ma report

// Dedicated to my Grandfather. I was too young to say goodbye properly.

Goodbye.

© Sophia T. Wenzel, 2009

Project Report

Therapeutic AnimationImproving communication between parents and their terminally ill child

Sophia T. Wenzel

M00189714

MA Graphic Design 08/09

DES 4301 Project Completion

ABSTRACT

This paper demonstrates possibilities of enhancing communication between par-

ents and their terminally ill child.

The research addresses an among professionals in pediatric end-of-life-care well

known lack of communication, while focusing on 2-6 year old children, suffering

from a severe malignant, non- congenital disease.

It is analysed to what extent and because of which possible consequences it is

essential for parents to talk to their child about death, condition and prognosis.

Renown authors such as, Elisabeth Kuebler-ross, Judi Bertoia and Myra Blue-

bond-Langner report of the necessity to talk to a terminally ill child about death,

but according to a significant study by the New England Journal of Medicine 1,

only 34 % of concerned parents do so.

This research sets out to contribute to the field of family therapy with a graphic

design project, in respect to existing techniques and the experience of experts.

The subject will be introduced and examined through a theoretical lens using

primary and secondary literature and a significant study from Sweden, accom-

plished in 2004, as evidences. Additionally professionals have been adduced to

support this work with their experience and advice.

After the analysis, experiments have been set up and are described, analysed

and the results of the testing are externalised.

The incorporation of a series of animated movies into family therapy has been

the most promising experiment and also successful in the testing.

Hence further development, subjects, benefits and issues are discussed in refer-

ence to literature and professional expertise.

01 // ABSTRACT

1The New England Journal of Mecine, Talking about death with children who have severe malignant disease, Vol.351, No. 12, September 16, 2004

02 // TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract 01

Table of Contents 02

1.Introduction 031.1 The original research question 041.2 Methodology 041.3 The research problem and consequences 05

2. Hypothesis 05 2.1 Existing methods 06 2.2 The original design brief 06

3. Development 08 3.1 Input, Identification, Interaction 09 3.1.1 Testing and Results 11 3.2 Spontaneity, Unconsciousness, Expression 11 3.2.1 Testing and Results 13 3.3. Storymaking, Storytelling 13 3.3.1 Cinema Therapy 13 3.3.2 The Stories 15 3.3.3 Testing and Results 19

4. Requirements for Animations 19

5. Final Design 20 5.1 Chosen Tales 20 5.1.1 The Woodcutter and Death 21 5.1.2 Moon and Hare 24 5.1.3 Coyote in the Land of the Dead 25 5.1.4 The Parable of the Mustard Seed 27 5.2 Characters 29 5.2.1 Kisagotami and her child 29 5.2.2 Buddha Gautama 32 5.5.3 People Kisagotami meets 33 5.3 Design and Style 34 5.4 Discussion of Keysequences and Issues 37

6. Testing and Conclusion 39 6.1 Future Directions 40

Appendices 41References 55

1. INTRODUCTION

“ Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms, you would never see the beauty of their carvings “2

Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross utilises this expression to describe an among profession-

als, working in the field of paediatric end-of life care, well-known lack of com-

munication, experienced between parents and their terminally ill child. Having

undertaken research on death and dying, Kuebler-Ross explicates the need of

talking to children, facing a severe malignant disease, about death, their condi-

tion and prognosis, furthermore the necessity of engagement with their feelings

and concerns.3The design project described in this report addresses this lack of communication,

while focusing on 2 -6 year old children, suffering from a non-congenital illness.

The outcome aims at assisting parents of a terminally ill child to increase an

awareness of their child’s internal process and consciousness of his or her cur-

rent situation, condition and prognosis. Giving children the possibility to ex-

press their concerns, parents are likely to gain a better understanding, which

equates to an enhanced platform to communicate and therefore an improvement

of paediatric end-of-life-care.

In 2004 the New England Journal of Medicine4 published a study accomplished

in Sweden in which 561 eligible parents, who lost a child between 1992 and

1997, were asked whether or not they have talked to their child about death

of if they, due to different reasons, avoided this topic. The majority, 258 of 429

parents, who answered the survey, stated not to have talked to their child about

death, only 147 have.

27% of those parents who have not taken on this conversation did in fact regret

not to have done so, whereas none of the parents who had a conversation about

death did regret it.

03 // INTRODUCTION

2Kuebler-Ross, E., On Children and Death,Scribner, 1997

3Kuebler-Ross, E., On Children and Death,Scribner, 1997


04 // INTRODUCTION

Furthermore the study approved that parents, not talking to their terminally

ill child about death are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety for

a much longer period of time after the child’s death and that communication is

more likely if concerned parents are aware of their child’s internal process.5

1.1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH QUESTION

Which medium or device will assist parents of a 2-6 year old child, suffering from

a severe malignant disease to communicate with their child and help all three to

better cope with the child’s imminent death?

1.2 METHODOLOGY

During this research it has been of utmost importance to heavily rely on litera-

ture, including secondary literature, as well as the experience of professionals

working in this field. Due to possible harms, such as emotional distress it has not

been possible to either interrogate the concerned audience or to test prototypes

with parents or children.

In order to gain the necessary knowledge, methods such as literature review,

case studies and in-depth interviews have been employed. Quantitative research

methods, inter alia open-ended questionnaires have been utilised for the testing

at the development stage.

Did not talk about death // 66 %

Talked about death // 34 %

Not given


05 // INTRODUCTION / HYPOTHESIS

1.3 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND CONSEQUENCES

In such an unconceivable situation, faced with grief, parents have several rea-

sons to avoid a conversation about death with their child. The most common

and concise reason is the assumption the child would not be able to comprehend

consequences of a malignant disease and needs to be protected.

According to the Piaget-model6 it is certainly true, that children of the target age

have difficulties to understand details of their illness, as their cognitive think-

ing is not yet fully developed. But Rando found, that even if it is a” moot issue

whether or not these children can comprehend their own death”, it is essential

for parents to assist them with their feelings and “whatever understanding they

do have”.7Their potential understanding includes bodily changes and those around them,

the medical tests and hospitalisation interrupt normal life.” While children’s un-

derstanding depends on many factors such as age and experience, they do know

some of what has happened and will create their own version of circumstances

when not told”.8While the majority of parents does not establish a conversation about death,

the majority of terminally ill children does not ask questions about it, because

of taking their parent’s feelings into account. Bluebond-Langner reports of chil-

dren explaining: “ We knew certain questions would bring tears to our parents’

eyes, so we learned not to ask these questions.”9Referring to Mark Coulson, Psychologist at Middlesex University, the sharing

of negative emotions can help to reduce anxiety and depression in both, parents

and children.10

2. HYPOTHESIS

Since the study by the New England Journal of Medicine indicated the empathy

of parents for this communication, if they are aware of their child’s conscious-

ness, a potential approach is to reveal the child’s emotional condition by help of

a graphical solution.

6Jean Piaget, Stages of Intellectual development in children and teenag-ers //www.child-developmentinfo.com[accessed:14.11.2008]

8Bertoia, J., Drawings from a dying child, London: Routledge, 1993, p. 1

7Quoted in Bertoia, J., Drawings from a dying child, London: Routledge, 1993, p. 4

10Dr. Mark Coulson,Middlesex University

9Bluebond-Langner in Bertoia, J., Drawings from a dying child, London: Routledge, 1993, p.2

06 // HYPOTHESIS / DEVELOPMENT

2.1 EXISTING METHODS

In our conversation in January 2009 Prof Dr. med. Albani11, a paediatrician

from Wiesbaden, Germany, pointed out that in such a seriously lacking com-

munication it is essential to have a third person or a third thing arbitrating

between the two parties.

Someone or something that provokes questions, answers, a conversation.

It is therefore recommended to consult a therapist or counsellor, an expert

trained in this field.

During this research many approaches have been detected and analysed in or-

der to spot possibilities to contribute to, with a graphical project.

The most interesting approach is Play Therapy and Storytelling. Both methods

allow a child to express his or her emotions towards a particular situation and

is applied in cases such as abuse, domestic violence as well as bereavement and

loss.

