The document outlines the creative process and thematic elements for a short film centered on grief, focusing on a girl reflecting on her mother's death and the obscure items in their home. It emphasizes the importance of body language and minimal dialogue to convey emotions, while exploring themes of loss, isolation, and the lingering presence of loved ones. Influences from other films are discussed, highlighting the use of metaphors and storytelling devices to illustrate the five stages of grief through a unique narrative style.

1. By Lizzie Afford

2.  Old Attic
 Martins McColl's access
 I live next door to the woods
 Musician Uncle
 Tunnel near my house
 Makeup Skills
 Old witch books
 Friend who owns rheas
 I live near HirstWood
 I have access to school
 VHS’
 Victorian pottery dolls
 My dad is a steel fixer
 Crystals
 My grandads both drive
 Art skills
 Body paint
 Skulls from biology and art
 Captains hats
 Cowbells and instruments
 Sister owns a flat in a sketchy area
 My Engineer friend makes tomahawks
 I have 4 ponds
 Capes
 A cat
 40 fish
 2 sisters and a brother
 Photoshop
 An old destroyed room.
Firstly I had to create an asset list to help fuel my
brainstorming , I correlated a pattern and noticed
that most of my subjects n the asset list were dark
and obscure. This lead to a formulation of ideas .
This correlation lead me to the following idea which
ended up being my first draft idea and therefore
only helped to formulate part of the final story idea
however I think of this as the skeleton of the plot as
it helps to create the premise of the theme of loss
and grief.

3.  Girl is driven home after discovering her mother is dead.
 Girl reflects on the obscure objects in her mothers house.
 Flashbacks to show that as a child she was bullied for her mother being odd (Accused
of being a witch).
 Cat runs through the house, interrupting her thoughts.
 Girl puts boxes into a pile while sorting through things.
 Cat still bothers the girl, the girl is still grieving and shouts at the cat, the cat goes
quiet.
 The girl apologises to the cat and strokes it.
 The girl reflects on the relationship the mother had with the cat.
 The cat jumps down from the counter and is thus let go of.
 A gust of wind blows in through the house signifying the relief and letting go of her
mother.
 The girl realises her mother is still with her.
Themes: This narrative explores themes of loss;
being an outcast, witchcraft, the paranormal and
anguish. The message of the story being that people
are never truly gone.
This short film expresses depth in narrative and
lexical aspects, this shall be translated through short
yet sharp bursts of dialogue and masses of body
language. I believe that actions and directions will
do a far better job of expressing anguish and pain
along with acceptance. I believe this to be the case
because body language is universal and thus speaks
to a wider mass audience. The lack of speech will
perfectly portray grief in its entirety along with their
isolation from other characters. I am affirmed that
this could be pulled off as I am a confident English
language and literature student.
Actors
School access
Skulls from art and Biology
Witchcraft books
Dark wardrobe
Crystals
School camera
Jib
School
Car
Dolly
Microphone
Cats
My odd dark house
Boxes
School editing software
Makeup
Fans
Filming lamps
Woodland locations and the bridge

4.  Shot 1: Girl walks out of church doors with a sullen expression on her face.
 Shot 2: Girl is sat in the seat of a car while another passenger says “well your
mother will be dearly missed”.
 Shot 3: The car drives by the woods and leaves are driven over
 Shot 4: Looking down at a funeral plan the girl looks like she’s on the verge of
crying “I think I’m going to get a head start on cleaning the house”
 Shot 5: “Do you want somebody to come with?” a shot of the 2nd passenger.
 Shot 6: A blank, disheartened stare from the girl.
 Shot 7: Car stops a the bridge.
 Shot 8: “She loved you…so much ,you know?” Driver or 2nd passenger.
 Shot 9: Girl gets out of car “I know”.
 Shot 10: Girl walks across the old bridge to her mums house.
 Shot 11: Worms-eye view of the house (from maybe more than one angle/shot)
 Shot 12: Behind shot of the girl walking up the pathway, a breeze blowing past her
without her noticing.
 Shot 13: Girl enters the house; closes the door, slides down and cries.
 Shot 14: Close up of the girl crying.
Directions:
Shot number:
Dialogue:

5.  Upon further consideration I have come to the conclusion that the primary focus of a witch/mystical theme would
only serve to hinder the relatability of the character due to the detachment of reality, or at least in the ways
previously stated. Additionally the freedom of producing the product is limited fundamentally by the closed
intricacy of the topic, by trying to educate those on a topic that limited people know about would prove to be
redundant. So I have decided that the theme of grief is much easier and broader to explore on its own with
metaphorical elements, possibly in the form of a physicality of grief itself. This is furthered by my own experiences
with grief which I believe will add a level of insight into the production of the piece. I have researched plenty of
films and explored the ways in which they deal with grief, I particularly recommend the following
-Everyday my dad dies
-Bunny and the Bull
-William
Furthermore it should be added that I wish to use a monologue as I am confident in my creativity and English skills
that I will develop a monologue stylistically that works to frame the short film and act contrapuntally. I will use poetic
language in my monologue as it will fit the ending (When the narrator turns out to be the main character and is
reading the story to her child and finally comes to acceptance, defeating the physical embodiment of grief)The
choice to use this idea is heavily influenced by the short film ‘William’ in which a killer tells the story to his “son”
about how a boys parents were killed and the killer abducted the baby, I found that the use of a story telling
monologue here not only offered exposition but created suspense and disbelief in the ending as left so many
questions unanswered like “what happened next?". This use of a story telling frame creates which transitions my
beginning () to my middle and then my end (Conclusion/Resolution) will be used to link together the plot points but
to draw an inevitable conclusion with that being that grief leaves.
Additionally I would like to add that the physical embodiment of grief will be heavily influenced by the film ‘The
Babadook’ as the physicality of an emotion is a raw concept and leaves plenty of room for a creative input. For this I
will create a dark look and draw up plenty of ideas for the embodiment of the malevolent emotion. I have actor
friends that would be very much interested in taking this role, plus this idea minimises the use of actors and thus
results in fewer people being needed for the production estimating the use of only three characters on-screen.

