Synopsis

Crystal returns to her childhood home after missing her grandmother’s funeral. As she goes through the house her grandmother’s stories narrate her nostalgia. She confronts a place she hasn't been in years, her grandmother’s bedroom, which holds her most cherished memory.

The Story

This five to ten minute narrative is inspired by folk tales, fairy tales and explores Native American stories and traditional storytelling.

In Her Voice is about seeking forgiveness, embracing the past and memories with a loved one and regaining the memories we've once forgotten. 

This piece has a strong narration, the story of Little Bird, and the struggles she comes to face. In brief, Little Bird is upset with the nest her family has built, she finds it to be uncomfortable and unattractive. She claims that once she is strong enough to fly, she's going to build a nest out of all the most beautiful flowers in the forest by herself. She struggles gaining the flowers and when she successfully constructs a nest, it falls to pieces. Without guidance or her family, Little Bird must build her foundation alone. 

A little history

In Her Voice is a collaborative project co-produced and co-written by Melissa Woodrow and Mark Janiak. Work on this project began January 2011 and after several drafts, confirmed the idea in July and quickly began designing. 

Began building a design team and crew including local artists from Monterey Bay area. Continued  heavy research into our themes and elements including: memories, death and representation of birds.

Where is the project now

We just finished location scouting and storyboarding is underway. We've got several beautiful locations in the Monterey Bay area We are meeting with our talented group of designers and crew to continue design development. 

Stop motion construction and animation will begin later this month and carry on throughout September. 

We are creating a website with all the newest info, images and videos, but until then we have our Facebook, Twitter and Flickr pages up and running. 

How you can help...

You've heard it before, "every dollar counts"... it's true. 

Your donations and support help fund our design concepts including set dressings, props, stop motion creation, costumes...and of course, feeding the cast and crew. 

With support, we'd have ability to submit this project to film festivals. We would be able to build press kits, print production photos and produce copies on DVD. These funds would go directly towards the rewards and packets for you! 

If you can't support this project financially, please shoot us an e-mail if you'd like to be involved. Again, all support is greatly appreciated and every effort makes this project viable.