It seems to be a trustworthy indicator, to give children a stimulus to respond to,

in order to let them express their emotions.

2.2 THE ORIGINAL DESIGN BRIEF

In the original design brief it was proposed to develop a graphical contribution

to the field of therapy, an environment, in which offering impulses for the child

to narrate can reveal emotions.

This environment should be designed for diagnostic purposes, not for a whole

therapeutic process and should meet the following requirements:

It needs to be adaptable to existing institutions, affordable for institutions sup-

ported by the public and of course it must bear benefits and innovation for the

field of infant therapy.

11Prof. Dr. med. Albani,Paediatrician,HSK Kliniken, Wiesbaden, Germany

07 // DEVELOPMENT

08 // DEVELOPMENT

3. DEVELOPMENT

Always in reference to literature and professional advice, three experiments

have been set up during the development stage.

The many different approaches of therapists to solve the described problem pro-

vided enough material to experiment with but bore the difficulty of deciding.

The first experiment responds to the idea of an input, identification and interac-

tion within an environment, regarded as the wooden cube.[ Fig.1]

The wooden cube has been the first concept of a potential spatial design, whose

basic construction reminds of children’s playhouses. A child-sized environment,

that is not accessible by adults, offers the privacy a child might need in order

express his or her feelings in a therapeutic session.

The decision was made to leave the cube open on one side, hence the child would

not feel locked out, anxious or distracted.

Two of the following experiments incorporate the wooden cube as a potential

environment for therapy and discuss possible activities within it. For the ex-

periment Prof. Dr. med Albani and Susanne Wenzel, Psychotherapist form Wi-

esbaden, Germany were adduced to contribute with their experience.

Figure 1

Prototype“Wooden cube”,2009

3.1 INPUT, IDENTIFICATION, INTERACTION

Albani pointed out that children learn and express themselves by performance

and storymaking, thus suggested the appliance of puppet theatres or joint nar-

ration, so as to provide an impulse for the child that can be retold or performed

afterwards.12It is a common practice to adapt children’s stories, Fairy tales or Folk tales for

this method, stories that discuss a very similar problem, as it is experienced

with the patient. Again Albani is of the opinion that it needs a third thing be-

tween the child and the therapist that arbitrates, and provokes a discussion.

In conclusion having an impulse such as a metaphor or a story leads the child to

identify with the very similar problem or a character in a made up story, since

“at 18 months the child becomes aware that other people and other things have

feelings. […] Children are role-playing with trucks, dolls and stuffed animals.

They may identify with a character in a movie and discuss the feelings of the

character. […]. As the child develops, discussions on feelings will expand.”13

After a long research in children’s stories and fairy tales that address themes of

bereavement, death and dying, the story of “ the velveteen rabbit” by Margery

Williams14 was chosen to be the impulse.

A very meaningful excerpt of the story [Fig.2] explains the conversation of two

stuffed animals about “becoming real”. It is said that a stuffed animal may be-

come real if a child loves it unconditionally. The stuffed rabbit seems fright-

ened of this transition, but the old stuffed horse, which is already “ made real”

explains calmly that becoming real might hurt sometimes, “ for he was always

truthful”, but that “ once you are real you don’t mind being hurt”.15

For me as the reader there has been the explicit transfer of a young client, termi-

nally ill and afraid of the transition and in the ideal situation his or her parents,

truthfully and calmly responding to upcoming questions.

The next consideration for this experiment was the form in which the stimulus

can be presented. Referring to Albani an involvement into the story is likely

when it is performed.16Thus the decision was made to incorporate an animation into the environment,

09 // DEVELOPMENT


13www.essortment.com/all/talkingchildren_paj.htm[ accessed 23.04.09]

14Williams, M., The Velveteen Rabbit, Doubleday, 1958, p.15

15Williams, M., The Velveteen Rabbit, Doubleday, 1958, p.15


10 // DEVELOPMENT

considering the statement, the child would identify with a character in a movie.

Furthermore, so as to guarantee an interaction and expression, the characters

of the animation should be part of the setup, as children might role-play with a

stuffed animal. The discussion of feelings or interaction with it can be a fruitful

indicator for the therapist.

Figure 2

Initial Storyboard,“the velveteen rabbit”,2009

3.1.1 TESTING AND RESULTS

Consulting Susanne Wenzel17 it has been verified that a child would probably

communicate with the stuffed animal, but even though the child would express

his own feelings with the toy, Wenzel is of the opinion that there is no necessity

for children to have a stimulus in order to reveal true feelings.

3.2 SPONTANEITY, UNCONSCIOUSNESS, EXPRESSION

Accordingly it is a moot issue whether or not an impulse is actually needed so

as to gain the information that is necessary for a therapeutic diagnosis. Wenzel

further explained that those young children have so much access to their uncon-

sciousness, that by a spontaneous action, such as in drawings, a spontaneous

response to imagery or a question might reveal much more true statements than

by letting the child conceptualise too long what it has to say.

In order to meet the requirements of both approaches I made up a second experi-

ment, in which no stimulus is incorporated and which provides the ability for the

child to express him or herself spontaneously.

In this experiment privacy is still necessary, also no parent should be included

into the process as this stage.

Like many other therapists Susanne Wenzel makes use of drawings and spon-

taneous choice of imagery or toys, hence the walls of the “ wooden cube “ may be

used as interactive space, adapting imagery that should be randomly chosen by

the child.

These interactive walls are magnetically responsive, to wit it is possible to stick

magnets to the walls.[ Fig.3]

The development of imagery has been particularly hard, as metaphors should

have been founds for certain feelings to be transferred on to a symbol. It was

unavoidable to start off from clichés such as a rain cloud for sadness, trees that

would have roots and branches or not, though there is the opportunity to incor-

porate imagery and metaphors known from children’s drawings.

Susanne Wenzel pointed out that any imagery would have been chosen or avoid-

ed for a certain reason, as it is the unconsciousness of a child and not the cogni-

tive thinking that would make the choice. The scene on the wall can be inter-

11 // DEVELOPMENT

17Susanne Wenzel,Psychotherapy,Wiesbaden, Germany

12 // DEVELOPMENT

preted by a therapist afterwards.

The idea of choosing symbols and to stick them on a wall is similar to the exist-

ing technique of “Sand Play Therapy”. For this method a child is asked to choose

from hundreds of figures, houses, cars and so forth to then place the chosen

items in a sand tray, so as to build up his or her own scene. A therapist is able to

interpret the scene from arrangements of figures. [Fig.4,5]

Figure 3Prototype, “Interactive Wall”, 2009

Figure 4Sandtray Therapy

www.counselingtoys.com [Accessed 5.2.2009]

Figure 5Sandtray Therapy

www.betsymillscounselling.com.au[Accessed 5.2.2009]


The testing of this graphic approach has been very difficult. For this purpose a

project expose was set up, which has been sent to therapists in connection with

a questionnaire [Appendices, page 43]. Unfortunately only two of 24 responded.

Even though this number is so small, the reaction is very concise.

Jeff Thomas from Play Therapy UK stated, “ A therapist would make up a story,

rather than wait for the child’s story.”18

As it is seemingly an uncommon practice to let a child unconsciously express,

and this concept would not be of use for a therapist, the decision had to be made

to though have a stimulus as a feature.

Incorporating the results from the first experiment, the idea of animations was

revised and tales, functioning as a stimulus for discussion, further explored.

3.3 STORYMAKING, STORYTELLING

As determined in experiment one and two, a therapist would rather make up a

story for a child, a story it can identify with, respectively with a character in the

story.

In this experiment, the idea of a stimulus will be kept, as well as the presenta-

tion of it in form of a movie. The concept sets out to provide a similar problem

wrapped into a story that the young client can identify with.

3.3.1 CINEMA THERAPY

The appliance of movies for therapeutic purposes has increased in recent years

and is regarded as “Cinema Therapy”.

Gary Salomon, PhD,author of The Motionpicture Prescription, has invented this

method, referring it to be “ the process of using movies made for the big screen

or television for therapeutic purposes.”19Movies have a strong ability to touch the viewer, especially if the subject matter

resembles the current situation of him or her. In a therapeutic context, movies

can be adapted in cases of abuse, domestic violence, bereavement and loss, but

also for less upsetting themes.

