When looking backwards in time it is easy to wryly smile at the use of the phrase ‘Back in my day’ or ‘When I was younger…’. These clichés, denote something humorous about their user. One need only look around, and the thought that we have not advanced and improved our lives seems absurd. Perhaps then what these phrases actually reflect then is something much more tragic. Mend and Make Do is an 8 minute film dedicated to this tragedy.

The films format is not entirely new, and yet, feels highly original. Lyn Schofield, now in old age, spends 8 minutes narrating the some of her happiest and saddest memories. Overlaid onto this nostalgic monologue is a beautiful stop-motion animated reflection of those memories through everyday household items. As the film twists and turns through Schofield’s stories, household items bend into shapes that mirror these experiences.

A pair of curtains plays the part of a prom date, and a clothes hanger the part of a mother. Mend and Make Do, made only by 10 students, captures a classical atmosphere whilst maintaining a grip over the audience’s emotions. The palimpsests of the past seem to dance around as if to command relevance and usefulness, and the result is highly effective. Not only does it capture the time period, but also the passage of time. The viewer could be forgiven for feeling a little stitched over by director Bexie Bush who seems always looking for empathy – one can’t help but feel that a dab of the eyes is always the director’s main goal. When the curtains go down, however, perhaps the most poignant message of Mend and Make Do is a simple one. All these items are now probably gone, and so soon, will we.

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INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Bexie Bush

WRITERS: Stefan Kaday

DoP: Adrian Peckit

SYNOPSIS:  Lyn Schofield tells her story of wartime love in this ‘life-sized’ animated short.