The Storyboards and Scripts of the “Shan Xi” level for Fear Effect Inferno PlayStation 2
This article [Fear Effect Inferno Playstation 2 and its prototypes: the art of video game storytelling], dedicated to revealing the secrets behind Fear Effect Inferno, has already guided you through the twists and turns of its tumultuous history, its complex characters, and the technical peculiarities of its prototype. Now let's venture into the back alleys of the “Shan Xi” level, where reality is superseded by the paranormal.
Each cutscene has its own unique Kronos Entertainment code. The first letter coincides with the level of Fear Effect Inferno, in this case “D” for “Shan Xi”. The numbers refer to the cinematics. Finally, the last letter “N” stands for “Narrative”. The Scripts and extracts making up the Storyboards are numbered in the same way, to link them to the corresponding cutscenes.
On this page, you can view the Scripts and all the Storyboards for the “Shan Xi” level in the order in which they appear in the game.
Compilation of cutscenes of the Shan Xi level for Fear Effect Inferno
Clicking on the blue cutscene link, where available, will open the Youtube video on the right at the start of the cinematic (Timecode).
Enjoy your reading!
Cutscene D055N (8 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
ext. cemetary – stormy day
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Dark clouds loom overhead, and sheets of rain pound two gravediggers who stand a discreet distance from an open grave.
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Rain kneels beside the grave, before a large clay urn, in which a low flame burns. Glas stands over her, holding an umbrella to shield her and the flame from the pouring rain.
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A coffin rests on the floor of the pit and a marker has been placed at its head.
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Rain places a small folded piece of paper into the flame, and it flares briefly. With her other hand, she clutches an object to her chest. She’s clearly doing her best to control her tears.
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Whatever Glas is feeling, he lets no indication to the surface.
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After another moment, she stands, still looking at the coffin.
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A tortured sob finally chokes past her defenses. Then another. We see now that the object she’s clutching to her chest is a framed photo of Hana.
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Glas hangs his head now, his hair hiding his face.
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Suddenly, Rain’s head snaps up.
2)
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Glas turns to face her, but she’s looking back at the grave, and continues to focus on the soaked ground.
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Glas approaches and puts his hand on her shoulder.
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She doesn’t move, and continues to look at the grave. A beat.
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She tears herself away from the grave at last, and buries her face in Glas’ shoulder. Glas is startled by the unaccustomed contact, but warms to her and returns the embrace.
​
cut to:
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ext. graveyard, hill - same
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Deke stands behind a tree, watching, seen in silhouette, from behind.
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He watches as Glas and Rain take their leave, stands a few more moments, looking at the grave.
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CLOSE ON: his hand, fingers clenching, digging into the bark.
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After another moment, he turns to leave.
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As he walks away, we see five bloodied spots on the tree where Deke’s fingers had dug in.
1)
int. rain’s living room – later that night
​
Rain sits lengthwise on her couch, dressed for bed. A few candles burn in the otherwise darkened room, and a cup of hot tea steams from the coffee table. A wounded soul in a self-made cocoon.
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She holds Hana’s disc in her hand, fingering it, but seemingly not yet ready to play it.
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Her attention drifts to a photograph of Hana looking uncharacteristically happy and relaxed – no guns, no gear, on a sunlit hillside – the photo she held earlier at the funeral. For a moment, she allows herself to get lost in the image again.
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But all she has left is the disc. With sudden resolve, she reaches over to the laptop and inserts it.
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After a brief flash and a pause, Hana’s face appears as she settles back in front of the recorder she’s just started.
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Hana
Hi Rain.
(a beat, as she collects herself)
Ah, if you’re seeing this –
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She looks down and away, then back into the camera.
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Hana
(serious)
Everything’s taken care of. You won’t have to worry about… well, about stuff anymore.
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She smiles, wanly.
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Hana
(continued)
Keep an eye on the boys. They’re your family now.
(beat)
…I’m sorry I can’t be there…
​
If she goes any further down this road, she’s going to crack… so she doesn’t.
2)
Hana
All the information you’ll need is here on the disc.