13 // DEVELOPMENT

18Jeff Thomas, Play Therapy UK Director of Research and Education

19 Movie Therapy: Using Movies for Mental Healthwww.medicinenet.com[accessed: 23.04.09]

14 // DEVELOPMENT

A very good example is the choice of the movie “ Free Willy” (1994)20, which is

recommended for children who were adopted. Since the main character Jesse has

been adopted himself and the movie shows the process Jesse is going through,

it might be fruitful for further therapy. If a child with foster parents identifies

with Jesse, it is very likely that a platform for discussion of feelings towards the

adoption is established.

The therapist would now go on to ask questions about the similarity to the char-

acter, or even differences. There will be an analysis of how the patient relates

to happenings within the story. Young clients would rather be asked to draw a

picture of the story, something that he remembered. 21The spontaneous action of

drawing a picture might reveal more truth than the actual conceptualisation of

the seen, as determined in experiment two.

There are few limits for the therapist to go on with the therapeutic process, how-

ever the evaluation of those is not subject of this paper.

This concept sets out to provide the stimulus for discussion and it is now to be

analysed, how this can be achieved.

Regarding to the choice of “ Free Willy”, the catch in this case is, that the plot of

it is just scratching the surface. It mentions the adoption and shows problems

that arise from it, but the actual storyline deals with a whale in captivity and the

friendship between the boy and the whale.

The fact that is missing in Cinema Therapy is adequate accuracy, providing

concise stimuli for discussion, those dealing with the problem, which is to be

tackled.

In conclusion, there is a need for therapeutic movies, providing a specific im-

pulse. For the purpose of this design project it is the need for movies tackling

and dealing with bereavement, loss, death and dying. Hence the decision has

been made to produce a series of stories presented as short animated movies, as

a graphic contribution to the field of therapy, especially Cinema Therapy.

To meet the requirements of a therapeutic animation for diagnostic purposes,

Ann-Marie John, a psychotherapist from North London, has been adduced to

support this project with her experience.

The choice of an appropriate story for a specific case rests with a therapist, how-

ever the concept of a series offers the advantage of different stories for different

individuals.

20International Movie Databasewww. imdb.com[accessed: 08.08.09]

21Ann-Marie John,Msc Family Therapy,North Lodon, UK

3.3.2 THE STORIES

“ The purpose of a story is to teach and please at once, and what it teaches is how to recognise the snares of the world” Umberto Eco

Referring to Prof. Dr. Albani, Fairy Tales and Folk Tales hold the ability to bear

and convey messages.22 Thus they need to be considered for this project.

In order to find stories and tales concisely dealing with themes of bereavement,

research on old Folk- and Fairy Tales has been undertaken.

It has been particularly difficult to find stories that suit the need of this project,

as some were just atrocious, vague or simply too confusing and difficult to follow.

However, Alida Gersie offers a range of workable stories in her book “ Storymak-

ing in Bereavement”23, which has become the anchor of this concept. Gersie not

only listed the consciously chosen Folk Tales involving death as the main theme,

but also describes why and how those were told and in which situation they are

of use. The tales in this book were told by tribes from almost every continent;

they incorporate views about life’s beginnings and death, some metaphorically,

some straightforward.

In general a Folk Tale, regarded as a story transmitted by the word of mouth,

has its origin in a popular culture and has been imagined for entertainment as

well as education. They have been told to illustrate the world, but also to frame

how to behave in it.

Similar to the fables by Aesop, some Folk Tales transfer human beings into ani-

mals, to wrap the message or moral into a form less close to the reader.

It is indeed a requirement for this project to keep a “ safe distance” to the respon-

dent, yet to involve him at once. A child aged 2-6 should identify with the tale,

but should not be scared by any means of it.

According to Dr. Ofra Ayalon24 this “ safe distance” can be implied and noticed

“by common beginnings such as ‘once upon a time […]’ and the ‘heroes’ being

royalty, personified animals or supernatural creatures”. She further explains

that “ while these elements allow for safe distancing it is also important to create

15 // DEVELOPMENT


23Gersie, A., Storymak-ing In Bereavement, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1991

24Ayalon in Gersie, A., Storymaking In Be-reavement, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1991, p. 3-4

16 // DEVELOPMENT

in the audience the necessary involvement with the situation at hand, in order

to achieve personal identification with the characters, ideas and emotions in a

story.”

Another important requirement for a tale in this concept is religious indepen-

dence and the ability to adapt it interculturally. This project aims at assisting

every human being, no matter from which culture or religious denomination.

Three of the tales by Alida Gersie have been chosen for the final design:

“ The Old Woodcutter And Death”25 from Nepal, “ Moon and Hare”26, told by

the Bushmen and “ Coyote In The Land Of The Dead”27 from the North Ameri-

can Indians. The fourth tale, “ The Parable of the Mustard Seed”28, has its

origin in India and is the only one not listed in Gersie’s book.

Due to the variety of views on death and dying and ways to cope with loss this

story has been chosen to be storyboarded for the testing in this experiment.

[ Fig.6]

For an analysis of these tales and their possible transfer please see Chapter 5.1,

the original transcripts of them can be found in the appendices, page 46.

This parable describes the journey of a young mother searching for a medicine

that will bring back her dead child, that she had lost in the winter. On her way

she meets different people with different views on her situation and a range of

recommendations.

The message of this parable deals with a situation of loss and illustrates a pro-

cess of acceptance, sensitively handled.

A full transfer of this tale and the realisation of it for the screen is described in

chapter 5.1.4.

In order to keep the “safe distance” human beings in the story have been

transferred onto personified animals, a promising possibility offered by Dr.

Ofra Ayalon29. The choice of animals living in India, such as Axis deer, seemed

likely, as the tale and its realisation should be a as authentic as possible.

Even though the storyline has been transformed in order to meet the require-

ments for a movie, the “safe distance”and a fluent narration, it was kept very

close to the original tale.

25 / 26 / 27Gersie, A., Storymak-ing In Bereavement, London: Jessica King-sley Publishers, 1991, p. 56, 71, 104

28www.pitt.edu/~dash/mourn.html[accessed 12.3.2009]

29Ayalon in Gersie, A., Storymaking In Be-reavement, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1991, p. 3-4

Figure 6

Initial Storyboard,“The Parable of the Mustard Seed”,

2009


With the prototype, the storyboarded tale, Ann-Marie John30 has been consult-

ed in order do evaluate benefits, issues and further ideas.

The conversation determined the definite adaptability of Folk Tales for ther-

apeutic purposes, even though not every individual, to wit client, might be

addressed with it. According to John the concept can be utilised in this case,

though it is a matter of evaluation whether or not a client will respond to it. For

some clients other therapeutic techniques are more promising, nevertheless the

concept of therapeutic animations is working into the right direction and bears

much potential.

4. REQUIREMENTS FOR ANIMATIONS

Again the experience of professional working in the field of therapy was demand-

ed in order to define requirements for therapeutic animations. As a terminally ill

child of the target age should be addressed, each of the animated movies need to

meet the following specifications:

The message of a story, respectively of a movie needs to be conveyed, making as

less use of spoken word as possible. Susanne Wenzel stated that children of this

age rather respond to visual metaphors and colours, than language.

Thus the communication in a therapeutic movie needs to be indirect, to wit con-

vey messages through imagery.

As a child is supposed to identify with one or more characters and possibly proj-

ects own feelings onto it, it is essential to give each character in a movie less fa-

cial expression. A new interpretation of the seen story is not possible, if feelings

of a character, thoughts or meanings are anticipated.

This conclusion has been verified by Ann-Marie John, adding that because of

this reason it is recommendable to leave some questions open and not to explain

every detail in a therapeutic movie. There needs to be enough scope for imagina-

tion, phantasy, re-interpretation and moreover storytelling.

As explained in an earlier statement, the design of an animated movie is sup-

posed to involve the viewer, yet needs to keep a distance.

Another very important requirement is the intercultural comprehensibility.

