For The Crows Storyboard

8/7/2019 For The Crows Storyboard

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Crows

Work In Progress Storyboard



A armer stands alone in a eld digging the soil to plant crops. He is overweight, balding and short-sighted. Smoke whirls up into the sky romhis house in the distance. Te house is separated rom the eld by a rusty iron gate, which once had a barbed wire ence attached. Te wholescene gives o an air o decrepity, as i it has aged without the armer even noticing, past the limits o his eyesight; past the end o his nose.



A weather vane stands erect as a crucix on the roo o his shed. Inside we see amiscellany o arteacts curated on shelves in jars and tins. A crow watches on roma nearby tree, waiting or an opportune moment to nd worms or its chicks.



Te soil is cold and almost rozen.Evening light rakes across the groundcasting out long shadows.









As the crow lands on the scarecrow’s arm, her weight topples the pumpkin head which turns to stare through her.



Te sound startles the armer who looks up rom his digging in surprise.



Te crow leans out to see i its sae to jump or the worms. Tis shot needs to communicate on the onehand the bleakness and vastness o the landscape, and onthe other quite how small an area the armer ocuses on.





Te armer strains his eyes to see but doesn’t spot the crow.



His gaze drits down rom the scarecrow standingguard, to the rows o newly planted seed.



Tinking he must have imagined the sound, he shakes his head then lights up a cigarette. He is cold and stressed.







As the worm glides over the leaves, holes appear behind it. Tis shot needs to explain that the armer is mistaken in thinking that the crow is a problem.



Te crow leaps down into view and the armer stops digging and cranes his neck orward.





Te crow hops towards a slimy worm. Te worm is nestled tightly in amongstpebbles and glinting in the evening light. Te armer, thinking his seeds are in danger,crouches down low and begins to creep closer.







Te armer misses, landing ace rst against thehard soil, while the crow escapes with the worm. A gust o wind slams the shed door shut behind him.













As soon as the armer enters the shed, the dog leaves. Tere is obvious antagonism between these two characters.



In the distance, Jonny, the armer’s son arrives on his bike. He is blond, skinny, and rail but sprightly.







Te dog leaps up excitedly. Jonny dismounts just in time as hecycles through the shed door knocking over his ather’s tools.



Te armer jumps up in rage and chases Jonny out o the shed. He grabs his spade swinging it at Jonny whospins round just in time to grab it beore he is hit.Te dog leaps to Jonny’s side and barks at the armer.



We catch sight o a scar on Jonny’s cheek.It is implied that he has been hit beore.



Jonny throws the spade to the oor then runs towards the house. His thin ragdoll rame hops lightly over the rutted earth. Te dog walks round the armer towards the warm glow o the shed, but beore he can make it inside, the armer slams the door in his ace.



As Jonny approaches the gate, the dog runs to catch up with him. Jonny chooses to walk through the gate, though he could just as easily go around. Te dog leaps over the barbed wire and jumps up at Jonny’s knees.



Te camera angle changes almost 180 and is now on the shed side o the gate. Te gate represents a degree o saety to Jonny,now away rom his ather, who, so obsessed with his crops, spends most o his lie out in the eld. Jonny pats the dog andmusters a smile, though he is obviously upset and deeply troubled.







Fade: Te mother crow and the chicks are now thinner and scruer. Teir eathers rufe in the winds that ravage the plain.







Desperate or ood or hersel and her chicks, and seeing that the armer has momentarily let his post, the mother crow ventures out into the eld. Tere are no nearby hedgerows to orage in; this minute package o ertile land is her only option.







As she hops down the armer walks out o the shed and picks up his gun which he has let ready and waiting.



As the armer takes aim the dog walks into the line o re. He drops his gun slightly and waits to see what happens.





Unseen by the armer, the dog is carrying a bone with a ew tiny scraps o meat still clinging to it.



Instead o pouncing on the crow as the armer expects, the dog drops his bone and sulks o,pausing to glance back as the crow hops over to tear o a morsel or two.



Angered by this the armer takes aim again. Jonny has run up to the shed rom thearmhouse. Seeing that his ather is distracted he tries to squeeze past into the shed.



Jonny knocks his ather o balance just as he pulls the trigger.



Te crow sits over the worm, bowed as i awaiting execution.



She bursts to lie, snatching the worm and liting o as a shower o lead pellets y into the ground around it.





Jonny wobbles onto his bike harassed by his ather as he goes. Te cycling should eel meditative, the camerashould eel as i we are sitting on his wing, listening to his thoughts, like the angels in ‘Der Himmel Uber Berlin’.





Te ather looks up rom cleaning his gun to see his son head o into thedistance. As it begins to rain the ather realises he is alone in a shed in a eld.





Te rain makes Jonny’s hat heavy and his hair drag in his eyes.He tilts his ace away and squints his eyes but pushes on through.



One day ades into the another. It is morning and Jonny isreturning to the arm; it is not made clear how many nightshe has been away. His hair is scruy and unwashed. Iticks in the breeze. He appears very tired and his cycling isless determined than beore.



As the ather returns rom the house he catches sight o the crow caught in the wind. She is being thrownaround, successively plummeting and rising in an involuntary dance. Te armer has his gun with him.



Cut-away to the eld showing neither the crow nor thearmer. Te seedlings have grown up and the armer hasstill ailed to recognise that the crow is not a threat.



Te armer takes aim, but with the strong wind it is impossible to stay steady. He ails to notice his son arriving - he is not expecting him.





He tracks the crow as she plummets towards the ground. He res but misses. Cut to next on the gunshot.



Instead he hits his son, who alls to the ground on the spot where the scarecrow’s eerie gaze rests. Cut to next quickly.



Almost immediately ater his son has been hit we see the mother crow arrive at the nest travelling ar too ast.





She collides with the nest, knocking it, and her chicks, out o the tree.



Cutting back to this shot the action slows down. Te armer lowers his gun then calmly runs towards where he thinks the crow should be. Getting closer he is able to see Jonny sprawled out on the ground tangled with his bike. Hold this long shot andthe silence. He pauses, at rst conused, then realising what has happened. Beore he has time to move cut to next.



Camera moves slowly upwards, gently spiralling but bueted by the wind.



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For The Crows Storyboard