Animatic Storyboard

The animatic storyboard we made for our film project “hidden in plain sight” could be seen as a success but it has multiple small flaws that could be improved upon to make it almost perfect. We wanted our storyboard to be a portrayal of how our shots would play out and how they would transition rather than just a visual depiction of the film's story as we already have a high-quality script to describe the story. We left in speech bubbles in certain shots to show to the people looking at the storyboard that dialogue sequences are intended in these scenes, however, these dialogue boxes weren’t filled this is partially because we didn’t want people to focus on the story by looking at the storyboard as there is already a script for that purpose.

I feel that the tone conveyed to the viewers from this storyboard is very reminiscent of the horror genre and contains multiple conventions that a horror movie would include, the colour scheme of the storyboard consists of only black and white colours, these two colours paired together are very effective in showing a contrast between dark and light areas in the actual scene, and since a majority of the scene is either gray or black, it is suggested that a large amount of the scene will be very dark with certain pockets or spots of light. The first scene shown in the storyboard is very effective in showing this since it involves our main protagonist staring down a hallway that is crosshatched to look very dark and gray , the middle of the hallway is slightly illuminated since the area is white and unshaded to show that there are light sources in this hallway, to show the contrast between light and dark in this shot, I decided to emphasise the darkness of the protagonists shadow stretching over the lit up area by highlighting it with a black marker, the use of shadows and lights in this shot are effective in setting the horror convention for the storyboard and movie as well as establishing the setting for the viewer since we are shown that the tunnel or corridor is dotted with spotlights which create and remove shadows in the scene.

The next shot also helps to establish the horror tone of the scene as well as show the different shot types we will be using in certain scenes. The second shot of the storyboard involves a match on action shot of a foot stepping down onto the ground, projecting a shadow onto the floor next to his foot, the use of a match on action shot is effective in developing an enigma while also helping follow up with the previous shot of the man staring down the hallway,this shot shows that he has begun walking, this shot paired with a loud footstep sound in the movie would be a very effective method to develop the previous scene while also breaking the tension and suspense of the man mysteriously standing and staring at the door. The shot used in the previous scene was an over the shoulder shot, this shot is effective as it hides the characters face if used at the right angle while also creating a sense of perspective for the viewer, this can be effective for the horror genre since the viewer may be uneasy and uncomfortable with looking in the perspective of a character they aren’t familiar with.

The third shot helps build up even more suspense whilst breaking tension produced by previous shot, this cycle of creating and breaking tension can be effective in keeping the audience engaged but can also be a boring viewing experience for the viewer if used too many times or if these shots are too drawn out. After the walking shot, we will decide to either have a black screen playing the sound of the footsteps down the hall or actually have a shot showing the character continuing walking. The third shot will break the tension built up from walking by using another match on action shot of the character reaching for the door handle, again breaking the suspense built by the footstep shot while also delivering a new sense of tension being built up as a new enigma is created making the audience wonder what is behind the door. The music in this shot could be used to the horror genres advantage since the audience will be expecting some sort of jump scare or monster to jump out, however, the suspense presented from this shot will be broken through the next shot that is presented.

The next shot shown involves the mysterious main character walking through the door into a large, dark room as light from the previous corridor breaks through the open door revealing the main characters full costume but still concealing his face as he is still in the shadow and the light is behind him. A mysterious pair of cuffed hands can be seen on the right side of the screen resting on a table developing an enigma and creating a sense of mystery for the viewer. The next sequence of shots involves a use of the 180 degree rule presenting the characters face for the first time after developing lots of suspense and producing enigmas of who this character is. We are also shown the face of the handcuffed person that developed an enigma of why he was in the room. The dialogue between the characters is shown through speech bubbles in the storyboard which haven’t been filled in which is a slight downside to the storyboard, however, this storyboard is meant to be more of a template of how shots should be laid out and not how the story should be presented, so the lack of text can be effective since the reader can focus more on the shot presentation through the storyboard and not get distracted from text. The emphasis on darkness in the storyboard is also shown through the close-ups of the characters faces since we can see the bordering environment which has been shaded to show very dark shadow around the characters faces, the level of shading on the individual characters faces is also high even though they are under a lightbulb, the effect of having shadow being more prominent in this sequence rather than light is effective in conveying the convention of horror to the audience.

After the conversation sequence, we are shown a close-up of the main character's hand slamming onto the table as his shadow is projected across the table. We are shown the mise en scene through this shot as we can see a close up of the characters hand and costume as well as the objects in the surrounding area to suggest to the audience where the current location is, we see a pencil on the table and possibly other props in the actual movie, the presentation of these props to the viewers can be used to break the enigma produced at the beginning of the movie of where this character is, paired with the dialogue sequence, the audience is lead to believe they are in some sort of interrogation in a dark building. The camera switches back to the close up of the criminal character looking off screen and saying something, shown by an empty speech bubble.

The screen suddenly cuts to black and cuts back to a footstep walking through a naturally lit forest environment, the change in lighting is an instant micro-element that signifies to the audience that they are in a different environment, the rapid change in environment can be quite confusing for the audience and help build up tension, adding to the horror theme we do not know whose foot it is which develops enigmas for the audience making them more intrigued yet scared. The shot pans up to the characters face staring off into the distance with a strong shadow over his face, the face can be made out as the criminal character which will make the audience wonder what he is doing in a forest. The mise en scene is used to convey multiple horror conventions, for example, the multiple trees shown in the shots are very crooked, old and twisty to convey a creepy and uneasy vibe to the viewers. The camera cuts to a point of view shot from the character so we can see what was off screen and create a sense of perspective, we see a long corridor of old trees and off in the distance we can see a dark silhouette of a figure staring back at the viewer/character, the use of the first person view shot is effective in delivering conventional horror elements as it seems like the silhouette is staring directly at the viewers even though they aren’t in the movie, creating a new level of bonding with the characters. We cut to a high angle medium shot of the criminal character holding his head and yelling to signify he is in pain, the camera zooms in and out while shaking to create a sense of disorientation and realism as the screen cuts to black creating an enigma to hook the audience in and make them intrigued to watch the rest of the movie.

The lack of sound in the storyboard provides room for improvement since the sounds used will have a lot of significance in developing a sense of fear for the viewer if paired with the use of certain camera techniques and mise en scene.