19 // DEVELOPMENT / REQUIREMENTS

30 Ann-Marie John,Msc Family Therapy,North Lodon, UK

20 // FINAL DESIGN

5. FINAL DESIGN

Even though there is a variety of tales suitable for this purpose, four tales have

been chosen for the final design. One of them “ The Parable of the Mustard Seed”

was animated in order to propose the look and content of a therapeutic anima-

tion.

The other three chosen tales were storyboarded. Nils Middelstorb,a london

based illustrator has been adduced to finalise the storyboards, in respect to ini-

tial sketches and determined requirements.

Unfortunately, due to restrictions of time, it was unavoidable to reduce the plot

to key sequences. However, the final design is supposed to be further elaborated

in the future, referring to the prototype described in this chapter.

The animation is to be found on www.sophiawenzel.com/mustardseed.html

5.1 CHOSEN TALES

The following tales have been chosen for the animation series, considering their

qualities, such as variety of views, ability for interpretation, intelligence and

hopeful narrative.

5.1.1 THE WOODCUTTER AND DEATH

The first tale I have chosen has its origin in Nepal. ( A full transcript of the tale

is to be found in the appendices page 46).

Alida Gersie retold the story of an old woodcutter, building a trap for Death, to

catch an keep him in captivity, with the aim not to be taken by him, when his

time had come. When it becomes obvious how life on earth would change without

Death, noticing the overpopulation, hunger and sickness, the woodcutter finally

agrees to let Death be free. From this day, death has been invisible, for that no

one is able to catch him again, though he can see everybody.

Even though death is personified in this tale and the woodcutter knows how

long he has left to live, the story is hopeful and does not give any suggestions

or religious views. It describes an important decision that had to be made, thus

provides a basic for a discussion about it.

The tale has been transformed to meet the requirements defined in chapter 4

and to keep the safe distance characters of the story were transferred onto per-

sonified animals. The animal for the woodcutter is in this animation a beaver,

not least because of the fact that both are cutting wood.

Transferring death into an animal is not part of this concept, as it should not be

given an image, or suggest any attitudes for it. Hence the character Death will

be shown as something indefinite, indescribable, maybe a character consisting of

particles, as neutral as possible.

This tale offers a great scope for imagination, discussion and further therapy,

provoking thoughts about life without death, the appearance of death and ac-

ceptance of it.

21 // FINAL DESIGN

22 // FINAL DESIGN

Storyboard

“The Woodcutter and Death”Illustrated by Nils Middelstorb,2009

24 // FINAL DESIGN

5.1.2 MOON AND HARE

Moon and Hare is a tale about the misdelivery of a message. (Appendices, page

47). The Bushmen told that Hare was sent to the early people, for he was the

fastest spirit,to tell them they should not be afraid of death, as like moon they

will be renewed when dying. It is Hare who did not listen properly and delivers

another message, saying the early people will not be renewed like moon, with

the consequence of frightening the early people. As a penalty Hare has received

a split nose, additionally from this day onwards, he will be no longer a spirit and

has to live on the earth.

This tale has been chosen because it meets the requirements, defined for a tale,

intelligence, sensitivity and the range of possible interpretations of it.

Alida Gersie noticed, that “ Moon cannot intervene” when Hare delivered the

wrong message and that “ Moon endures the very human experience of being

unable to protect the people we love against the terror of death”.31This is just one of the many interpretations that are possible in this tale, inter-

pretations that connect the client to the tale.

The main character is Hare,a spirit, yet already an animal. Thus no transfer is

required. Due to the fact that the tale involves ancient people, there is a distance

to human beings living nowadays.

Regarding to the storyboard, characters and storyline have not been changed,

though illustrated.

31Gersie, A., Storymak-ing In Bereavement, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1991, p. 71

Storyboard

“Moon and Hare”Illustrated by Nils Middelstorb,2009

5.1.3 COYOTE IN THE LAND OF THE DEAD

This tale, told by the Yakima in North America is very different from the oth-

ers. Even though it involves the processes of bereavement and grief, it gives an

insight of what could possibly happen after death.

It describes the trial of Coyote and Eagle Hawk to free the deceased, to bring

them back to the land of the living. In this case it is the deceased who give hope

and consolation to the living.

It is a good example for a variety of themes in a therapeutic tale. Whereas “the

old woodcutter and death” describes the trial to escape from death, “ Coyote

in the land of the dead” is also “ a moving description of our passage through

bereavement”32. Hence it would also be adaptable for therapy with children,

having lost a family member and being faced with grief.

The characters in this tale are likely to be human beings with given names, that

are renown for North American Indians, though the Idea of two strong personi-

fied animals, coyote and eagle, suits this concept and keeps the story close to the

original.

For the purpose of a therapeutic application the plot has been shortened, but al-

lowing for the animation to be a as close to the original tale as possible.

25 // FINAL DESIGN


26 // FINAL DESIGN

Storyboard

“Coyote in the Land of the Dead”Illustrated by Sophia Wenzel,2009

5.1.4 THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED

As outlined above this story has been chosen for the final design, to be animated

and prototyped.

The original tale from India ( Appendices, page 51) tells the journey of a mother,

who lost her child, to find a medicine that can bring back the deceased. Origi-

nally she carries her dead child throughout the story, asking neighbours and

friends for this special medicine.

She is put off by all respondents and it is recommended to ask Buddha Gautama

for help.

Buddha Gautama, asks the mother to bring a mustard seed from a house in

which no family member has ever died. On her search for this mustard seed the

mother experiences different views on her situation and different reactions to it.

The fact that she cannot find this special seed leads her to accept the death of her

child and helps to find consolation.

In order to animate this tale,a storyboard has been prepared, showing the slight-

ly changed tale and the transfer of the characters.

The necessary “safe distancing” is achieved by personified animals. Animals liv-

ing in the concerned area have been chosen and those living in neighboured

countries.

Buddha Gautama has been transferred to a stag, because of the majestic atti-

tude of the animal. To establish a connectivity between the characters, mother

and child have been transferred onto Axis deer.

Characters will be further explained in the next chapter.

27 // FINAL DESIGN

28 // FINAL DESIGN

Storyboard

“The Parable of the Mustard Seed”Illustrated by Nils Middelstorb,2009

5.2 CHARACTERS

All characters have been designed using Adobe Illustrator with picture refer-

ence. Every part of the body was set on a single layer to guarantee the flexibility

and ability to move them around in Adobe After effects.

Even though the characters are vectorised it was important to keep them close

to their natural appearance, since they are part of an animated Folk tale, close

to the original and not fantasised.

Having over-cartoonised characters might lead the viewer to have a distance,

but makes the process of involvement and identification much more difficult.

5.2.1 KISAGOTAMI AND HER CHILD

Kisagotami is the mother, losing her child in the winter. She has been trans-

ferred onto an axis doe. In the first design [ Fig.11] There are much too less

characteristics, especially her motherly appearance and the likable expression

has been missing.

The second design [Fig.12] shows Kisagotami with more human attitudes, she is

friendly, motherly and more easy to identify with. Additionally the eyes, which

were designed more expressive, assist in making a character likeable, to en-

hance the relatedness between viewer and character.

Her fawn [ Fig.13] was designed in reference to Kisagotami, alike every follow-

ing character, in order to keep continuity of the movie.

The design of the fawn persuades by authenticity, providing the ability to iden-

tify with by incorporation of the scheme of childlike characteristics.

29 // FINAL DESIGN

Figure 11

Initial Design for Kisagotami, 2009

30 // FINAL DESIGN

Figure 12

Final Design of the Character Kisagotami,2009

Figure 13

Final Design of the Character Fawn,Kisagotami’s Child,2009

31 // FINAL DESIGN

Figure 14

Final design of the Character Buddha Gautama, transferred to a Stag,2009

32 // FINAL DESIGN

5.2.2 BUDDHA GAUTAMA

In the original story it is told, that Kisagotami needed to find Buddha Gautama

so as to find the medicine she needed.

Having decided to design the animation series without any influences of religion

there was the difficulty of finding an animal that would be as precious and ma-

jestic as Buddha, without offending the Buddhistic society. It needed to be an

animal, that is standing above other animals, proud and trustworthy.

