STORYBOARD
SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/DREAM
David Wevill
DURATION: 20 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: Moving POV shot of an image obscured by a heavy blur. Everything is out of focus because it appears to be something the character has already experienced and is seeing obscured images of it in his sleep.
MISE EN SCENE: The shadow obscured by a heavy blur symbolises obscurity, and mystery. The blurry point of view shot represents disorientation and confusion; it also puts the audience in the character’s perspective but still not able to see what’s happening. AUDIO: Muffled diegetic sounds of screaming and shouting from men. A clear, diegetic sound of a phone ringing at the end of this shot interrupts the muffled noises. COMMENT: This is a flashback of an event the character witnessed, in dream form. It is a hint on what may have preceded this sequence. SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/BEDROOM
DURATION: 9 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: Eye shot of Mark as he wakes up. The camera stays focused on his eyes as he looks around and breathes heavily.
MISE EN SCENE: The moving eyes represent confusion and terror. His eyes opening in the beginning of the shot represents his awakening. He starts moving his eyes frantically, and this shows that he is confused and in a short state of panic. AUDIO: He gasps as the shot begins and continues to breathe heavily throughout the shot; the pace of his breathing gets lower throughout the shot. The phone is still ringing in the background. His breathing is diegetic. COMMENT: This shot follows a dream this character was having in the previous shot. The phone ringing from the end of the last shot woke him up.
MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES
STORYBOARD SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/BEDROOM
David Wevill DURATION: 7 seconds
CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: High angle shot of Mark slowly getting out of bed. The camera pans back as Mark gets out of bed.
MISE EN SCENE: Mark is dressed up which shows he had a strange night or day which prevented him from undressing for bed. Mark looks back and forth to show his anxiety after witnessing an event before he was sleeping. The lighting is low key to set the dark tone for the sequence. The CD collection on the small shelf, posters on the wall, and portable devices on the bedside table suggest this bedroom belongs to someone younger than Mark, possibly a younger brother. AUDIO: The phone is still ringing in the background and is muffled because it is coming from a different room. COMMENT: This shot continues from after he woke up. SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/BEDROOM
DURATION: 6.5 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A medium tracking shot of Mark leaving the room towards the stairs. It starts with a two-shot of Mark and his shadow on the door, and then as he leaves the room the camera follows him and focuses on his silhouette.
MISE EN SCENE: Mark’s shadow and silhouette represents his dark side. His clumsy stance as he stops by the door before continuing towards the stairs shows he’s still tired after waking up. Mark opening the door and walking through it symbolises transition, we’ve moved from waking up confused to slowly exploring the house. AUDIO: The sound of the phone still ringing, which gets louder as he opens the door. COMMENT: This is just a basic shot of him walking out a room; it focuses on the character’s body language and his shadow though.
MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES
STORYBOARD SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/STAIRS
David Wevill DURATION: 10 seconds
CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: Low angle shot of Mark walking down the stairs; this camera also uses a Dutch tilt. The camera turns 90 degrees to the right as Mark gets to the bottom.
MISE EN SCENE: The stairs represents catastrophe. The Dutch tilt represents distortion and the mirror at bottom of the stairs shows Mark’s reflection, this symbolises his opposite personality. The creaking sound sets the dark and intense tone. AUDIO: There is a diegetic creaking sound every time he takes a step down. The phone ringing stops at 7 seconds in. COMMENT: The stairs appear distorted because the banister looks parallel to the frame but the bottom of the banister is diagonal and the stairs are slightly diagonal as well. This creates a sense of distortion. SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/CORRIDOR
DURATION: 7 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: High angle shot of Mark walking into the kitchen and turning his head to the left. The Dutch tilt is used in this shot as well.
MISE EN SCENE: Mark’s silhouette and his shadow on the wall represent his dark side. The shape of the door frame, being narrow at the bottom and wider as it goes up, as well as the picture frame on the left being parallel to the camera frame adds to the disorient imagery. The doorframe around Mark represents entrapment. Walking through this door represents another transition; Mark changes from casually wandering around the house to noticing the dead body in the other room. AUDIO: Mark’s diegetic footsteps and the diegetic sound of the light switch are heard. COMMENT: Similar to the previous shot, the organisation of the lines adds to the distortion, and also gives this shot some German Expressionism imagery.
MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES
STORYBOARD SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/KITCHEN
David Wevill DURATION: 5 seconds
CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A low angle shot of Mark looking down at the camera.
