this establishment?

J. P. : We knew it was going to be complicated, but we said to ourselves that if it was complicated, it was a good idea. We didn’t know anyone in the area. In fact, we contacted several establishments. Some retirement homes refused. We got into trouble, especially since we’re not well known. Then, as I am from the Pont-l’Abbé region, I tried this nursing home which almost immediately said yes. After discussing and obtaining permission from the families to film the residents, management said “Go”. So we made this video last summer.

How did the filming go?

J. P. : Our goal was to be able to go everywhere. And we had carte blanche. We arrived one day early in the morning for 24 hours. We had prepared the outline of our video a little, but you don’t know what you’re going to come across. We also had our musical instruments with us with Paddy. We were able to play it with the residents, participate in meals, activities, walks, etc. Basically, we wanted to know if living in a retirement home was boring – because we thought we would be bored – but that wasn’t the case.

What contact have you established with the residents and staff of the retirement home?

J. P. : We can clearly see that they are elderly people in their behavior and reactions. In the video, we show the reality of our discussions which are often short and, sometimes, where there is not even a response.
In our little film, we see Yvonne, because it is with her that we managed to communicate more. She invited us into her room at one point and talked a little about her memories, particularly during the Landings. We were very touched.
During the night, we had a room like any other resident and we were able to have a little fun too as you can see in the video on YouTube.
There was also a closed wing reserved for residents with degenerative diseases. We kind of avoided this building until almost the end of the 24 hours, because we didn’t know how we were going to react. In the end, we were very surprised by the life there.
In total, we had 15 hours of rush which we summarized in 20 minutes. We obviously couldn’t show everything, but the essentials are there.

And music is ultimately never far away in all of this.

J. P. : Yes, we organized a small concert for the residents. But, what we do each time in this “24 hours…” format is that we compose music and produce a clip linked to the lived experience. It will be released Sunday January 19 on our YouTube channel. It was even recorded in a studio in Dublin.

Did you have any surprises during this shoot?

J. P. : The doors of the retirement home were wide open to us. For example, we discovered a massage bath that we were able to test.

You held a preview of your film in the retirement home. What were the reactions?

J. P. : We first showed it to the management of the establishment who did not ask that anything be changed. Just, as we say in the video, there is one death per week on average in the nursing home. This is the case of Nicole with whom we interact during filming. So, we put a word of tribute at the end for all these residents.
The broadcast to residents was quite funny. For example, Yvonne, with whom we spent a lot of time on set, who we had the impression of knowing by heart from seeing her during the editing of the video, no longer remembered us at all.

After this experience, what are you preparing for the future?

J. P. : We have several plans like spending a day with a baker. We also played music in the oldest pub in the world in Ireland, where we met a violinist who was quite famous there. We will also make honey with a beekeeper. So, to see all this, you have to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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