Such is the case for Newcastle filmmakers Bailey Watts and Peter Danks. The pair, both in their early 20s, finished shooting their second independent film project in June, with plans to have the film, called Yours Truly, screening in early October.

Since making their first feature, short film Wrong Turn, in 2018, which won Best Short Film in the Australian Independent Film Festival, they have expanded their professional experience while staying focused on their next production.

Watts has gained credits working with the ABC (2019 Christmas special and Compass) and on a TV pilot shot in New Caledonia. Danks has similarly struck out on an independent path in film and television.

But their creative partnership has continued in the background, as they developed this second project, Yours Truly, to push their own creative boundaries.

"The film touches deeply on the aspects and emotions of mental health, particularly surrounding men's mental health and suicide," Watts says. "It is a complete 180 direction in terms of style and flow from what was created and presented with Wrong Turn. Which is what we are wanting, to push our boundaries and associate this message with something great.

"The film is more so a visual poem with a huge emphasis on style to represent the aspects and moods portrayed with someone suffering the battle of mental health. With no dialogue in the scene the film is presented with visuals accompanied by a voice-over."

Men's health, especially mental health, is of vital concern in today's world. Watts and Danks are well aware of the pressures and downfalls of today's world, particularly as it has affected those around them.

In their GoFundMe pitch for Yours Truly, they offered up this starting point:

In Australia, the rate of suicide among males is more than three times greater than that for females, with suicide being the 10th leading cause of death for males. In 2018 alone, suicide accounted for over one-third of deaths (38.4%) among people aged 15-24 and (29.4%) of deaths among people 25-34.

The fund-raising campaign in May raised $2000 in less than four hours and another $1000 within eight hours. The funds went towards covering the cost of principal photography for the project, which was shot over three days in mid-June, at various locations, from the Stockton sand dunes to the tree-lined hillsides around Wollombi.

"It is a hot subject," Watts acknowledges. "We just wanted to make it in a different way that suits people that maybe they can remember it."

Danks, who was interviewed separately about the project, echoed Watts' explanation.

"It's a big art film which follows one central character, with feeling of isolation, being cut off, with no one else being able to to understand what you are going through with mental health issues," he says.

"It is a big issue, particularly for young people around our age. It can be hard to talk about it, especially if you are a man. A lot of of the time, elements of it are hush-hush. We really want to speak to that group of people."

The concept was adapted by the filmmakers from an experience that happened to a person close to Watts. They share their ideas in a "black book" and develop them over time. This one was in the development stage at the time they filmed Wrong Turn in 2018.

The filmmakers are taking a plunge into new creativity territory: the film will have no direct dialogue. The story will focus on one actor, and a voiceover, amid changing soundscapes and settings.

The film project is both a learning experience and labour of love. The two are challenging themselves by using techniques they haven't tried before - something they have done throughout their young careers.

"When we take on a project, we want the next one to be bigger and better, " Danks says. "Obviously with that, that means taking on things we haven't previously done."

Danks isn't afraid to mix it up. He shot a Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney in June, right in the middle of the pandemic, producing a poignant news-style video out of it.

Watts, who started playing with video cameras at age 13 (he still owns his first Panasonic handycam), is as close to a self-taught cinematographer as you can get. Besides the projects that have taken him around Australia, he's been involved closer to home recently in music videos for newcomer Boy Soda and the well-established Boo Seeka.

In his own words: "My approach to anything in life: don't sit on your arse and wait for it to come to you. Even if it's across the road, don't expect them to cross the zebra crossing. You go to them."

He's developed a handheld rugged style of shooting. But, he says. "I will introduce new elements [for Yours Truly]. The camera's movements will become a character."

While the $3300 garnered from crowdfunding is a huge lift, Watts and Danks are putting plenty of their time and money on the line for Yours Truly. The donations went towards the principal photography. The rest of the hard work, much of it funded out of Watts' and Danks' own pockets comes as they shape the footage into a film with an original soundtrack and voiceover.

"It is a very arts-driven film in terms of set design, vision aspect and colour and sound. I guess that helps the fantasy of mental health. It is a battle, but it is a hidden battle. Sometimes a lot of things are fantasised about in your head. You overlook things sometimes," Watts says.

The footage comes first, with the voiceover dialogue layered on, then more editing, and back and forth with the dialogue and music to get the final product.

"It is ambitious in many ways, going down avenues that Peter and I have not endeavoured to perform," Watts says. "We wanted to open up our radar and experiment with things."

Once the film is laid down, they will proceed with the final touches - getting the sound mixed, and colour graded, and hiring a professional editor.

"We will do everything initially," Watts says. "When we have the time, resources and money, then we bring on the others to give it that extra edge ... in the creative sense, you do want to tick your boxes. You do want to feel satisfied after coming out of it. After putting so much heart, blood, sweat and tears into a project, when you see that final edge, even that final sound, that just brings it, whoa, to that final element."

In the end, the marketing plan for the film is not based on chasing film festival trophies, but rather, just getting the film exposed to as large an audience as possible. It also gives them the freedom to make it as long or short as they want, without regard to the length limits often placed on films in competition.

It's a smart strategy that is, of course, trending worldwide: share your work during a pandemic, keep your name out there, and give the audience new creative products to help them through troubled times.

"We want to make a film to test out a few things, and get that message out there," Watts says. "The end goal: put it online and let people watch it. Just let it out, let it have a life of its own. Just let people see it. Not holding back on it."

While the film will have a strong mental health message, Watts and Danks chose not to look for financial support from the non-profit or government sector.

As Danks says, "Never let money get in the way of telling your story."

Ideally, the film will come out on online around World Mental Health Week on October 10.