The Hollow Carving
In the quiet, autumn-chilled town of Willow Creek Hollow, a beloved Christmas carver has vanished, leaving only cryptic clues behind. Teenage Clorence, drawn into the unsettling mystery, uncovers a trail of evidence that leads her deeper into the shadowed woods, hinting at a darker truth than anyone suspects.
# The Hollow Carving
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
In a small town unsettled by the disappearance of its beloved artisan, an observant teenager follows a trail of cryptic clues into the woods, uncovering a sinister truth that the complacent adult world has chosen to ignore.
## Themes
* **Adolescent Intuition vs. Adult Complacency:** A young person's sharp, intuitive observations clash with the dismissive, rationalized explanations of the adult world.
* **The Unseen Heart of a Community:** The disruption of a simple tradition reveals the fragile, unspoken bonds that truly hold a town together, and how its absence creates a palpable void.
* **The Quiet Menace in Small Towns:** The idyllic facade of a close-knit community conceals underlying secrets and dangers that are hiding in plain sight.
## Stakes
The life of a beloved town elder and the very soul of a community teeter on the brink as a young girl races against time and disbelief to uncover a dark secret.
## Synopsis
In the quiet, post-harvest gloom of Willow Creek Hollow, sixteen-year-old CLORENCE feels an unnerving stillness. The town’s beloved woodcarver, MR. SMITH—the man who single-handedly creates the figures for the annual Nativity scene—has vanished without a trace. While the local sheriff assumes he simply went for a walk, Clorence senses something is deeply wrong. His shop is unlocked, his tools are out of place, and a pristine block of wood sits uncarved on his bench.
Driven by an intuition that the adults lack, Clorence begins her own quiet investigation. Her search of the deserted town square yields a single, out-of-place clue: a tiny, iridescent blue feather. Her unease deepens as she follows a hunch to the woods where Mr. Smith often walked. There, the clues become more tangible and alarming: a scrap of his signature plaid shirt torn on a branch, two sets of boot prints in the mud suggesting a struggle, and a discarded, old-fashioned toy soldier.
The trail leads her to the edge of a creek, where she discovers an overturned rowboat. Hidden beneath it is the ultimate proof that Mr. Smith did not leave willingly: one of his most cherished, delicate carving tools. The boot prints lead across the water toward an old, abandoned mill—a place no one ever goes. Realizing she is on the trail of a kidnapper and that Mr. Smith is in grave danger, Clorence ignores her mother’s call. Clutching the cold metal tool, she makes the terrifying decision to cross the creek and venture into the deepening gloom alone.
## Character Breakdown
* **CLORENCE (16):** Observant, quiet, and thoughtful. She feels a disconnect from her own family’s complicated dynamics and finds a sense of stability and meaning in the town’s simple, reliable traditions. She notices the small details others miss and possesses a quiet determination that is often underestimated.
* **Psychological Arc:**
* **State at start:** A hesitant observer, more comfortable on the periphery. She trusts her gut feelings but lacks the confidence to challenge adult authority, seeking refuge in the town's predictable routines.
* **State at end:** Transformed by the urgency of her discoveries, she sheds her passivity. She fully trusts her own intuition over the town's complacency, stepping into a proactive and courageous role, despite her fear.
* **MR. SMITH (70s):** (Seen in memory/imagination) The gentle, steadfast heart of Willow Creek Hollow. A creature of habit and a master artisan whose annual carvings are the town's most cherished tradition. He represents stability, kindness, and the quiet soul of the community. His presence is defined by his sudden, jarring absence.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE HOLLOW TOWN:** The film opens on the muted, melancholic atmosphere of Willow Creek Hollow after the Harvest Festival. Clorence walks through the empty town square, sensing an "unfinished" quality to the silence.
2. **A MISSING PIECE:** Clorence learns of Mr. Smith's disappearance. She contrasts the reliability of his town tradition with her own family’s tense holiday memories.
3. **THE SILENT WORKSHOP:** At Mr. Smith's general store, Clorence peers through the dusty window. The sight of the uncarved wood and a single, waiting chisel on the clean workbench solidifies her fear that something is wrong.
