SkinCancerUK are a recently formed patient support group who raise awareness around the causes of skin cancer, as well as help support people that have been diagnosed.

Skin cancer rates are rising rapidly in the UK, part of this is due to the increase in the use of sunbeds. Fuelled by the rise in social media and influencers promoting them online. Sunbeds are legal in the UK and are regulated by the Sunbed Regulation Act (2010).

Despite the law being in place, 100 people die each year due to sunbeds. We needed to highlight the dangers of sunbed use as well as lobbying to change the current law to tighten restrictions.

On April 8th 2010, after much lobbying from cancer charities, the UK Government passed a new bill – the Sunbed Regulation Act. The act regulates the use of tanning devices, the ultraviolet radiation (UVA) levels permitted, and the amount of time people are allowed to spend on sunbeds.

14 years later, 100 people die each year due to sunbed use and 46 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed each day. That’s because today’s world looks very different – social media, influencers and reality TV stars have more sway than ever before.

Whether it’s Kim Kardashian posting about her sunbed, or the 718m TikTok views of #sunbed content, people continue to use sunbeds, melanoma skin cancer cases are increasing, and the regulation is clearly unfit for purpose.

SkinCancerUK asked for an idea to raise awareness of the danger of sunbeds, highlight the deficiencies in the regulation and, ultimately, stop people dying unnecessarily.

We placed printed copies of the law on a sunbed and left them for the amount of time people spend on them each year. As the law was exposed, it began burning, taking on characteristics of melanoma such as raised spots with differing colour edges.

The process was filmed and used to raise broader awareness and direct people to a website which educated people on the risks of sunbeds, asking them to write to MPs demanding change in legislation.

Each element of the was designed to encapsulate the dangers of sunbeds. The black set design and website allowed the glow of UV lights as well as the burnt laws to stand out and create maximum impact.

The film follows the process of the effect of UV radiation from sunbeds on the law that allows its use on humans. The law is placed on a sunbed by Ross Robinson, an ex sunbed user with a malignant lesion on his back due to sunbed use. Once on the bed, through timelapse footage, we see the law begin to blister, discolour and burn.

The law was left on the bed for the average amount of time a person spends on them each year, 5 hours. The resulting law is presented by Ross to the camera, showing the damage it has done to the paper and letting viewers understand the true damage it would do to their skin.

The blackout studio was chosen for the location of the film to both give an eerie atmosphere, as well as helping to bring out the blues of the UV lighting to make them feel more menacing. The dark studio location also allowed us to cut from the eeriness of the outside, to the intense light inside the bed using close up shots.

We used a high end sunbed which we were able to rent with no checks, to emphasise how easy to access these powerful sunbeds are. The use of timelapse to capture the paper burning allowed us to show the effects of the UV radiation on the law in quick snapshots, showing them as macro shots also allowed us to cut between the outside and inside in quick succession to create an intense atmosphere to the film.