Story : The Passage (or another better title)
 
Girl: Girl is 10 or 11.
Sensitive child. Undefined
culture (from everywhere -- universal appeal)
Time of day 3:06 through 7:00

The story begins with a bird's eye view from up above so you can see
the whole family and the grandfather laying in the middle of the circle
possibly with some torches around the family. It is clear that one spot is
open in the cirle and someone is missing. Note: Design of ritual "mat"
that grandfather is lying on and spaces for each ritual object.

We then see the girl walking toward that
spot and sitting down in her space. The camera slowly approaches the spot
where the girl is sitting Camera view reveals girl looking toward the
grandfathers body and back toward her grandmother while the other members
of the family are busy carving or manipulating clay into ritual objects
(carving clay!) The camera switches to her perspective and she sees the
person next to her carving and then she looks the other way and sees
someone esle carving and then she looks at the grandfather, and then at
her own hand and then the camera switches to her and you can tell she's
frustrated and sad and doesn't want to participate. Indicate this in some
subtle way i.e. tears dripping ... make it very SUBTLE...and don't use it
unless required to tell the story.

Someone from the family takes her hand
to try and help her out and she refuses and runs off. She drops the clay
to the ground. As she runs off, she notices strange but beautiful
reflections on the ground that she follows into the forest (not realizing
that they are reflections from the magical birds) Note: Reflections stop
as soon as she enters the forest and then goldsworthy stuff happens (see
later info and storyboards) As she runs off to the forest, we see
multicolored vapor/dust/smoke (illuminated by the time of day) blowing in
the wind from the ceremony (the body) toward the forest. Note:We're going
to leave the exact definition of who the grandfather's spirit is in our
film to the viewer.If there's a way to inciate that #1 it is very natural
for her to run into the forest, even though that's not where she was
heading when she ran. It was quite by accident that she ended up at the
forest edge. #2 This was a place that she associates with good times
spent with the grandfather. WE MAY DO THIS BY HAVING THE GRANDMOTHER WALK
INTO THE CEREMONIAL RITUAL IN THE BEGINNING CARRYING CLAY THAT SHE'S JUST
BROUGHT FROM THE RIVERBANK>>>> Again, underplay and very subtle.

On her way through the forest, the girl sees "hints" of things forming
into shapes but when she does a double take, it is just a natural forest.

Note: There are experiences during which sticks, stones and leaves,create
other objects or guide her with markers and direct her (arrows, circles)
and seem to be communicating a language of nature. Some of these reveal
themselves for only half of a second, some longer but each leading her
onward. These experiences overlap and some of them we see but she
doesn't.

As she moves through the forest, the colors shift from bright
vibrant and colorful objects and surroundings to more mature parts of the
forest where the foliage/trees/flowers are older and some are dead and
decaying. When the girl reaches a crossing where she crosses the river,
(the nurse log), the new growth shifts the colors, sizes and types of
natural objects back to vibrant and alive.

The experiences of the natural phenomenon in the forest that
she sees include
1.Leaves forming a visual trail, missing last leaf, blows away
when she gets near, then reveals new growth of flower buds, etc.
underneath.
2.Little version of a "twister" where leavesblow in the wind,
creating a figure (Leafman) that then disperses into chaos.

3.Rocks spliting or having already been split into lines that direct her
only to become completely chaotic
after she steps on or close to them  as she goes on her way.

4 As she crosses the log (struggling to keep her balance) she sees
  reflections on water of an object that is only completed by the
  combination of teh boject with the reflection in the water, only
  to disappear as the light changes (maybe a log floating down the river?)
 
5.The log she crosses is a nurse log and has several other new growth logs
 that she grabs as she crosses it on her way, barely noticing them
 
Note: First she is afraid of the changes in the
forest and is running away but soon she is drawn toward the magical beauty
of the experience. She is led deep into the forest. Also, the music begins
as if there is danger but it turns more positive and optimistic. -

She discovers(is led to?) a beautiful, colorful dead bird sprawled out on
the forest floor. She is now compelled by the beauty of the bird to honor
it, and builds a small memorial out of stones and clay from the riverbank
etc. that she finds nearby (Note: they seem to be collected for her?) Her
expression transforms from tense and sad to very relaxed, joyful and
peaceful.

As she nears completion of the memorial, a translucent feather
flutters down to her. She picks it up and looks through it. Beyond it she
sees living birds of the same species in the trees. Young and old are
respresented (somehow)

They take flight and cast light through their translucent wings down onto
the girl and the ground. Note: She recognizes the reflections as simlar to
the ones she saw on the way into the forest. She looks back toward the
memorial in order to "finish" her work and notices that there's still a
lump of clay that is unused.
 
Note: This reminds her of the ceremony that she left.

She picks up the clay lovingly and carves/manipulates it. Camera fades to
black and then opens back to the ceremony with the open spot . We see her
walk back with the object in her hands and the feather in her pocket.
Walks over to her place in the circle, sits quietly, then places her
ritual object with the others. Camera zooms out. Music and roll credits