4. **THE FIRST CLUE:** In the square, a flash of color catches her eye. She finds a tiny, iridescent blue feather snagged on a stall—a beautiful, foreign object in the drab landscape.
5. **THE PATH REMEMBERED:** Dismissing the official story that Mr. Smith is fine, Clorence follows her intuition to a path by the creek, a place he told her helped him "find the shape in the wood."
6. **THE TRAIL BEGINS:** In the woods, she finds the first concrete evidence: a torn scrap of Mr. Smith's distinctive plaid shirt. Shortly after, she discovers two sets of boot prints—one deep and heavy, the other scuffed, suggesting a struggle.
7. **EVIDENCE OF ANOTHER:** The trail yields more oddities: a deep gouge in the earth and a dropped, antique wooden toy soldier. The mystery deepens, pointing to another person's presence.
8. **THE OVERTURNED BOAT:** Clorence reaches the creek and finds a small, overturned rowboat half-submerged in the water.
9. **THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE:** Tucked in the mud beneath the boat is the damning evidence: Mr. Smith's fine-tipped carving tool. He would never have left it behind. The heavy boot prints are fresh here, leading across the creek.
10. **THE CROSSING:** Her phone buzzes—her mom—but she ignores it. The path is clear: Mr. Smith was taken across the creek toward the abandoned mill. Clutching the tool like a weapon, Clorence takes a breath and steps into the cold water, determined to follow.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style will be grounded and naturalistic, emphasizing the stark, melancholic beauty of late autumn. The color palette will be desaturated and cool—dominated by muted browns, greys, and pale blues—to create a sense of encroaching cold and dread. The camera will stay close to Clorence, often using shallow depth of field to isolate her in the environment and highlight the small, crucial clues she discovers. Long, lingering shots of the empty town and silent woods will build an atmospheric tension.
The tone is a slow-burn, character-driven mystery with folk-horror undertones. The suspense is built not through jump scares, but through quiet dread, the unsettling feeling of something precious being corrupted, and the growing isolation of the protagonist. The tone aligns with the grounded, atmospheric suspense of **Winter's Bone** and the methodical, clue-driven dread of **The Killing**, focusing on the psychological weight of the mystery.
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
In a small town unsettled by the disappearance of its beloved artisan, an observant teenager follows a trail of cryptic clues into the woods, uncovering a sinister truth that the complacent adult world has chosen to ignore.
## Themes
* **Adolescent Intuition vs. Adult Complacency:** A young person's sharp, intuitive observations clash with the dismissive, rationalized explanations of the adult world.
* **The Unseen Heart of a Community:** The disruption of a simple tradition reveals the fragile, unspoken bonds that truly hold a town together, and how its absence creates a palpable void.
* **The Quiet Menace in Small Towns:** The idyllic facade of a close-knit community conceals underlying secrets and dangers that are hiding in plain sight.
## Stakes
The life of a beloved town elder and the very soul of a community teeter on the brink as a young girl races against time and disbelief to uncover a dark secret.
## Synopsis
In the quiet, post-harvest gloom of Willow Creek Hollow, sixteen-year-old CLORENCE feels an unnerving stillness. The town’s beloved woodcarver, MR. SMITH—the man who single-handedly creates the figures for the annual Nativity scene—has vanished without a trace. While the local sheriff assumes he simply went for a walk, Clorence senses something is deeply wrong. His shop is unlocked, his tools are out of place, and a pristine block of wood sits uncarved on his bench.
Driven by an intuition that the adults lack, Clorence begins her own quiet investigation. Her search of the deserted town square yields a single, out-of-place clue: a tiny, iridescent blue feather. Her unease deepens as she follows a hunch to the woods where Mr. Smith often walked. There, the clues become more tangible and alarming: a scrap of his signature plaid shirt torn on a branch, two sets of boot prints in the mud suggesting a struggle, and a discarded, old-fashioned toy soldier.