The idea of a stag [ Fig.14] has not been the first but the best decision, as it is

an animal that highly suits this position and additionally connects to the other

main characters, Kisagotami and her fawn.

The painting “ The Monarch of the Glen” by Edwin Landseer [ Fig. 15] accompa-

nies the choice of a stag as a majestic, proud and trustworthy animal.

In matters of colouring I used this painting as reference. References for move-

ments are personal recordings of deer in a German deer park, from which I was

able animate certain movements such as the turning of a head [Fig.16]

Figure 15

“ The Monarch of the Glen” Edwin Landseer, 1851

Figure 16

Example of a head-movement in a frame-by-frame animation,2009

5.2.3 PEOPLE KISAGOTAMI MEETS

In the original story Kisagotami asks neighbours and friends for medicine. As a

means of intercultural adaptability and to support the animation this aspect has

been transferred onto forests she visits,some neighboured some in other parts

of the world.

Respondents of the tale were transferred onto animals as well, inter alia an owl,

a squirrel and a panda bear. Each of them with different views and experiences,

but all of them from a forest in which several “ animals “ died. [Fig.17]

The characters were designed in reference to the main characters, as natural

as possible, friendly and easy to identify with. As a requirement for therapeutic

animations their facial expression is reduced to blinking eyes and the lipsynch-

ing movements of the face.

33 // FINAL DESIGN

Figure 17

Some characters Kisagotami meets in the story,

2009

34 // FINAL DESIGN

5.3 DESIGN AND STYLE

The overall animation reminds very much of animated movies by Walt Disney

or Studio Ghibli, not least because of the painted backgrounds and the clean

vectorised characters.

In fact, having a static, painted background and characters in the foreground

eases the production of an animation and though achieves a great effect, some-

times even three dimensional, depending on the sequence.

In connection with the vectorised images, a painting comes to life and vice versa.

Background images were prepared using water colour and ink, in reference to

photographs and sketches of Trent Park in North London.

Characters and backgrounds have been animated in Adobe After Effects, refer-

ring to the work by Eadweard Muybridge “ Animals in Motion”.33 Afterwards the sequences were cut and composed.

The voice for each character sometimes points out from which part of the world

the particular animal is from, choosing an actor with a different accent. In a

prospective development of this project, this idea needs to be taken further, to

wit elaborated.

In order to indicate, where the original tale has its origin, traditional music from

the respective country was chosen as background music.

Two of the three compositions applied in this animation are copyright, though

annotated and only of use for educational purposes and the presentation at uni-

versity. However there is a range of potential compositions adaptable for the

future.

33Muybridge, E., Animals in Motion, New York: Dover Pub-lications Inc., 1957

Figure 18

Still images taken from the final anima-tion, 2009

5.4 DISCUSSION OF KEY SEQUENCES AND ISSUES

Some of the animated scenes in the movie bore difficulties in their realisation.

In some parts the original story had to be altered in order to meet requirements

for a therapeutic animation, but even the altered and simplified sequences are

matter of discussion.

In Figure 19 the sequence is shown, in which Kisagotami’s fawn is too weak to

continue with the journey and eventually cannot get up anymore and dies. What

seems cruel at the first glance had to be presented as metaphorically as possible

without distressing the concerned viewer. Not being trained in this field it has

been particularly hard to decide in which way this part of the story needed to

be designed. Finally the decision was made not to display details of the fawn’s

death, but to let it be obvoius from the context.

There are definately more elegant ways to transfer the death, which need to be

tested and evaluated by experts, but for this project it seemed sufficient to show

the fawn and its weakness.

It has been criticised by Ann-Marie John34 that “ it may have been helpful to

comment on what happened to the body, we know that seeing the body can

help with saying goodbye and rituals around burial are very important and

may have helped the deer.” In the conversation John expressed the possibility

of covering the body with snow as a safe way to engage with the subject matter.

Giving very much attention to possible harms in the audiences these sequences

have been kept simple, probably too simplified, with a lack of profundity.

In respect to an earlier statement these critical points will be acknowledged and

taken into account in future developments of this project.

Another sequence that is to be discussed is the little duck asking Kisagotami

whether or not she has understood what has just happened [Fig.20]. Accord-

ing to Ann-Marie John she might have not understood and the little duck is an

appropriate metaphor for the community, sometimes with the wrong choice of

words. In the process of bereavement, many statements can fail, exactly like

the one shown. It is therefore a metaphor that helps to raise a discussion about

people in the community, their behaviour and isolation.

37 // FINAL DESIGN

34Ann-Marie John,Msc Family Therapy,North Lodon, UK,Feedback 09/09/08,Appendices p. 52

38 // FINAL DESIGN

Figure 19

Still images taken from the original animation, “The Parable of The Mustard Seed”2009

Figure 20


It has been a controversial thought whether or not to incorporate a character

into the animation that might seem too humorous on the first glance, in connec-

tion with the serious plot of the animation. While looking for a mustard seed the

viewer can hear sounds of the owl rummaging in her jerk. Nevertheless it is still

a children’s movie, and even if it is therapeutic, it shall still entertain and touch

the viewer. This thought was verified by Ann-Marie John.

6. TESTING AND CONCLUSION

The testing of the final design needed to be constrained to an evaluation of an

expert working in the field of therapy. The consultant for this project, Ann-Marie

John, recently obtained a Master degree in Family Therapy, evaluated the de-

sign and concept. The full written evaluation is to be found in the appendices,

page 52.

The first and most important outcome of the testing is, that the design and con-

cept has not yet been tested with the concerned audience, it is therefore evalua-

tion of an expert whether or not it is adaptable. John is of the opinion that “this

media has a strong potential to create new possibilities for communication”,

which needed to be tested with clinicians.

“The accessibility of the visual form is strength of this media that could be harnessed and this has certainly been demonstrated in the film.”35

John also admits the accuracy of the visual narration, involving metaphors that

will be useful in the further therapeutic process.

39 // FINAL DESIGN / TESTING

Figure 20



40 // FINAL DESIGN / TESTING

“The strength of the film is that it remained in the metaphor so you could have a whole discussion about the animals using puppets of the characters without talking about anyone’s individual experi-ence. I think this might be useful for a group of families. This is similar to the convention of the arts therapies, that the deer char-acter could be used to express feelings of grief and loss making it safer for the child and family.”36

In our conversation in August 2009 it has been determined, that this concept

might work with concerned clients,depending on the therapeutic assessment.

Even though this project seems to be successful for the original research ques-

tion, it needs to be tested with the audience and empirical knowledge needs to

be gained in a prospective development.

There are still points of criticism and discussion, i.e. whether or not a narrator

is needed, or which type of background music would be appropriate for children,

but these points are subject to evaluate and test in consideration of each original

story and the therapeutic process.

6.1 FUTURE DIRECTIONS

In order to give a definite answer, whether or not terminally ill children might

respond to therapeutic movies, and whether or not it might be helpful to en-

hance communication between them and their parents, it would be helpful to

conduct further research, including individual interviews with children or chil-

dren in focus groups.

These methods would be of use to understand which meanings children derive

from therapeutic movies and which consequences they draw from these.

Furthermore research that determines the effectiveness of such animations in

application for therapy.

According to the outcome of the testing and the criticism, the Design would be

improved in order to meet all the requirements for a therapeutic animation.

Even though in some cultures death is still a taboo subject, I am very pleased

about the general approval that my project has gained with professionals while

developing. The interest in it increased and it will hopefully be matter of discus-

sion in the future.


APPENDICES

Research Ethics Approval Form P. 42

Testing Questionnaire // Experiment two P. 43

Original Tales

The Woodcutter and Death P. 46

Moon and Hare P. 47

Coyote in the Land of the Dead P. 48

The Parable of the Mustard Seed P. 51

Testing // Evaluation by Ann-Marie John P. 52

41 // APPENDICES

42 // APPENDICES

Middlesex University / School of Arts and Education

Research Ethics Approval Form

Name Award registered for Sophia Talina Wenzel MA Graphic Design

Supervisor/Module Leader Module (if applicable) Carlos Sapochnik DES 4102

Title of project An Investigation of communication between parents and their terminally ill child

Brief description of and rationale for your study

I will be looking for a communication strategy that will assist parents of a 2-6 year old

child, suffering from leukaemia, to correspond with their child and help all three to cope

with the child’s impending death.

