Below is Scene One from our Revelations script. An overview of the characters and how the scene is arranged is given.
My main task was to describe the images and camera angles of each cut scene.
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Revelations
By: Chip Hilsberg, Sela Davis, Kapish Singh Rawat
Cut Scene Design
Characters
Major Characters
(Padre) Alejandro Dominguez
Physical – Alejandro is a thirty-four year old male who looks more like he's fifty. His image is dominated by dark black eyes with a smoldering quality that ignites when he's angry. On his head rest thin strands of black hair that mark where the fuller compliment used to lie. The impression conveyed is one of weariness, but its sometimes awkward placement gives it a touch of insanity. In body, Padre Dominguez is skinny but not weak. His angular frame can produce terrible force when sufficiently motivated.
Character – Alejandro is a Catholic priest from California. His line goes all the way back to the Spanish missions, but he isn't interested in proselytizing so much as gaining prestige. He is zealous in his preaching and arrogant in his faith, but feeble when in doubt. Sometimes this inner weakness emerges as pathetic begging, and other times, as great violence. However, most would say Padre Dominguez's primary flaw is a deep thirst for power.
Carlos “Dominguez”
Physical – Carlos is a boy of seven years old. He has softer features than his father, but the same eyes. For Carlos, however, the effect is one of mirth, not menace. From his mother he received a thick head of hair that flows down to his shoulders in waves. However, his father has kept it cut short since he's been in his care.
Character – Carlos is Alejandro's illegitimate child with a local woman. Despite Alejandro's best attempt to distance himself from the situation, he was forced to adopt the kid as a “ward of the church” when the woman abandoned him. Carlos' life in the church is more restricted than a child's should be, but he excels at amusing himself in his dour setting. His relationship with his father is fairly cold, but he finds love among the nuns of the church.
Minor Characters
The Voice/Lucifer – Lucifer, the fallen angel of Christian mythology, is a well known terror of the night. In Revelations, Lucifer is portrayed as a trickster, imitating the voice of God to toy with Padre Dominguez. However, his intentions are also serious. He is breaking the mind of his prospective Anti-Christ. His image is winged and thin, but very powerful. His face is permanently lit with twinkling eyes and a smirk.
The Doctor – An older doctor, known for his discreetness.
The Congregation – Initially honorable, Padre Dominguez's congregation becomes morally questionable as the Rapture removes the holy from Earth.
Cut Scene Format
The Cut Scene summary is given below. It is divided into the following parts:
- Scene
- Location and Time
- Setting
- Action (What happens in the scene).
- Images (The images that will be used to describe this scene).
- Camera shots (Camera movement and shots).
- Sound (the background music and the effects that will be played).
- Voice (the specific dialogue assets and their associated voice actors).
- Next location…
Scenes
Scene 1 - “The Father...”
Location 1 – Outside of Padre Dominguez's Church (Present - Night)
Setting: The outside of Padre Dominguez's Church at dusk.
Duration: 10s.
Action:
- Padre Dominguez walks slowly toward his church. He appears nervous but determined.
- The front of the church is shown. It towers over Dominguez.
- Transition to Past.
Images:
- Scene opens on Padre’s face. There are streaks of sweat on his brow.
- Padre standing in front of the church. The sun is seen setting in the background
- The church is medium sized and made of worn stone. Before it is a graveyard that flanks the path up the center. On the other side of the street from the church are houses with ¼ acre lots.
- There is a fade to black to signify a transition to the past.
Camera Shots:
- Camera opens on Padre’s face. It zooms out and turns around and moves behind Padre, showing him standing in front of a church as he walks.
Sound:
- Distorted bells toll in the background over silence. These bells fade into church bells as the scene switches.
Location 2 – Padre Dominguez's Church (6 days ago)
Setting: The inside of Padre Dominguez's church during an afternoon mass. He is standing at the pulpit before a medium sized crowd of parishioners.
Duration: 20s.
Action:
- Transition to Dominguez closing his afternoon service. He is wearing a simple but neat robe and holds a Bible.
