Echoes - A short film by Ben Bradbury

We were flattered when film maker Ben Bradbury got in touch with us to ask if he could make a film highlighting the devastating impact bereavement can have on an older person. Here he explains the inspiration behind the heartbreaking short: 

I was inspired by a real life couple
The inspiration for the film came from an experience I had a few years back working a temporary job at Sainsbury’s. We used to get this older couple come in every week, probably in their late 80’s to do their shopping. They seemed so in sync with one another. A few weeks past and I hadn’t see them, then one day I was walking down one of the aisles and I saw the lady shopping by herself. She was trying to reach an item higher on the shelf but couldn’t quite get it. I walked over to her, got the item down and she turned and gave me the saddest smile I have ever seen.  Later on I found out that her husband had sadly died. This experience heightened to me the importance of our memories and relationships with others and I decided to make the film. 

The old man is called Martin 
I decided to name the man in the story Martin, he was named by Gabriella Sandu the fashion designer who assisted me on the film as he didn’t have a name and I thought it would be bad luck to not name him.

It's dedicated to my late Nan
My Nan passing away was the first lost I'd experienced. She was very lucky because she had constant family around her right until the end but other elderly people are not so lucky. She was so happy that I decided to create a short film about loneliness in older people as it was a cause close to her heart through her interactions with the locals on her shopping trip. She is the person I dedicate it to.

The film took 6 months to complete
It took 6 months all together to create the animation. The biggest challenge was making sure that I completed it on time and getting myself back into it after my Nan sadly passed away. I ended up using the motivation that if my Nan was still here she would be telling to stop being so stupid and get on with the work I needed to do! 

Animation by Ben Badbury 
Music by Claire Batchelor 

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