Does your study involve the participation of other people? Please describe them briefly (e.g. age, gender, ethnic group, language/educational/religious background, etc.) and the nature of their participation. People involved into the study will be professionals in this field (Medicines, nurses,

counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists) and voluntary parents.

Have you secured their voluntary written consent to participate in the project (in the case of children under 16, that of a parent, guardian or carer)? Not yet

Ethical issues and actions you propose to take to address them Every voluntary participant involved into the study will be adequately informed about the

context and aims and about his rights e.g. to withdraw at any time. I will protect personal

data and make sure that details are secure. I will take care that the good proportion of

benefits and potential risks will be maintained. Every step I do in my study will be well

considered to sensitively handle all participants in cooperation with professionals and my

supervisor.

What are the potential risks and potential benefits of your study? Benefits include a better understanding of parents and children to establish a better

communication and therefore a better atmosphere and an improvement of end-of-life-care.

Potential risks may be emotional distress of participants, but I will avoid it with help of

professionals such as counsellors.

If relevant, have you consulted relevant bodies (e.g., Royal College of Physicians)? I have consulted hospices, hospitals and the Elisabeth-Kuebler-Ross-Foundation (London)

How will you ensure that anonymity, confidentiality and privacy are maintained? Volunteers should be free to participate, withdraw or publish their details during the study.

If they are published, I will keep them secure and not accessible to anyone not involved into

the study directly.

Are there any potential risks to the participants? How will these be minimized? A potential risk is emotional distress, which I will avoid with help of professionals, such as

counsellors. I won’t work with bereaved voluntary parents until my concept is not fully

developed and approved by supervisor and professionals.

Does you research involve animals? No, animals won’t be involved.

Signed by

Researcher Sophia Talina Wenzel Date 06.11.08

Supervisor (if applicable) Date Research Ethics Advisor Date Dean of School Associate Dean: Research (Delete as applicable)

Approved Approved subject Referred to University Rejected

QUESTIONNAIRE PART A- GENERAL INFORMATION

Name (optional): Country:

a. For how long have you been working in the field of Therapy? (Please strike inappropriate)

Less than 1 year 1 to 5 years

5-10 years More than 10 years

b. Have you worked with terminally ill children? (Please strike inappropriate)

Yes No

QUESTIONNAIRE PART B – THE PROJECT

1. THE PROPOSAL

a. Do you agree with the existence of the lack of communication between parents and their terminally ill child? (Please strike inappropriate)

Yes No

b. Would you recommend Play Therapy as a tool to solve this problem? If yes, why?Which technique would you prefer? (Please outline briefly)

c. Which differences do you see between working with physically healthy and ill children?(Please outline briefly)

2. THE ENVIRONMENT

a. The wooden cube - Which thoughts do you have concerning the “envi-ronment within an environment”? (Please outline briefly)

b. Do you have any concerns about comfort, mental health, health and safety within the cube?(Please outline briefly)

43 // APPENDICES

44 // APPENDICES

3. INTERACTION

Magnetic Storytelling- Giving a child the possibility to create his or her own scene

a. If the child is asked to choose symbols on a gut level, does this reveal his or her emotional condition? (Please strike inappropriate)

Yes No

b. Why or why not? (Please outline briefly)

c. Which kind of information can be obtained? (Please outline briefly)

d. If the magnetic symbols were connected with a child’s drawings, would this combination enhance the assessment? (Please strike inappropriate)

Yes Not necessarily No

e. If yes, which additional information can be obtained? (Please outline briefly)

f. Is it necessary to provide an incentive for the child, in order to gather specific information- in this case the emotions towards a terminal illness? (Please strike inappropriate)

Yes No

g. If yes, what do you think is appropriate? (Feel free to tick more than one, strike inappropriate)

A Children’s Story Book

Animation/Film Character/Puppet

Music Performance

Other (please specify)

4. SYMBOLS

a. Do the symbols for pictorial storytelling need to follow a system or specifications?(Please strike inappropriate)

Yes No

b. If yes, what are those specifications? (Please outline briefly)

c. Which of the following will give information? Is it rather… (Please strike inappropriate)

Shape of a symbol Colour of a symbol

Arrangement of symbols other……….(please specify)

d. Is there a difference between, e.g. the symbol of a black or a white rab-bit?Which difference would it make for the assessment? (Please outline briefly)

e. Can you think of shapes, colours or symbols that occurred to you in a therapeutic context? (Please outline briefly)

f. Can we find adaptable symbols in children’s drawing? Which are common?(Please outline briefly)

6. COMMENTS

Do you have any comments, amendments, thoughts or worries? Please let me know!

Thanks for your cooperation.

45 // APPENDICES

46 // APPENDICES

The Woodcutter and Death Retold by A. Gersie

Once there lived an old woodcutter. He was very poor and could scarcely make ends meet. One day he went into the forest and gathered a lot more wood than usual. As he bent down to lift the bundle onto his shoulders he found that he was too frail to raise the heavy weight. He sighed deeply and cursing his age, said: “If only I were dead.” Suddenly someone stood next to him. A strange voice asked: “Did you call me?” The woodcutter felt a great fear. “No, no I didn’t”, he lied.Ignoring the old man’s clumsy deception Death made himself known. He ex-plained that he had simply come, because he had been called. The woodcutter became less frightened and looked at Death. He found it very hard to believe that this was really Death himself. Seeing his doubt, Death pointed at an old woman who bathed in a nearby pond. The woman suddenly fell and died. This immediately brought the woodcutter to his senses. He at once remembered why he had wanted to die, and asked Death, now that he was here, if he could please give him a hand and lift the bundle of wood onto his shoulders. Death gladly obliged. The woodcutter was ready to hurry home, when the thought came to him that he might ask how much longer he had to live. As he left, Death an-swered: “Five years to a day.”That night the woodcutter did not sleep very well. Tumultuous thoughts haunt-ed him. Early the next morning he returned to the forest. He looked for a big, big tree. And when he found it, he cut a single hole in the bottom of the tree. Then he started carving out the inside of the trunk. He carved for five whole years.Then Death returned. Just as he said he would. The old woodcutter promised to come along, but, he said, before he was ready to leave the world, he so much wanted Death to see what he had carved as a gift for the people who would live long after he had died. They went to the woods. Deep into the woods they went. Death climbed into the tree-trunk. Proudly the woodcutter showed him round. When Death was in the top of the tree-trunk house, the woodcutter hastened down, crept outside, jammed a log into the entrance hole and hurried home.Time passed. People and animals gave birth, but Death came to no one. Hunger and illness resided everywhere, yet nobody died. Even the gods became alarmed. They approached the Lord Shiva, the great one, who, donning the garb of a hu-man being, decided to come to earth. He went immediately to the old woodcutter and asked him if he still wanted to go on living.

The poor woodcutter was by now even older and weaker, and so ill that he could hardly leave his resting- place, let alone return to the forest where Death was locked inside the tree- house. Quietly the old woodcutter acknowledge that, at last, he was ready to die. Then the Lord Shiva helped the old man to get up. Slowly they walked to the forest. They went deep into the woods. Then he opened the tree and released Death. Death was shaken by his ordeal in the tree. He pleaded with the Lord Shiva to make him from now on invisible, so that people could no longer devise ways to stave him off. “So be it”, Lord Shiva said.From that day onwards Death has been invisible to humankind, though he sees

all of us. And the woodcutter, he died.37


Moon and Hare Retold by A. Gersie

It happened in the days of the early race. Moon had noticed how frightened the people were of dying. Moon therefore called the animal who could run faster than any other animal. This was Hare.

Moon told Hare to run to earth and to tell the terrified people that they need not be afraid of death and dying. Whenever they felt frightened of death they had to look at Moon. They then would know that, like Moon, they too would in dying be renewed again.

Before he had grasped what he had to tell the early people, Hare was on his way. When he came to the early people’s dwelling place, he said, ‘ When you look at Moon you see that in dying Moon is made anew. But when you die, you will not be made anew.’ The early people continued to be terrified of dying and it was not long before Moon discovered that Hare had given the wrong message. Moon was very angry and hit hare on the lip.

