Storyboard
What would an Edgar Allan Poe story look like if Alfred Hitchcock directed it?
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I chose the story of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart” to be represented in the style of Alfred Hitchcock because the story is very visual. In addition to this, there are many similar themes that correspond to the many works of Hitchcock; for example, the symbol of the eyes is very prevalent in the film of “Vertigo” as is in “Tell-Tale Heart.”
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I tried to implement this symbol of the eyes at the beginning of the storyboard like in the introduction of “Vertigo.” Although you cannot display motion in a storyboard, I imagine the eye spinning until the hands of the clock grow from the pupil. This is when the eye stops spinning and the title slide is presented. The eye spinning represents the mind of the narrator and instability he has. Therefore, we shouldn’t trust the narrator (a prevalent theme of Poe), yet there is the pull that being so intimate with the narrator makes us want to trust him (a theme of Hitchcock). In addition to the eye spinning, I tried to point out to the audience that we shouldn’t trust the narrator because of his intoxication (as seen with the alcohol on the coffee table). The audience is confirmed not to trust the narrator when revealed that he has a captor underneath the floorboards of the staircase. However, leading up to this moment, the audience knows there is something off with the dramatic long takes, and this displays the suspense--which showcases both Hitchcock and Poe’s style.
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I chose to color the heart at the end of the story because the heart is what drives the narrator mad (ie. the incessant beating represented by the outlines), so I want the audience to go mad as well.