The trail leads her to the edge of a creek, where she discovers an overturned rowboat. Hidden beneath it is the ultimate proof that Mr. Smith did not leave willingly: one of his most cherished, delicate carving tools. The boot prints lead across the water toward an old, abandoned mill—a place no one ever goes. Realizing she is on the trail of a kidnapper and that Mr. Smith is in grave danger, Clorence ignores her mother’s call. Clutching the cold metal tool, she makes the terrifying decision to cross the creek and venture into the deepening gloom alone.
## Character Breakdown
* **CLORENCE (16):** Observant, quiet, and thoughtful. She feels a disconnect from her own family’s complicated dynamics and finds a sense of stability and meaning in the town’s simple, reliable traditions. She notices the small details others miss and possesses a quiet determination that is often underestimated.
* **Psychological Arc:**
* **State at start:** A hesitant observer, more comfortable on the periphery. She trusts her gut feelings but lacks the confidence to challenge adult authority, seeking refuge in the town's predictable routines.
* **State at end:** Transformed by the urgency of her discoveries, she sheds her passivity. She fully trusts her own intuition over the town's complacency, stepping into a proactive and courageous role, despite her fear.
* **MR. SMITH (70s):** (Seen in memory/imagination) The gentle, steadfast heart of Willow Creek Hollow. A creature of habit and a master artisan whose annual carvings are the town's most cherished tradition. He represents stability, kindness, and the quiet soul of the community. His presence is defined by his sudden, jarring absence.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE HOLLOW TOWN:** The film opens on the muted, melancholic atmosphere of Willow Creek Hollow after the Harvest Festival. Clorence walks through the empty town square, sensing an "unfinished" quality to the silence.
2. **A MISSING PIECE:** Clorence learns of Mr. Smith's disappearance. She contrasts the reliability of his town tradition with her own family’s tense holiday memories.
3. **THE SILENT WORKSHOP:** At Mr. Smith's general store, Clorence peers through the dusty window. The sight of the uncarved wood and a single, waiting chisel on the clean workbench solidifies her fear that something is wrong.
4. **THE FIRST CLUE:** In the square, a flash of color catches her eye. She finds a tiny, iridescent blue feather snagged on a stall—a beautiful, foreign object in the drab landscape.
5. **THE PATH REMEMBERED:** Dismissing the official story that Mr. Smith is fine, Clorence follows her intuition to a path by the creek, a place he told her helped him "find the shape in the wood."
6. **THE TRAIL BEGINS:** In the woods, she finds the first concrete evidence: a torn scrap of Mr. Smith's distinctive plaid shirt. Shortly after, she discovers two sets of boot prints—one deep and heavy, the other scuffed, suggesting a struggle.
7. **EVIDENCE OF ANOTHER:** The trail yields more oddities: a deep gouge in the earth and a dropped, antique wooden toy soldier. The mystery deepens, pointing to another person's presence.
8. **THE OVERTURNED BOAT:** Clorence reaches the creek and finds a small, overturned rowboat half-submerged in the water.
9. **THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE:** Tucked in the mud beneath the boat is the damning evidence: Mr. Smith's fine-tipped carving tool. He would never have left it behind. The heavy boot prints are fresh here, leading across the creek.
10. **THE CROSSING:** Her phone buzzes—her mom—but she ignores it. The path is clear: Mr. Smith was taken across the creek toward the abandoned mill. Clutching the tool like a weapon, Clorence takes a breath and steps into the cold water, determined to follow.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style will be grounded and naturalistic, emphasizing the stark, melancholic beauty of late autumn. The color palette will be desaturated and cool—dominated by muted browns, greys, and pale blues—to create a sense of encroaching cold and dread. The camera will stay close to Clorence, often using shallow depth of field to isolate her in the environment and highlight the small, crucial clues she discovers. Long, lingering shots of the empty town and silent woods will build an atmospheric tension.
The tone is a slow-burn, character-driven mystery with folk-horror undertones. The suspense is built not through jump scares, but through quiet dread, the unsettling feeling of something precious being corrupted, and the growing isolation of the protagonist. The tone aligns with the grounded, atmospheric suspense of **Winter's Bone** and the methodical, clue-driven dread of **The Killing**, focusing on the psychological weight of the mystery.