Day 16: Storyboard vs Scene

Today's film story is about the opening scene from my 2nd feature film, Mousetrap 2. I will be comparing storyboards I drew to the actual shots from the film. To give you a little background for this scene it is SWAT Team showing up to bust a deadly killer, The Mouse. Above is the first shot of the SWAT Truck Pulling up to the building. This shot was pulled off with a Phantom DJI 2 drone we got from a sponsor. My dad who was driving was told by the police department not to turn the police lights on, but decided to do it anyways.

This shot is almost exactly the same as the storyboard. It is the SWAT Team preparing to enter the building. The actors are Matt, Kyle, Colin, and Jack.

Here we see the SWAT Team heading down the hallway. The power shuts off in the building and the Mouse is lurking around. The lighting here is some of my favorite lighting in the film.

Here we see the Mouse sneaking around in the background. Slowly the SWAT Team members are killed off.

This is one of my favorite shots that is very close to the storyboard as well. It is the shadow of the Mouse and the last surviving SWAT Officer. The SWAT officer is unaware that the Mouse is right behind him.

Here the SWAT Officer is leaning over the bomb when the Mouse is about to kill him. He is suddenly shot.

This storyboard and shot are a little bit different, but they are the same general idea. I was definitely going for your classic FBI boss in the storyboard.

Here the Mouse is left alone in front of a police car. This is the most unrealistic part of the whole movie and I still regret choosing to do it this way. Police would never leave a mass murderer alone outside. I have no idea what I was thinking.

The Mouse pulls out a trigger. In the storyboard it is an actual trigger with a switch while in the film it was a phone. I like the phone better than the trigger. Seems more realistic.

Another favorite shot of mine. All done with special FX. The building blows up.

The main title card. Drawn exactly how it appeared in the film. I had this opening envisioned months ahead of time and it turned out exactly how I wanted. It really is a great opening. It was not executed 100% perfectly, but we ran into a lot of issues and I am just glad it turned out pretty awesome.

What I Learned: Storyboards are good. Do them!

Watch Mousetrap 2 here!