To this day, Hare has a split lip, but that was not the only punishment Hare received. Since that time Hare has not been given a home of his own. He has to

sleep in the open, where the wind blows and the sun shines.38

47 // APPENDICES


48 // APPENDICES

Coyote in the land of the dead Retold by A. Gersie

When the world was still very young, Coyote visited the Eagle’s lodge. He had known the Eagle-people since the beginning of time, and had not seen them for a while. He was therefore upset when he saw that Eagle’s fire had been left unten-ded, and that the entire lodge was badly neglected. Eagle-man barely returned Coyote’s greeting, and whispered that he had to tell him bad news. Eagle-woman had died. And life without her was too difficult. Coyote had heard such words before from other grieving people. They hurt him sorely. And because Coyote was Coyote he decided, there and then, that the way of things had to be altered. He reminded himself of the new leaves and flowers of springtime and could not see why it should not be like this for people too. Therefore he suggested to Eagle-man that they would travel to the land of the dead to bring back the people,so that they too might be renewed.

Thus Coyote and Eagle-man set out on their journey. They travelled a long, long time. At last they came to a grey, sombre land, were the sun was rarely seen. When darkness was about to fall they reached the wide river which flows between the land of the living and the land of the dead. On the far-distant shore they saw a village, much like other villages.

Coyote and Eagle-man lifted their voices, calling into the darkening night that someone might send a boat to fetch them. Nothing stirred and no one came. Then Coyote thought. His thought travelled deep inside himself, and he lifted to his throat an ancient song, unknown to him, and as he sang this song of power, a canoe set forth from the faraway shore, and made its way towards them.

Four men held the oars and four sorrow wisened faces greeted them with a friendly, silent smile. No questions were asked, no words spoken.

When they arrives in the village of the dead Coyote and Eagle-man were greeted by a strong tall woman. Her face shone with the same wisened smile they had seen on the face of the oarsmen. Assuring her that they were offered in a small lodge, tightly woven of tule and other rushes. A heap of antelope hides and a warm fire was all they found inside their dwelling.

Soon Eagle-man became hungry, wondering whether he should go outside and look for food. But, as they looked around for the doorway, they saw that the lodge had become completely closed off. They searched for an opening, a possible way out, but found none. They tried to scratch a hole in the walls, but each time they made a hole, it closed over. The walls which imprisoned them were strong and smooth and nothing could make them break. Eagle-man was fear-struck. Would they be left to dwell here and starve to death? Coyote thought a moment, a brief eternal moment. Then he knew. He said: ‘ only what belongs to the land of the dead will create an opening in the lodge of the Dead.’No sooner had he thought these thoughts than the lodge opened and a person came in to bring them food. When he left the lodge again, it closed over as before.

Coyote and Eagle-man ate the food of yonder world, for they ere very hungry. Coyote took all care to eat both the meat and the bones. But when he was chew-ing the last bone, he kept a little bit in his mouth. Everything else he swallowed.

Eagle-man’s longing for his wife hurt greatly and when the person came to take away their empty bowl, he asked when he might see her. A wise smile was all he saw. Again the doorway disappeared, and the walls of the lodge were smoother and more solid than ever. Eagle-man knew that the dead would keep them here until they died. He would never be able to see his wife. His hurt was great in-deed.

Then Coyote took the bone-splitter out of his mouth and started to scratch the wall. This time it did not smooth over. The hole was made bigger and bigger, un-til it was so large that they could see through it. In the early moonlight they saw how the dead gathered in a circle to sway and move most gently and beautifully in a mysterious dance. They were dressed in rich ceremonial robes. Some carried musical instruments. The decorations with shells and feathers were splendid as any they had seen in the land of the living. Coyote saw many of the people he knew in that moonlight gathering and also lovely Eagle-woman. When Eagle-man saw her, he gasped and wanted to run towards her. But Coyote held him tightly, and helped him silence his cry.

Eagle-man watched how Coyote wont over to the antelope hides. He took them one by one, and laid them out for sewing. Then he made the bone-splinter which he had first used to make a hole in the wall of the lodge, into a needle. Using his own hair, Coyote began to stitch the hides together. One after the other. Until he had made a very big hide-bag. Meanwhile the dead danced their ceremonial dance. Coyote looked upon them in awed silence. Then, as if from nowhere, he started to sing a song of his own. It was like the Canoe-song, because it too came from the place of old-knowing deep within him. It seemed as if the whole world shrunk. The dead stood still, held by the embracing song, while all around them darkness dwelled.

Now Coyote and Eagle-man moved towards their still circle, dragging the hide-bag behind them. And one by one, light as feathers, they took the dead people into the cup of their hands. Each one found a place inside the bag. When all the people of the land of the dead had thus been gathered Coyote and Eagle-man

made their way towards the canoe.

Suddenly Coyote was in a hurry. His ancient knowing told him the he had to reach the shore of the land of the living before sunrise. Thus Coyote and Eagle-man took their place in the canoe, the hide-bag between them, and began the journey across the wide river which flows between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

Fear struck as a faint light shimmered on the horizon. Slight groans and shud-

49 // APPENDICES

50 // APPENDICES

ders could be heard inside the hide-bag. Eagle-man trembled. Coyote told him once more to paddle as fast as he could. When the light grew stronger, the dead people would awaken, and there wasn’t enough room in the bag for all of them. Their pain would be agony and besides they would be too heavy for the canoe, which would then capsize.

They hastened across the river. But soon it happened. The people inside the bag twisted and turned and screamed in blind pain. The canoe capsized, and the hide-bag and Coyote and Eagle-man, they fell into the river.

But still Coyote did not give up. Fast as he could, he swam towards the bag. Dragging it with the last of his strength and holding it tightly, he brought his sorrowful load to shore. Then he opened the hide-bag, smiling gladly as the dead people who returned to life, stood before him on the shores of the land of the liv-ing which shone n the early morning light.

Then Coyote spoke. He told them that he and Eagle-man had brought the people back to the land of the living, so that there would be no more death. All living beings would now come back to life, like the trees and flowers return. Eagle-man and Eagle-woman could go back to their village. They need mourn no more.

Coyote looked around. His gaze was greeted with the same sorrow-wisened smile he had seen before. Then the old woman, who had greeted him and Eagle-man on the shore of the village of the dead, stepped forward. She spoke thus:“ It is good to be remembered Coyote and we know that you meant well. But we do not long to return and live amongst you again. Our time here in the land of the Living came and went. Now another time has come and it is good. We find much knowledge and wonder in the land of the dead. We wish to return to it. “She looked away and turned to the canoe which was lying on the shore, silent witness to the journey. All of her people followed her. The last to go was Eagle-woman. As she was about to step into the canoe, she looked at Eagle-man and spoke:“ Do not grieve for me. We are not like the leaves on the tree, but like its heart. When it dies, the tree dies and it returns to the still heart-beat of the earth. One day you too shall cross this river, and we shall both be there, dancing the endless dance of the dead. Do not grieve for me.”

They stood, silent Coyote and silent Eagle-man, as they watched the canoe glide towards the land of the dead.

Then they turned and made their way back to the land of the living. 39


The Parable of the Mustard Seed

Kisagotami is the name of a young girl, whose marriage with the only son of a wealthy man was brought about in true fairy-tale fashion. She had one child, but when the beautiful boy could run alone, it died. The young girl, in her love for it, carried the dead child clasped to her bosom, and went from house to house of her pitying friends asking them to give her medicine for it.

But a Buddhist mendicant, thinking “She does not understand,” said to her, “My good girl, I myself have no such medicine as you ask for, but I think I know of one who has.”“O tell me who that is,” said Kisagotami., “The Buddha can give you medicine. Go to him,” was the answer.

She went to Gautama, and doing homage to him said, “Lord and master, do you know any medicine that will be good for my child?”“Yes, I know of some,” said the teacher. Now it was the custom for patients or their friends to provide the herbs which the doctors required, so she asked what herbs he would want.