- He smiles while descending a set of stairs into the main church area.
- He walks toward an important figure with a bishop hat while ignoring the other parishioners.
- He shakes the bishop's hand, clasping it in both of his. The bishop pats him on the shoulder and says: “A very impressive sermon Alejandro. I see big things in your future.”
- A loud sound is heard from a side room.
- Padre Dominguez rushes over to see what the problem is. He is followed by the bishop at a slower rate.
- Padre Dominguez opens a door and sees his son sitting in a pool of water that came from an overturned baptismal font. His son is running his hands through the water creating thin streaks of blood. He does not appear hurt and is actually playful and humming to himself.
- Padre Dominguez tells his son to stop what he's doing and to get up quickly.
- The bishop arrives.
- His son, Carlos, says “Shhh...I'm listening to the man singing,” then continues humming.
- The bishop is appalled and leaves.
- Padre Dominguez roughly grabs the child.
Images:
- All the images shown here are in black and white. This signifies that the events are occurring in the past
- An image of the interior of the church is now shown. Again, the interiors are simple and sparsely decorated further highlighting our setting. The church is one-third full of people wearing formals.
- An image shows Padre and the Bishop shaking hands and looking happy. Padre has a slight grin on his face, showing his actual intentions
- The next image shown is of Dominguez opening the door. Inside, we see the child with his hands in the water. Streaks of blood follow them as they move. The child is wearing worn out attire, signifying the negligence shown in his upbringing. He looks content and happy, which highlights his abnormal behavior further.
Camera shots:
- The camera gives a broad view of the church, fading from the broad view of the church exterior.
- It swings behind Alejandro as he closes the service.
- The camera follows behind Padre as he moves towards the bishop.
- It zooms out to accommodate both characters as they exchange words.
- The crash causes the camera to shake and tilt at an angle. The camera swerves and focuses on the back door of the church.
- The camera follows Padre as he moves toward the door. It comes to a sudden jolt when entering the room showing what Carlos is doing.
- Camera zooms in a out of the baptismal font and the child’s hands before the dialogue continues.
- Padre pulls the door shut after the bishop leaves. Cut to black.
Sound:
- Pipe organs are playing church music. A choir can be heard singing over the organs.
- Footsteps can be heard when he walks down the steps.
- The bishop pats Alejandro on the back.
- Crashing sound of stone on stone.
- Water moved by Carlos' hands.
- Carlos humming to himself.
- Alejandro grabs Carlos roughly.
Voice
- Bishop: “A very impressive sermon, Alejandro. I see big things in your future.”
- Alejandro: “Carlos, stop right there! You cannot behave this way in a place of worship. <sees the blood> Get up now!”
- Carlos: “Shh...I'm listening to the man singing.”
Location 3 – Padre Dominguez's House (5 days ago)
Setting: The living room of the house with the lights down. Padre Dominguez is studying his Bible while Carlos is sitting in a chair looking sullen.
Duration: 20s.
Action:
- Carlos asks: “Can I please go outside, Dad?” while kicking his feet slowly. Dominguez replies: “You will not leave this room until you start acting like a normal person.” Carlos protests, but is silenced.
- There is a knock at the door. Dominguez opens it and answers through a small crack. It is a doctor.
- The doctor comes in and is directed toward Carlos. The door is left unlocked.
- The doctor asks Carlos what his name is. Carlos replies: “I don’t remember. Will you let me go out?”
- As the doctor looks questioningly at Dominguez, Carlos runs out the front door. Unseen, he goes up a ladder to the roof.
- Dominguez runs out and looks around for Carlos.
- Carlos shouts to the sky “I'm here now! Please don't leave without me!” causing Dominguez to spin around and see him on the edge of the roof looking up.
- Transition to present.
Images:
- The interior of the house is shown. There is very little furniture and there are no decorations. The house looks bare and dark, creating a gloomy atmosphere. Padre and his son are sitting in the living room
- The door is shown as someone knocks on it.