6.  For my actors I will be using my younger sister (Susannah) who would be very much
interested in taking the role of the young child being read to in the end of the film. This would
mean she is only needed for one scene or maybe two scenes at the very most, this would
allow for extensive preparation for her part in the film. Additionally I believe that it is important
to introduce elements of youth into this film as the purpose of it is to educate about grief and
how everyone goes through their 5 stages. By using a younger character it in a sense mirrors
the audience of the film metaphorically as the film and lead actor attempt to inform the
audiences of the five stages of grief, the use of a younger character connotes innocence and
purity as they are naive to the cruel ways in which the world takes people.
 Secondly I will be using my older sister as the main character as she displays maturity and
can introduce some Sinicism to the topic of death and loss, this film will be a perfect
opportunity for Natasha to display her rawness and talent for acting, She will be playing the
character as she encounters the five stages herself. This role is very important as the centre
piece of the entire diegesis. She is the narrator who frames the story that she is within,
paradoxical indeed but as this is a retelling of her past it she that remains a factual teller of the
truth. She and my younger sister share a connection which I believe will help to further the
genuine acting and the authenticity, they look very much alike as it is as well which introduces
a convincing element.
 Thirdly I will use my friend Liam to play the part of grief, this part is again a very important part
as it is not only a theme but a character. Liam is a passionate actor and very much successful
at evoking emotions. Liam’s physicality is already very much like that idea of grief, he is tall
and very slender, Using paint (makeup paint) and various textiles I will create this dark and
complex almost mythical character. Grief will have no lines as I believe that this creates a
much darker and more malevolent tone, He will follow the protagonist around as she attempts
to defeat this negative energy.

7.  Makeup (Plenty of black paint to connote depression)
 Story-book (To illustrate a story telling and enhance the
monologue)
 My Actors (Friend and both sisters)
 Milk (to illustrate the inevitable, and no use in crying
over spilt milk analogy)
 Bathtub (to connote the drowning sensation of
depression)
 Shaky camera (for anger)
 Religious texts and crosses (for bargaining)
 Jib (to illustrate to isolation of grief)
 Filming lamps (intensifying the light vs dark ideology)
 The scape of the dales (Filming rain to highlight sorrow
and their world changing)
 Ripped clothing (for the character of grief)
 Light and dark clothing (to transition the main character
through the 5 stages)
 Bed (to read the storybook to the child like a bedtime
story)
 Black gloves (for the dark clutches of grief)
 Microphone (to record the monologue)
 School camera (to obviously film)
Ideas in general
Don’t show who
died, just use
photos around the
house of them.
Have grief
climb back
into the
closet and
no longer
leering at
the woman
as she
accepts
that death
happens.
Use Pathetic fallacy in the visualisation
and in the monologue to evoke a
change, Like have the woman drop the
phone and scream but don’t have her
voice be heard as to numb her, cut to a
shot of the clouds move over the dales
(all dark like) and then cut back to her
again in the same room just sliding
down.
Don’t let ‘Grief’ talk,
maybe have him make
noises, however there
should be no dialogue
within that part (the
past parts) of the
diegesis.
Have sound from
the primary (past)
world be heard
occasionally like
the malevolent
none human
sounds from grief
and the smashing
of objects.
The characters
should
acknowledge
each other
exists.
Have parts of the girl turn black (with
body paint) like her hands and neck. Until
eventually she has to accept it happens to
everyone or she’ll drown herself in this
torment and become grief.
A scene for
every time she is
presented with a
stage.

8.  With regards to the films previously stated I will carry influence from the films William,
Everyday My dad dies and the Babadook. I will produce an individual analysis and
deconstruction of each of the films.
 The embodiment of grief stems much from ‘The Babadook’ as said film uses the Babadook
as a metaphor for the grief and anguish the mother feels, this is highly influential in the
production of my piece as a fully believe that introducing literary elements that I am familiar
with will exemplify the artistry and skill that I can display.
 The structure of ‘William’ will heavily influence my structure as the idea of story telling will
introduce an education element and thusly introduce innocence in the form of the learner
(my younger sister) This story telling element will however appear like poetic monologue
which exemplifies skill and literary essence. Furthermore the story of ‘William’ has a creepy
and very eerie tense scene in which the parents heads are being held around the doer in an
unnatural way, this has inspired me to use an unnatural focus around the character of grief
in order to display him as an antagonist with malevolent intent. The monologue itself will hit
every shot like two beats matching up.
 Everyday my dad dies is heavily influential in the sense of physical displays. The characters
in that film do not have dialogue and thus each shot shows that they are feeling an extreme
of a particular emotion. This film also explores grief and the lengthy extensive close up shots
have influenced my choice to solely explore grief artistically because of wide spectrum and
the ease of conveying. It should also be noted that I am extremely interested in the gritty
realism evoked by the use on a fuzzy camera to film the piece. The aspect ratio of 1.78: 1
intensifies the emotions connoted in the film.