“I want some mustard seed,” he said; and when the poor girl eagerly promised to bring some of so common a drug, he added, “You must get it from some house where no son, or husband, or parent, or slave has died.”“Very good,” she said, and went to ask for it, still carrying her dead child with her.The people said, “Here is mustard seed, take it.”

But when she asked, “In my friend’s house has any son died, or husband, or a parent or slave?” they answered, “Lady, what is this that you say? The living are few, but the dead are many.”

Then she went to other houses, but one said, “I have lost a son”; another, “We have lost our parents”; another, “I have lost my slave.”

At last, not being able to find a single house where no one had died, her mind began to clear, and summoning up resolution, she left the dead body of her child in a forest, and returning to the Buddha paid him homage.

He said to her, “Have you the mustard seed?”

“My lord,” she replied, “I have not. The people tell me that the living are few, but the dead are many.”

Then he talked to her on that essential part of his system -- the impermanence of all things, till her doubts were cleared away, and, accepting her lot, she became

a disciple and entered the first path. 40

51 // APPENDICES

40www.pitt.edu/~dash/mourn.html[ accessed 12.3.2009]

52 // APPENDICES

Evaluation by Ann-Marie John, 9.8.2009

“PRESENTATION

This is a beautiful animation full of metaphor and images I particularly liked

the falling snow and the image of the tree as a shelter for the deer. The back-

ground images again were beautifully drawn and I liked the way they helped

visually tell the story. A forest can be a metaphor for many things a safe/ dan-

gerous place/ I liked the way there was a community of helpers .The animals

were very child friendly. The narrator could have introduced the characters at

the beginning this convention can also help the story to be psychologically safe

for children.

THE FILM AS A STIMULUS FOR DISCUSSION

The strength of the film is that it remained in the metaphor so you could have

a whole discussion about the animals using puppets of the characters without

talking about anyone’s individual experience. I think this might be useful for a

group of families. This is similar to the convention of the arts therapies, that the

deer character could be used to express feelings of grief and loss making it safer

for the child and family.

SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO GRIEF AND LOSS PROCESSES

I was very moved by the deer asking the doe to get up as I think this expressed

some of the searching that often goes on in relation to loss that is part of the

grief process. I also liked the idea of asking the elders and the community this

for me could help raise discussion about isolation and taboo as community is so

important in these times.

I also think it may have been helpful to comment on what happened to the body

we know that seeing the body can help with saying goodbye and rituals around

burial are very important and may have helped the deer.

There is no doubt that this is also cultural in that death talk is often taboo and

the researcher has shown great tenacity in even attempting to engage with the

subject matter.

SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR USE OF THERAPEUTIC PURPOSES

I think that the film would be best used in the first instance to work with profes-

sionals or in schools to stimulate discussion.

I do think this media has a strong potential to create new possibilities for com-

munication. This would best achieved by collaboration between artists and clini-

cians where families could be involved in making films to help other families. Be

With regard to the original research question as to whether the film provides

a possible solution for communication among families where a child has a ter-

minal illness I would at this stage be cautious in my response and say that it

provides the possibility for different ways of communication. The accessibility of

the visual form is strength of this media that could be harnessed and this has

certainly been demonstrated in the film.

It might be possible to produce a book or games or puppets and create a whole

package of materials.”

Ann-Marie John 09/08/09

53 // APPENDICES

54 // APPENDICES

REFERENCES

STAGE 1

BOOKS

Armstrong-Dailey, A., Zarbrock, S., Hospice Care For children, Oxford Univer-

sity Press: 2001

Bertoia, J., Drawings of a dying Child, Routledge: 1993

Bluebond-Langner, M., The Private Worlds of Dying Children, Princeton Uni-

versity Press, 1980

Faber, A., Mazlish, E., How To Talk So Kids Will Listen And Listen So Kids Will

Talk, Collins Living; 20 edition: 1999

Klanten, R., Ehmann, S., Huebner, M., Tactile, Berlin: Die Gestalten Verlag,

2007

Kuebler-Ross, E., On Children and Death, Scribner: 1997

Kuebler-Ross, E., On Death and Dying, Scribner: 1997

Kuebler-Ross, E., Kessler, D., On Grief and Grieving, Scribner: 2007

Pincus, L., Death and the Family, Faber and Faber Ltd.: London, 1976

Rando, T., Grief, Dying and Death: Clinical Interventions for Caregivers, Cham-

paign, IL: Research Press (1984)

Robben, A., Death, Mourning, and Burial, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.: 2004

Rosen, M., The Sad Book, Candlewick: 2008

55 // REFERENCES

56 // REFERENCES

ARTICLES

Anderson, John E., Psychological aspects of child audiences, Educational The-

atre Journal, 2:4, p. 285

Chesley, G.L., Gillett, D.A., Wagner, W.G., Verbal and Nonverbal Metaphor with

Children in Counselling, Journal of Counselling & Development, Vol 86, Au-

tumn 2008

Casson, J., The Communicube: further clinical developments of a new therapeu-

tic method, Dramatherapy, Vol 27 No.3, Autumn 2005

Kreicbergs, U., Valdimarsdottir, U., Oneloev, E., Talking about death with Chil-

dren Who Have Severe Malignant Disease, The New England Journal of Medi-

cine, VOL.351 No. 12, September 16, 2004

INTERNET RESOURCES

Middlesex University Learning Resources website, www.lr.mdx.ac.uk

Other E-Journal Databases

Peter Lance /

http://www.peterlance.com.au/selfdefense.html [accessed: 12.10.2008]

Children’s Hospices UK / http://www.childhospice.org.uk [accessed: 07.10.2008]

Stages of Intellectual development in children and teenagers /

www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/piaget.shtml

[accessed: 14.11.2008]

RESPONDENTS

Dr. Mark Coulson, Middlesex University, [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Michael Albani, Wiesbaden, Germany, Paediatrician, HSK- Kliniken

Susanne Wenzel, Psychotherapy, [email protected]

STAGE 2

BOOKS

Bellatoni, P., if it’s purple, someone’s gonna die, Burlington: Focal Press, 2005

Bertoia, J., Drawings of a dying Child, Routledge: 1993

Cattanach, A., Children’s Stories in Play Therapy, London: Jessica Kingsley,

1997

Gersie, A. Storymaking in Bereavement, London: Jessica Kingsley, 1991

Gersie, A., King, N., Storymaking in Education and Therapy, London: Jessica

Kingsley, 1990

Jones, M., Interiors For Under 5s, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2005

Klanten, R., Ehmann, S., Huebner, M., Tactile, Berlin: Die Gestalten Verlag,

2007

Kuebler-Ross, E., On Children and Death, Scribner: 1997

Mahnke, F.H., Color, Environment & Human Response, USA: International

Thomson Publishing Inc., 1996

McMahon, L., The Handbook of Play Therapy, New York: Routledge, 1992

57 // REFERENCES

58 // REFERENCES

ARTICLES

Dermer, S., Hutchings, J., Utilizing Movies in Family Therapy: Applications for

Individuals, Couples, and Families, The American Journal of Family Therapy,

No. 28, 2000, p. 163-180

Anderson, John E., Psychological aspects of child audiences, Educational The-

atre Journal, 2:4, p. 285

INTERNET RESOURCESMovie Therapy: Using Movies for Mental Healthwww.medicinenet.com, [accessed: 23.04.09]

http://www.counselingtoys.com [Accessed 5.2.2009] http://www.betsymillscounselling.com.au [Accessed 5.2.2009]

The Parable of the Mustard Seedhttp://www.pitt.edu/~dash/mourn.html [ Accessed 12.3.2009]

Play Therapy UK, www.Ptuk.org [Accessed 5.2.2009]

Talking with Children about Feelings

http://www.essortment.com/all/talkingchildren_paj.htm [Accessed 23.04.09]

RESPONDENTS

Susanne Wenzel, Psychotherapist, Wiesbaden, Germany

Ann-Marie-John, Msc Family Therapy, North London, UK

STAGE 3

BOOKS

Gersie, A. Storymaking in Bereavement, London: Jessica Kingsley, 1991

Muybridge, E., Animals in Motion, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1957

ma report

Documents

graphic design project

final design

original design brief

research problem

original research question

project completionabstract

elisabeth kueblerross

significant study