Storyboards - Rough

The Work Based Learning module involves script-writing, story-boarding and delivering a project proposal and treatment based on the characters we worked on developing in September. I didn't get past the early stages of this, unfortunately, because during the lead up to Christmas I was suffering quite frequent illnesses; however I do have the script and rough storyboards to work from.

They are very rough, mind you, so I'm just going to give a brief description of what's happening in each panel so that I have a clear plan in my mind for when I draw up the final versions.

1: PoV shot of rabbit making its way down a forest trail. The camera zooms as it approaches the end and the screen whites out

2: The rabbits eyes open and it focuses on the tree, looking up at the whole thing. Its vision is quite blurry.

3: Scavenger's PoV- it's watching the rabbit stumble closer, and we can see how bloodied and injured it is.

4: Back to rabbit's PoV: it spots Scavenger and then it comes swooping down, growing into a big black shape that fills the screen. Rabbit blacks out.

5: The rabbit's eyes open and blink, the camera zooms out a little to show that it actually collapsed.

6: Rabbit's PoV: Scavenger is now in its weirdly humanoid form. Camera pans up the imposing figure.

7: It bends down and extends a hand to the rabbit, appearing to be assisting it, but the rabbit flinches back.

8: Blinking momentarily, Scavenger moves aside and gestures at the tree.

9: A close-up of the tree. Weird wisp-like things fly around the branches.

10: The rabbit looks between the outstretched hand and the tree, thinking deeply for a moment.

11: It decides to trust Scavenger, and accepts its hand, but-

12: The rabbit is snatched up in the bony arms and embraced tightly. As this happens, something appears to come from the rabbit's open mouth, eyes and nostrils. The camera pans right, until-

13: We see its spirit has forcibly been extracted from the body!

14: Now that its a ghost, the rabbit can see the wisps for what they are- other animals who have been tricked into believing this tree would allow their souls to live forever, when in fact they are simply trapped for eternity with the Scavenger.

15: Scavenger drops the rabbit's lifeless body to the ground. Roots and vines immediately come from the earth and feast on the corpse...

16: ... until only bones are left. Now the rabbit's body and spirit belong the the tree and the Scavenger.

17: Scavenger returns to its bird form and flies back to its post while the ghost of the rabbit is pulled towards the branches, about to join the other tormented animals.

18: The camera zooms back on this scene, ending it where the rabbit first encountered the clearing before fading out.

Quite a dark story, I know. And not even a happy ending! I left it on a mysterious and grim note. There are unanswered questions, because that's the nature of death. The rabbit feared what death would bring, and risked its own soul for the chance to keep existing in a way, and now it has a damned existence.
What can I say? I was in quite a dark sort of place when I came up with this story! But I do think it's a short story that would provoke thought and discussion in an audience, which is what I also love to see in animated pieces.

My next step is to draw up the final storyboards today and tomorrow, and after that's done I'll begin work on the proposal and treatment.