- Padre face is shown, peering through the door
- The door is shown wide open, as Carlos runs out of it.
- The final image shows Padre and the doctor standing outside as Carlos stands on the roof with his arms outstretched.
Camera shots:
- The camera moves around the house giving an overview of its interior.
- It focuses on the Padre and Carlos as they argue.
- It turns sharply and focuses on the door as a knock is heard.
- A scene transition to the outdoors is made. The camera is behind the doctors and we see the door open slightly with Padre peering through it.
- Camera follows the doctor as he enters the room. It focuses on Carlos as he speaks.
- The camera swerves behind Carlos as he jumps out of his chairs and runs outside.
- As soon as Carlos reaches outside, the camera turns back on Dominguez and the doctor looking at each other.
- When Dominguez and the doctor get outside, the camera zooms back in on Carlos as he shouts at the sky. It tilts upwards in the direction Carlos is talking to.
Sound:
- Strings are playing in the background. The tone is uncomfortable, but not depressing.
- Carlos kicking his feet.
- Knocking at the door.
- Door opening.
- Door closing.
- Footsteps as Carlos runs away.
Voice:
- Carlos: “Can I please go outside, Dad?”
- Alejandro: “You will not leave this room until you start acting like a normal person.”
- Alejandro: “Yes?”
- Doctor: “What is your name?”
- Carlos: “I don’t remember. Will you let me go out?”
- Carlos: “I'm here now! Please don't leave without me!”
Location 4 – Outside of Padre Dominguez's Church (Present - Night)
Setting: The outside of Padre Dominguez's Church at dusk. Dominguez is near a family plot that has been partially dug out. Dirt appears to have been thrown in at random.
Duration: 7s.
Action:
- Dominguez walks up to and stops at the plot.
- Dominguez shakes his head while looking at the grave.
- He bends over the grave and begins to push some of the dirt back in.
- The voice says “You're the reason he's dead, you know.”
- Transition to quick flashback.
Images:
- An overview of a graveyard is shown with Padre standing near a freshly dug grave. It is dark and looks isolated, portraying a haunting atmosphere.
- A more zoomed in image of only the gravestone as the voice speaks.
- Another of flash to show a transition.
Camera shots:
- The camera starts off behind Padre again, linking it to previous present day scene.
- It turns around, focusing on his face as he shakes his head
- The camera rotates downwards as Padre pushes the dirt.
- It zooms out giving a bird’s eye view of the scene as the voice speaks. This symbolizes that the voice is coming from above; ‘God’ is looking down upon Padre.
Sound:
- Strings begin to play with quiet drums in the background.
- Distorted church bells complete their ringing.
- Footsteps as Alejandro walks to the grave.
- Movement of the dirt.
Voice
- Voice: “You're the reason he's dead, you know.”
Location 5 – Carlos' Grave – Flashback (1 day ago)
Setting: A family plot in the church yard. A grave appears to have been freshly dug, but is cleanly filled and packed with dirt.
Duration: 1s.
Action:
- Dominguez is squatting before the grave with both hands on his head.
- Transition to present.
Images:
- A similar image of the graveyard as before, only from different angle. This time it is dark.
Camera Shots:
- A single flashing view of the image above.
Sound:
- Drums disappear. Saddened strings continue, showing a distraught Alejandro.
Location 6 – Carlos' Grave (Present)
Setting: Carlos' present day grave.
Duration: 3s.
Action:
- Dominguez is shocked by the Voice's claim. “But I-” he says, turning.
- Transition to past.
Images:
- A similar image of the graveyard as before, only from different angle. Padre is still squatting but in looking skywards.
Camera Shots:
- The camera is tilted upwards showing that Padre is talking to God.
Sound:
- Drums return. Strings continue. Distorted electric guitar and bass enter. This is the “Present” theme, which becomes the main theme of the game. The pacing is moderate; this theme provides an eerie feeling and implies that strange things are afoot. The guitar and bass are there more to provide a texture than a melody.
Voice: