Rough story boards –

We created these rough copes in order to determine what will happen in our opening and in what order. We created a rough copy as this allowed us to change our minds and re-draft if needed.

Final story boards –

(First shot) This is our opening shot. We decided that this should be a static, mid/establishing shot to introduce the setting of the film to our audience. We also decided to have purely diegetic (e.g. leaves rustling etc.) sound to create an uneasy, but very real atmosphere for the audience.

(Second shot) Our second shot introduces the protagonist of our film – the killer, dragging a barely live body through the woodland. Again, this would include diegetic sound however; we decided that this should be a long shot in order to make the current situation clearer to the audience. However, this shot also introduces enigma for the audience as they will begin to question who the characters are and why one is practically dead.

(Third shot) This shot will again be a mid-shot and include diegetic sound; however, as the killer is dragging the body, the characters will become centrally framed. This adds further intensity to the scene and informs the audience further into the killing. In this shot, the protagonist straps the shovel onto the body and ‘pats’ her. This will introduce the characterisation of the killer and add a hint of comical creepiness to the protagonist.

(Fourth shot) To introduce the studio logo, we will fade out of the last shot, into the studio logo and fade back into the action of the next shot. During this section the diegetic sound from the previous shots will continue throughout. This shot will also inform the audience that our film is rather important and popular as we have the support of a large studio behind us.

(Fifth shot) Using this high angle tracking shot, we will be able to show the borderline dead bodies pain whilst being dragged through the woods. The diegetic sound will again continue to create a realistic but uneasy tone which draws the audience in as there is a possibility of these circumstances occurring in real life.

(Sixth shot) Within this shot we will use a point of view/dolly shot, through the body’s eyes. This will accentuate the scared emotions of this particular character and allows the audience to be emotionally connected to the situation that she is faced with.

(Seventh shot) This tracking/long shot again shows the killer dragging the body to remind the audience of the whole situation at hand. Again there is only diegetic sounds that are heard, however, at this point the killer will begin to whistle. This again creates an eerie and

unnatural atmosphere for the audience, but also creates a comical effect due to the juxtaposition of sound and action.

(Eighth shot) Continuing from the last shot, this will be a tracking/long shot containing purely diegetic sound. However, in this shot the body begins to moan and fidget whilst the killer tells her to “Shh” in a jolly, patronizing way. This again creates some level of humour but in fact leaves the audience within more strange, disturbing atmosphere as this is unusual for a typical ‘killer’.

(Ninth shot) Our ninth shot will be a static long shot. The body is dumped and the killer brushes his hands down. This adds to the diegetic sounds and accentuates his casual attitude towards the events within the opening.

(Tenth shot) This continues the long static shot. However, once the killer puts his headphones in, all diegetic sound is cut, and we instead hear an upbeat, catchy song through the actor’s ears. This again creates juxtaposition from the sound to the action, however, this time instead of making the audience feel uneasy; it could put them to ease as they may well know the song. (Also if we choose the correct song, a comical element may be created.

(Eleventh shot) This shot includes a long shot of the killer, however, the body is in the foreground and so at this point we could in fact use a pull shot which would again create juxtaposition between the creepily jolly killer and the body struggling to live. This would again make the audience feel uneasy and also create more enigma as he is digging a grave, but the body isn’t quite dead. The upbeat music will continue to play.

(Twelfth shot) This continues from the static long shot of the killer with the body in the foreground. The music continues to play and we gradually begin to see the body moving in the forefront, the killer notices this and moves to the front centre near the body.

(Thirteenth shot) This is again a point of view shot from the body’s perspective, as if the killer is hitting her with a shovel. This will be operative to the audience and make them even more emotionally connected to the body, as they will see exactly what she sees. Also, the audience now realise that the body that was struggling to live will now be murdered, making them feel even more anxious and edgy as we now know just how violent the killer is. However, just as the killer is about to hit the body, we will cut to the next shot – the title. The upbeat music will continue to play, again to create contrast between the violent scene and positive, bubbly music.

(Fourteenth shot) This is our title shot. We chose to have very dark colours, with a crackling grey screen behind the title – this accentuates the abnormal, violent happenings of the previous shots (as if they have been censored due to their horrific content.) We chose the title ‘UXOR.’ This means ‘wife’ in Latin and we thought this would be fitting as the killer

murders his wife. We also thought that this title would create even more enigma as many people may not know what it means, and begin to question it. Within this shot we also chose to completely cut the music and have wedding/funeral bells play over the top as these sounds create an emotional response with the audience, making them more involved within the film.

(Fifteenth shot) This long static shot shows the audience the killer mourning over his dead wife. This shot is able to reveal to the audience that he has buried her and is now stood by her grave. This creates another eerie element to the opening as it is very odd behaviour for a murderer to mourn over someone that they have just killed. Within this shot the bells will continue, but eventually fade out to again leave purely diegetic sounds.

(Sixteenth shot) Our final shit is a static long shot. Within this shot the audience sees the killer pick up his shovel and walk away. Diegetic sound is continued through this shot; however, we also hear the killer whistling as he walks away. This again leaves the audience feeling uneasy, uncomfortable and tense.