| Script Scenario:
Cemetery -- The scene opens as the camera pulls back from a beautiful, fertile, pastoral panorama to a fresh mound of earth surrounded by mourners. We see the girl carrying flowers to the grave, kneeling and then sifting the dirt through her fingers. To convey feelings of abandonment and loss, clusters of mourners dissolve from the frame until the girl is, indeed, alone.
Chapel -- The next scene segues into the fairy tale adventure when the girl, moved by her grief, follows a mysterious light into an ancient (10th century) chapel which stands alone in the forest. She sees a vision of herself lying in the empty sanctuary and is drawn to the place where she ultimately merges with the apparition, a morphing effect. From this moment forward reality is altered and the film progresses into fantasy, marking the beginning of her journey.
Borie -- She leaves the church and goes to an ancient stone borie village (300 year old stone huts). Inside what appears to have once been her home, she interacts with meaningful familiar objects. Saying goodbye to her past attachments, taking only her favorite doll, she embarks on her quest and leaves the village behind.
Nest -- She runs into the forest and is overwhelmed by the task of selecting a path. Rapid-fire images show her frantically searching the countryside in every direction. At a crossroads her doll falls out of her pocket and points the way. Following this path she comes to a larger-than-lifesize nest and she climbs in to take shelter for the night. As she sleeps she has a "dream of all seasons" in which images of past and future encounters are revealed, offering her the first clues that guide her forward into her quest of discovery. (This scene was shot in the field using a blue screen backdrop constructed on site in order to later key in the dream imagery.)
Chateau -- She awakens covered by pink rose petals that lead out of the nest to a chateau (a Renaissance ruin) where she finds her crown of beauty. Following the rose petals into the castle, she is drawn up the stairs and into the tower where she discovers a rope (umbilical cord) of tied and knotted objects that relate to her life -- past, present and future. She tugs on it, at which point, she and the objects fall through a swirling time tunnel (blue screen montage sequence) and stop at the base of a ladder that disappears up into smoke.
Pigeonnier -- Her curiosity lures her up the ladder where she ascends into the smokey unknown. She finds herself in a Pigeonnier (cave where pigeons were raised in Medieval times). She investigates the pigeonholes and reaching through the wall, finds her doll inside. In the flickering light she then does a dance duet with her shadow, a primitive bird-like ritual. In reckless abandon, she ends the performance by slamming her doll into the cave wall after which she gets sucked out of the cave like a bird in flight.
Abri -- She is swept to the front of an old door built into a rock wall. It opens into a cave-like shelter, an abri (prehistoric rock shelter originally inhabited by Troglodytes), and she creeps up a dark stone stairway, dragging her doll behind. The rocky out-croppings morph into grotesque threatening monster faces. These come to represent her own inner demons and prompt her to engage in a battle dance that involves making warrior-like faces and martial arts movements. In a burst of empowerment, she lunges at the cave wall which dissolves.
Palombiere -- She finds herself trapped in a big net which is the camouflaged wall of the Palombiere (a tree-like hunting blind built in the 19th century and still used for trapping pigeons). Like any animal in a cage she first panics and then discovers an easy way out. As she leaves, she takes part of the camouflage wall with her to make into a cape, a token of her new-found freedom.
Forest -- Along the path she dances joyously with the cape and transforms it into a royal robe embellished with found objects (natural and man-made). Here she becomes a nubile nomadic princess who strides through her majestic empire along forest trails and through long hanging vines until she comes to rest at her final destination. She clutches her trusty companion, her doll, one last time before it transforms into a large egg. In the egg is a peephole that reveals her final passage -- her rebirth.
Meadow -- She sees herself emerge as a human butterfly who performs a joyful swirling dance. This ends in a colorful field of flowers where she is dancing as the butterfly. In this final scene, the camera pulls back to reveal her original self playing with her butterfly self (animation sequence). The butterfly girl takes flight while the real girl stays anchored in the real world. She has worked through the grief of her loss and has left her childhood to emerge strong, free, self-assured and eager to begin the rest of her life's journey.
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