Storyboarding and Tweaks

I have posted a few of the storyboards i have been working on, there are still a few minor tweaks and im still unsure on how some of the scenes play out but you get the idea of my thought process at the moment. 

one of the earlier drafts when the emotive design was more of a focus than the surroundings and characters, this was more of a turning point for the storyboards. once i have the emotive design and the full story fleshed out in the storyboards i will back track and put alot more superficial detail and the proper character designs into the scenes.

 The story follows the poem in the sense of a journey, it is also the journey of young Seamus processing the fact his brothers gone.
its strange and lien and hes zoned out.
the journey like the poem starts at the far off school and the loneliness of the whole situation.
The bells knelling will hopefully be a shudder wortthy noise hammering home the silence but also a reminder that life is still going on all around you, even at this particular tragic time.

 I'm still somewhat undecided how the car journey should play out, in fact id say i might even deviate from the storyboard slightly once i start to animate and realise which scene does and doesn't suit.
unfortunately its a trial and error moment which can be more time consuming but will hopefully get me the end result im aiming for.

 How the car pulls up infront of the house is split between three angles, and again might end up needing redone during animating and editing. i need to allow time for this

 i think the fact the baby is tsill cooeing in the peom is a massive moment, the baby hasnt a clue anything is wrong, a baby is the hieght of innocence and doesnt know or understand death, even through a 12 year olds eyes.

the fact the baby is still deafeningly happy in a room full of m mourners is a solid scene i havent left out in any of my storyboards

 The old man scen could be very tricky to animate, a shake elderly hand is difficult as would be he shakey stand from sitting position.
The main character might also look tired or rude from a third party perspective if he just stands open mouthed at the old man standing, to push the sadness and zoned out emotions i might just have the noise the primary focus in that scene, so i might keep the elderly mourners faceless, have a small mount of shock on Seamus' face but have the 'sorry fro your troubles' more obvious than the hand shake or shoulder squeeze. whichever feels right when it comes time to animating.

 I will have difficulty finding a heartwrenching enough cry from the mother, however with a little editing and echoe it might come close to what i want, but unless i find an actual distraught mother, exactly the sound im looking for will be impossible.
the mothers facial expression is going to have to carry some of the weight of the sound so that it doesnt pale in comparison to the poem.

 the passing of time is what im aiming for between these scenes. the horror of the ambulance coming home at night might protray that gut sinking feeling that the poem gives off during the line about the corpse, but the poems tone does get lighter in the following verse the next day, and so should the animation, ive discussed this particular scene in class and with peers, the significant passing of time, the slow but obvious transitions.
the clearing after the storm even, but in actual fact its acceptance, sweet candle and snowdrop filled acceptance.

the stairs will hopefully be an overpowering feat and look difficult, representing his struggle to actually bring himself to see the body.
walking up the stairs and seeing his brother probably sounds so simple, until you have to do it, the stairs hopefully will come across as the massive imposing barrier and allow the viewer to see that it is such a difficult but memorable moment for Heaney.

 the creak of the stairs will be slow and strained, like the whole moment,
visual pauses will be a must in this scene to give the viewer the feeling of a moment tto process.

 Im still unsure no matter how many storyboards i do, what is the best way to play out the scene where he sees his baby brother, it is a difficult task to think how horrible and tragic it must be to not only look at a dead baby but know and love the dead baby,
i want it to be angelic and respectful, but at the same time, he has to be dead, so it feels like im at a loss no matter what way play out this scene.
close ups and one shot of seamus and the shrouded coffin, or many close ups but no full image of the coffin and body, its hard to tell until i see where the animations mood goes,

 a pinnacle moment for me for seamus in this animation, is when the realisation hits and hes no longer surrounded by the sorrys and mourners, he is alone, it is just him and the fear, the situation, the death, the brother.
i want him to totally break down because i feel Heaney really did break down when writing the poem, he says it in a lonely and in the end lighter way but i think that was nostalgia speaking and he took it very hard and he doesnt mention him speaking to anyone, him comforting anyone, it is all his point a view and all about him, so i see no reason to include him comforting and speaking to others, i think you are allowed to be selfish when something so horrible happens and the rest of the world must zone out. now the rest of the world is gone in this scene and everything is so there and lighter, seamus has the chance to become so overwhelmed he just breaks.

the animation will end in one of two ways, the way i have storyboarded in and a shattered broken Heaney is left to mourn at last and its a horrible relief or the sadness will linger and we will be left to blur  out to see nothing more than a peaceful bunch of snowdrops in the candle light.
life goes on and there is beauty but you dont see ay of that when youre broken and crying at the foot of a babies coffin, so it will all be decided in editing but i will be creating both scenes just to be sure i am leaving the viewer on the right note.