PAGE ONE – 7 PANELS.
LAYOUT
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1. Deep in the
Bili forest in Congo. A LEOPARD stalks towards a dense bush. The peering
frightened eyes of a few juvenile chimpanzees can be seen looking out of the
bush at the LEOPARD.
CAPTION:
2013.
The Democratic Republic of Congo. The Bili forest.
2. Close up on
the LEOPARD, it shows its huge teeth as it hisses at the CHIMPANZEES trying to
scare them from there hiding spot.
LEOPARD:
CUIISSSS
3. The juvenile
CHIMPS pull further back into the bush.
NO
COPY.
4. The huge
six-foot form of the rare giant BILI CHIMP towers over the LEOPARD. The BILI
CHIMP has its huge jaw wide open and a large tree branch in its arms raised
high above its head.
BILI
CHIMP:
ARGGH.
5. BLACK PANEL.
NO
COPY.
6. The LEOPARD
lies dead; the tree branch the BILI CHIMP was holding lies next to it bloody.
The BILI CHIMP can be seen walking away from the scene; it’s back to us. The
juvenile CHIMPS following close behind it.
NO
COPY.
7. Pull back to
see a wildlife PHOTOGRAPHER hidden in the undergrowth a few foot from the
scene, a video camera has been filming the whole incident. The PHOTOGRAPHERS
face hangs in shock.
PHOTOGRAPHER:
Dear god.
Wow. Th¡s was noth¡ng l¡ke l was expect¡ng - and actually: after re-read¡ng th¡s f¡ve t¡mes: th¡s ¡s a REALLY terr¡fy¡ng page. Very unnerv¡ng. The page really st¡cks ¡n your bra¡n. The horror ¡s str¡k¡ng - espec¡ally because of the natural real¡ty of the jungle.
ReplyDeleteTh¡s ¡s the k¡nd of page that makes me w¡sh there was a 6th star ¡n the rat¡ngs...
WOW! Thank you so much for your kind words mate. Means a lot. Glad you enjoyed the page.
DeleteThis is a quite unsettling page. It serves to show the capacity of the apes BEFORE the events of Rise, etc.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words. I really wanted to capture the fear that a wild creature can create.
DeleteThat black panel is what makes this for me. It, along with the photographer's reaction, leaves all the violence and death entirely to the reader's imagination, which is one of the best places to place it.
ReplyDeleteThe black panel just felt so right for the page. I didn't need to have one panel of gore and violence when the readers mind can picture something more personal and ultimately more terrifying than I could have written.
Delete