Artist is planning to film some ghostly goings on

Louise Bell (24), a former pupil of Bearsden Academy, has started crowdfunding for her project which will explore the connection between the ‘real’ world and the ‘spirit’ world.

She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art two years ago, where she studied animation, illustration and photography.

She now hopes to launch her career as a director with the short film called ‘Tea Leaves’, which will combine live action with animation.

The old mansion house has been divided into flats and her dad lives in one of them.

He has heard so many odd noises during the night that he invited a friend, who is a spiritualist, to find out if the house was haunted. She told him that she sensed the presence of a family of ghosts.

Louise said: “My dad says my younger stepsister often talks to an imaginary friend - or maybe it’s a ghost?

“He heard her talking in her sleep one night and went to check that she was OK.

“She was standing up holding a blanket and it looked like someone else was holding the other end of it.

“But as soon as he entered the room the blanket fell to the ground.”

‘Tea Leaves’ explores a scenario in which three supernatural spirits with contrasting personalities are brought together by a ouija board, with disastrous and comical consequences.

Louise added: “I want to create a film that is unique, bizarre and as amusing as it is unsettling.

“I want to experiment and push the boundaries of what can be done with animation.

“Ouija boards are often used as a tool for contacting the dead or something more sinister.

“Unseen spirits are summoned for questioning but I liked the idea of exploring whether these spirits viewed this whole thing as an inconvenience, and would they be keen to use it to their own advantage?

“And what if the spirits aren’t even human? They might be a silly cat randomly hitting the marker around the board.”

A small team will be involved in the production.

Louise will be responsible for directing, writing the screenplay and animating.

The other team members will include a cinematographer, costume maker, actors, a sound designer and musician to create the sound effects and music score.

The bare minimum amount that’s needed for the project is £5,000.

To donate money visit: www.kickstarter.com/projects/1254263908/tea-leaves-a-short-animated-horror-comedy-film.