As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are many reasons a scene might be cut from a film. In this case it was just playing way too long. Originally, we spent a lot of time on Victor's growth as a science nerd, attempting to answer the question "how does he know how to bring Sparky back to life?". Then it occurred to us that maybe no one will ask this question, and even if they do, there can be no answer- no one can bring the dead back to life. The audience will take that leap with us if we put them in an emotionally dark place, and then answer that question with something hopeful shortly after Sparky's death. The decision was then made to simplify the scene way down, and I think it was absolutely the right call.
In the original script, Victor's knowledge of reanimation was answered by a dying pot-plant that he experimented on (I boarded that version too, but it made absolutely no sense whatsoever), so I dug in to elementary school science education (Faraday cages, Ben Franklin and the key- that sort of thing), and came up with this. The only thing I regret is that I think I did a nice job of showing the growing conflicts and relationships in the film. The wonderful Dean Roberts did another version of this scene, and some of his panels are included here- look for those red dots!
Wasn't it planned to have Elsa's song for Dutch Day be in Dutch first then English?
ReplyDeleteHi Krista,
DeleteYes I believe so, I seem to remember that the idea was that the song would play over the scenes of the "monsters" being brought to life.
Why did you change it for the final version?
DeleteWhen you're cutting together storyboards, you trim things here and there, tweaking timings of things, moving scenes from one place to another, maybe cutting a scene in half, and dropping another scene in the middle- point being that it's all fluid, the only rule is that it must add to the overall feeling that you're going for. The Script is only ever a roadmap, the written word is very different from visual language. When we translate the one to the other, things change. The Elsa scene was really good when it was in writing, but when it played out it was too long, and we wanted to get to the main event faster.
DeleteAnother thing I remember was a moment where Victor, after Sparky is brought back, is leaving for school and has another moment with Mr. Burgemeister where Victor almost stepped on one of his tulips. Also, it said in the script that, after Sparky drags Victor from the windmill, Victor and his parents had a relieved embrace. Were this versions boarded?
DeleteThe Burgemeister scene was boarded, and ultimately cut. I think Rob Stephanhagen boarded that one. The final scene at the windmill probably included that beat at some point, again it was probably cut for the reasons outlined above.
DeleteAnother thing I'm wondering is wasn't it planned to have Toshiaki fight the turtle monster in the earlier version of the Dutch day scene? Why was it changed? And wasn't there going to be a scene that showed how Weird Girl got involved with the whole monster creation thing?
ReplyDeleteThat's right, I actually boarded the fight between the Turtle monster and Toshiaki (I will post it up in the near future). I think that was changed to focus the film more on Victor cleaning up the mess he inadvertently made. As for weird Girl, I'm not sure why that was altered- I seem to remember Christian Devita boarded that scene.
DeleteThe decision was then made to simplify the scene way down, and I think it was absolutely the right call. their explanation
ReplyDeleteThis scene has So much detail and Sense. I LOVE it!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I really enjoyed making it, and am delighted that you enjoyed it too:)
DeleteThat version were don't say NO!
ReplyDelete