The Paintbrush
From Nicholas PenrakeAbout the film:
Logline
Finding an old paintbrush in his back garden, a lonely young boy comes up with an imaginative way to restore contact with his absent dad.
Synopsis
An 11-year-old boy is constantly calling his dad, who is forever too busy to return his messages. His mother shares in his disappointment, but tells him not to hold his breath. Fed up, the boy leaves the house and goes for a wander.
Out in the back garden, walking off his bad mood, he catches sight of something in colour – a homeless man who lies dead in an alleyway. The boy searches him and finds a paintbrush in his inside pocket. He keeps it and returns to the house.
He uses the paintbrush to do a painting for his dad. He sends the painting to him by post. The next day the dad, working from home, receives the painting. He’s clearly impressed (though we don’t see what he’s looking at).
The boy is doing his homework in his bedroom when he hears his dad pull up outside. He runs down to greet him. The dad is full of colour. They embrace as they haven’t seen each other for so long. The boy turns full colour as well.
We dissolve from the embrace to the painting that the boy gave his dad – the painting is leaning against a wall in the dad’s flat and we see that it is a match to the boy’s embrace with his dad. When the boy and his dad enter the house, the house turns to full colour too.