2.Main Content
Digi Shorts
Sarah Senior
I’m the producer of one of the 2008 Screen Yorkshire Digital Shorts, called This Way Up. When I’m not producing This Way Up I run a production company in Bradford called Shoot Productions. This is the first short film that I have produced – having in the past produced mainly documentaries and films and videos for corporate clients.
Sarah has been selected onto Digital Shorts by Screen Yorkshire with the project This Way Up
This Way Up is a bitter sweet drama, set in modern day Leeds. The story is about seven year old boy called Jason who, following the sudden death of his mother (Anna, a single mum), tries to post himself to heaven in a cardboard box in order to see her again.
Throughout the film the past and the present are woven together unfolding the story as it goes; there are three key timelines – the present day, with Jason in the cardboard box, the past when Jason’s Mum was still alive and the past after her death. The film is a heartbreaking story of the difference between a child and an adults understanding of the word, and the process of coming to terms with the inescapable reality of death.
The film opens with Jason and his mother in the family home, where he is writing a letter to Santa and posting it to the north pole. It is when they are returning from posting the letter that Anna dies in a traffic accident. At the wake, Jason and Karl (Jason’s slightly scruffy uncle) discuss heaven, and how to get to it. Karl, tells Jason that the only way you can get to heaven is if you have been a good boy, but that will not be a problem for Jason, as he is a good boy. The day after the wake, while sorting through the mail on the doorstep, Jason finds a flyer for Heaven. What he doesn’t realize is that Heaven is a hair and beauty parlour in a nearby town. Remembering what his uncle said about good boys going to heaven and knowing that the post can be delivered anywhere (including Santa’s home in the north pole) Jason takes the plunge and decided to climb into a cardboard box (with This Way Up printed on it) with his sleeping bag and portable games console, and post himself to Heaven.
The film ends when Jason’s journey to heaven ends- with the box arriving in the hair salon. You can tell by Jason’s face that he is so, so excited about seeing his mother again – and as the box opens and light floods in, the film ends.
The ending is a gut wrenching finish for the audience – having seen Jason’s determination throughout journey and to see how excited he is about the box opening - expecting to see his mothers face again. You feel terrible watching his face as the box opens, because you know how heartbroken he is going to be when the cruel reality of the situation becomes clear to him – because as an adult we know that you can’t post yourself to heaven.