MISE EN SCENE: The low angle shot makes Mark seem taller, which symbolises his significance and superiority over the audience. This also makes the character appear more intimidating to the audience. Mark staring down at the camera represents his superiority over the audience; this makes him appear more sinister as well. As the next shot shows, he is looking at a dead body with bullet wounds, his stern expression shows that he must have been behind that murder. AUDIO: Complete silence to add to the tension of this shot. COMMENT: The lack of sound in this shot keeps the audience in suspense as they wonder what Mark is looking at, which is revealed in the next shot. SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/KITCHEN
DURATION: 6 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: POV shot of a dead body from Mark’s perspective.
MISE EN SCENE: Blood on the body is graphic imagery. The position the body is in, location of bullet wounds, and the tie swoon over the back suggests this person was running away and was shot in the back. AUDIO: There is no sound in this shot, to symbolise lifelessness. COMMENT: This shot follows the shot when Mark started looked at something, and this shows what he was looking at. This shot raises the enigma on what happened that night and who this person is.
MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES
STORYBOARD SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/KITCHEN
David Wevill
DURATION: 4 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A shot of Mark walking towards the camera. As he gets closer to the camera, it focuses on his facial expression.
MISE EN SCENE: Mark’s facial expression shows he was unaffected by the dead body he had just looked, this is to create an enigma on why he was unaffected. There is also a lot of heavy shadow over Mark’s face to represent the mystery of his character shrouded in darkness. AUDIO: Diegetic footsteps moving at an average pace. COMMENT: The pace of the footsteps and lack of reaction to the dead body creates an enigma about Mark, because at this point the audience knows nothing about him and this sequence has so far indicated that he might be the antagonist. There is also a match-on-action cut as Mark is half-way out of frame. SLUGLINE: EXT/NIGHT/HOUSE/FRONT
DURATION: 10 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: An establishing shot of the house Mark is in, with a dark figure walking towards the house.
MISE EN SCENE: The figure is obscured in shadow and you can’t see his face, this adds a sense of mystery. His black clothes fit in to the environment at night but he is seen when he is by the lamp post. As he stands by the lamp post, you can see him taking out a gun from inside his blazer, this shows he is getting prepared to murder someone in the house. AUDIO: The figure’s loud, casual (diegetic) footsteps. There is also the diegetic sound of crickets in the night to set the calm but dark atmosphere. COMMENT: This shot begins with the figure closer to the camera and walking towards the house, this matches the action from the end of the last shot. This shows the continuity, and connection between this shot and the previous one. This shot also establishes the suburban house setting, with detached houses. This area looks like a normal suburban setting but, as this sequence shows, there are still murders and crime happening in this area.
MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES
STORYBOARD
SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/SITTING ROOM
David Wevill
DURATION: 8 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: Long shot of Mark entering a dark room. The camera uses the Dutch tilt, and focuses primarily on the dark areas to contrast with the light from the other room.
MISE EN SCENE: The entrance from a light room to a dark room represents Mark stepping into the darkness. The end of the lamp at the top part of the camera frame is pointing down; the whole lamp is similar in appearance to a flower, and the end of the lamp pointing down is supposed to resemble a flower that’s wilted, and, in German expressionism, that image represents sorrow. This door represents another transition, this time from seeing a dead body to suspecting someone’s outside. AUDIO: As Mark walks in the room the wooden floor makes a (diegetic) creaking sound on every step. COMMENT: The low key lighting in this shot sets the mood. This shot also follows the one before the previous shot. SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/SITTING ROOM
DURATION: 5 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A low angle shot of Mark looking through the curtains in a dark room, with the light from outside shining through the blinds and onto his face.
MISE EN SCENE: The light through the window on Mark’s face, and Mark’s stern expressions, creates the feeling of suspicion, as if he is watching someone outside through the window. The low angle shot adds to the sinister nature of this character. AUDIO: The non-diegetic muffled sound of crickets from outside the house, to establish nighttime setting. COMMENT: This shot follows the previous one when Mark walked into the room. He walked straight towards the window as soon as he went inside to show he is expecting something or someone outside. MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES
STORYBOARD SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/SITTING ROOM
David Wevill DURATION: 7 seconds
CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A POV shot from Mark’s perspective of the area outside that Mark was looking at in the last shot. It pans from the far left, slowly to the right.
MISE EN SCENE: The dead trees and long shadows set more of a gritty tone for the rest of the sequence. This area is the same location as the one in the establishing shot from earlier, but shown in a different angle; this is significant because in the earlier shot the shadowed figure was standing next to the lamp post but now he isn’t. Since this is in Mark’s perspective, the audience is now aware that Mark doesn’t know about the figure so the narrative is now restricted for Mark because the audience knows about the figure. AUDIO: You can hear mark breathing heavily, as he is in suspense. COMMENT: This shot shows what Mark was looking at outside. This also maintains the tense sequence developing SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/SITTING ROOM
DURATION: 3 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A medium shot of Mark casually opening the blinds in a relaxed fashion.
