I am updating like a crazy person today!
Now I give you a sequence I actually finished up a while ago, but somehow didn't post up here. I did these as both an exercise, and for use as a portfolio piece. They're taken from a section of H.P. Lovecraft's novella,
At the Mountains of Madness, which is one of my favorite stories. This taught me a LOT about the art of adaptation, because it really is an art. One that I'm sure is more difficult in some situations than others, but I definitely felt some of its difficulties, when working from Lovecraft's prose. His tends to be far removed from character interaction, and a plot of events moving in consistent, temporal order, at least in this part of the story. Many movements were described out of order, which made it a bit of a dickens to plot out, and even then, much of what occurred was explained in broad strokes, which could easily be afforded in the written form, but couldn't hold the same way in a visual medium. It definitely proposed its fair share of dilemmas, but it was an excellent learning experience for me, and I'm glad I did it. I've actually thumbed out quite a lot more of it, but for the sake of its use as a portfolio piece, it was getting a little lengthy, so I've stopped for the moment, in what seemed a strategic place.
I may revisit this sequence in the future and continue work on. If Guillermo del Toro actually gets the novella made into a movie (fingers crossed!), I'm VERY interested to see how he does it. I would have been very excited for it even before attempting to plot it out visually myself, but this adds another dimension of appreciation for people who adapt one medium to another. It's truly much harder than it looks!
And so I present to you, my storyboards, based on H.P. Lovecraft's
At the Mountains of Madness.
Here we see Professor William Dyer, a leader of an archaeological expedition to the Antarctic. Part of the crew had gone on ahead to a dig site several days earlier, but have mysteriously fallen out of communication. Now Dyer and several other members of the team have flown to find the missing crew. Here they are preparing to venture out into the fierce Antarctic weather.
Dyer finished reading himself, then pulls out the last telegraph message he received from the missing crew, and ponders it, before he is alerted that everyone else is prepared, then again pockets the message.
Dyer gets up and makes his way toward the plane's exit. He stands before the doorway as a chill wind blasts his face. He waits, and takes a breath.
Dyer exits, and begins speaking to the crew about how they are to go about searching for their missing comrades.
The professor begins giving the various crew members specific tasks and duties, then calls for the plane to be secured, and all made ready to begin their journey. Dyer walks away from the plane, as the crew readies, and pulls something from his pocket.
It is his compass. It points north toward something at which Dyer stares, lost in thought, until a crewman, Danforth calls to him and says that all is prepared.
Dyer is caught off-guard for a moment, then utters and affirmative, and takes one last look backwards, toward the path they must inevitably travel, before walking to get his pack and group with the others. The camera pulls back to reveal that Dyer was staring off toward the positively gargantuan mountain range along which they must travel. Its high peaks, imposing presence, and strange form has instilled a sense of dread in the crew, but Dyer knew that they must find out what has become of their lost comrades.
So there you have it! I hope you've found this interesting and/or entertaining! Comments and critiques are always welcome. Thank you very much, and until next time!
Chris