MISE EN SCENE: Mark is now moving casually. He opens the blinds calmly to show he is now less worried. His posture is sterner and less suspicious because in this shot he isn’t worried about what may have happened, if the person he seemed to expect to see coming was there. AUDIO: The sound of the blinds opening in time with the shot. The sound of the blinds is emphasised. COMMENT: This shot follows the POV of the area through the window.
MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES
STORYBOARD
SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/SITTING ROOM
David Wevill
DURATION: 4 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A shot of a lamp and a radio with Mark’s hand switching them on.
MISE EN SCENE: Mark switches on the lamp and the radio because he is relaxing. These actions are through relief that whoever he was expecting to see through that window wasn’t there. AUDIO: When he switches on the radio, the radio plays Sweet Annabelle by Morrie Morrison Orchestra; the music is non-diegetic. The themes of the song hint at the type of life Mark has had/will have throughout the film. COMMENT: This shot follows the previous shot with Mark opening the blinds.
SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/SITTING ROOM
DURATION: 12 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A medium shot of Mark sitting down and lighting a cigarette, with a large amount of negative space. Framed in the window, he appears trapped.
MISE EN SCENE: Halfway through this shot, Mark lights a cigarette, this is to hint that he is starting to feel slightly anxious. The negative space in the background hints that something is going to appear from behind the window at some point, and may be causing Mark’s slight anxiety. The lighting is brighter and natural. The blinds symbolise Mark’s confinement in this room, similar to the frames around him symbolising his entrapment. AUDIO: The music from the radio is still playing. You also hear Mark puff out some smoke from the cigarette (diegetic). COMMENT: As this follows the shot of Mark switching on the radio and the light, the music in the previous shot would still be playing.
MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES
STORYBOARD SLUGLINE: EXT/NIGHT/HOUSE/FRONT DRIVE
David Wevill DURATION: 9 seconds
CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: Tracking shot of the shadowed figure from before, now approaching Mark from behind him through the window. The camera follows the figure slowly as he sneaks behind the area where Mark is. MISE EN SCENE: The figure is blended into his environment by wearing completely black clothing. His body and face are obscured by his silhouette, and this is to keep this character anonymous. He holds his gun whilst approaching Mark, this establishes his dark ambitions. AUDIO: The diegetic sound of the crickets outside. The music from the radio can be heard, it is muffled by the window; this sound is still diegetic. COMMENT: This shot establishes that this was definitely the person Mark was expecting to see earlier. This puts the audience in the mysterious figure’s perspective and works as a warning that he’s going to kill Mark. SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/SITTING ROOM
DURATION: 8 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A two shot of Mark sitting there unaware of the figure standing right behind him with a gun.
MISE EN SCENE: The figure’s face isn’t shown and he is silhouetted by the street light to keep him anonymous to the audience. His silhouette, mysterious appearance and the stern body language whilst holding a gun makes him look a lot more intimidating. Mark’s body language shows that he is still unaware of the figure. AUDIO: The diegetic music from the radio is still playing, the calm rhythm of the song contrasts with the dark tone of this shot. You also hear the muffled sound of the figure preparing the gun at the last 0.5 seconds of the shot. COMMENT: The juxtaposition of the upbeat sound of the music and the dark tone, as well as the narrative restricted for Mark’s character (the use of dramatic irony) makes this shot very intense.
MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES
STORYBOARD
SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/SITTING ROOM
David Wevill
DURATION: 3 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: A medium low angle shot of Mark quickly turning around and seeing the person outside.
MISE EN SCENE: The fast pace of which Mark turns around is in time with the pace of this shot, and it adds a sense of immediate panic. Mark’s body expressions whilst turning around are fast paced; his facial expressions show that he’s startled. AUDIO: The music from the radio is still playing. Mark gasps at the middle of the shot when he turns around. COMMENT: After Mark hears the mysterious person’s gun from behind him in the previous shot, he turns around in this one.
SLUGLINE: INT/NIGHT/HOUSE/SITTING ROOM
DURATION: 2 seconds CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS: Low angle shot of the figure pointing the gun at Mark to shoot him. The camera zooms in quickly to his face to give the audience a glimpse of who this guy is.
MISE EN SCENE: The low angle shot appropriately makes the figure look more superior, as it appears he has murdered Mark. The gun pointing at the camera makes him look very intimidating. The fast-paced zoom in adds to the sense of panic, and even though it zooms into his face, he is still obscured by the darkness so you only catch a glimpse of what he looks like. AUDIO: Right as the shot ends, you hear the loud gunshot and the window breaking. COMMENT: This isn’t a point of view shot because it zooms in, but it shows what Mark is seeing. Right when you hear the gunshot, it cuts to black as Mark dies and this begins the title sequence.
MEDIA AND FILM STUDIES