​
But she just can’t carry it. This is taking more out of her than she thought, and she’s almost completely drained.
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She manages one more line.
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Hana
…I love you.
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…And that’s all she has left. She reaches forward, and a moment later, the screen blinks out.
1)
i/e. glas’ car, alley – later that night
​
Glas sits in his grungy ATV, parked in a seedy alley somewhere in the city. The engine’s running, lights are off, and the only sound is the patchy rain rattling off the roof.
​
Moving shadows of the rain running down the windshield almost take the place of the tears he’d never allow.
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There’s a bottle in his hand, and he’s clearly on his way to being drunk. A laptop sits on the hump between the seats, glowing faintly. Hana’s disc is in his other hand.
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He inserts the disc and takes another swig.
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After a flash and a pause, Hana’s face appears on the screen, settling back from starting the recorder.
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She tries to start off casually.
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Hana
Well, if you’re watching this, then...
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She stops herself a beat. She can’t make eye contact with the camera anymore.
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Hana
…well… …then it’s done.
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She steels herself back to business.
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Hana
I left the estate to Rain. She needs it.
(beat)
There’s a package for you too. The information is on the disc.
(beat)
I guess I don’t worry about you as much. You’ve always been able to look out for yourself.
​
A beat. A deeper realization.
2)
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Hana
(subdued)
Take care of Rain. This is going to be really hard on her.
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She looks away, unsure of how to say what comes next. A beat.
​
Hana
I guess I never told you –
(struggling for the words)
how much you meant to me.
(looking up at the camera)
It’s not really how I am. I’m sorry for that.
​
She looks away for a moment, reflecting. Then, back to business.
​
Hana
Make a better life for yourself, huh? You deserve it.
​
She looks directly at the camera now and smiles wryly.
​
Hana
I’ll miss you, Glas.
​
She reaches forward and shuts off the camera. The screen blinks out.
Cutscene D000N (13 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
int. rain’s apartment, bedroom – later that night
​
Rain lies in bed, in the throes of what has obviously been a fitful sleep. The bedclothes are in disarray and tangled around her, and as we find her, she rolls over again in agitation. Hana’s photograph lies on the bed nearby.
​
The SUDDEN BUZZING of the intercom shocks her awake.
​
cut to:
​
int. rain’s apartment, living room – same
​
Rain presses the intercom button.
​
Rain
(still half-asleep)
Hello?
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Glas
It’s me, Glas.
​
cut to:
int. rain’s apartment, door –same
​
Rain opens the door, and Glas is there.
​
Glas’ gaze falls briefly to her body, and he quickly pulls it away, uncomfortable.
​
Glas
Is this a bad time?
​
Rain
No. It’s okay.
​
Rain turns from the door and Glas follows her in.
​
cut to:
​
INT – RAIN’S APARTMENT, Living Room – 2 HOURS LATER
​
Glas and Rain sit on the floor. There are two empty wine bottles between them.
2)
Rain
I keep thinking she’ll come walking through the door.
​
A beat, and both sit in silence for a moment.
​
Rain
(suddenly angry)
Why did she have to do this? She knew who those guys were.
(beat – directly at him now)
You all did. – Why didn’t you stop her? You, Deke, Hana. You all act like you’re untouchable!
​
Glas
They wouldn’t let her out any other way.
(beat)
They threatened to hurt you. To get at her. And she wasn’t going to let that happen.
(another beat)
…I guess she’s free now.
​
Rain processes this.
​
Rain
(quietly)
…but she’s alone.
​
Rain begins to cry in earnest, and she scrambles to her feet and runs through the bedroom to the bathroom.
​
INT – CONNECTED BATHROOM
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Rain stands at the sink, trying to calm herself, but only getting more angry and upset as she goes.
​
With a sudden, swift fury, she looks up into the mirror and smashes it with her hand.
​
cut to:
​
int. living room
​
Glas hears the mirror break and is on his feet instantly.
3)
INT – BEDROOM
​
She makes her way out of the hallway from the bathroom into the bedroom, and nearly runs into Glas, who’s coming to check on her.
​
Glas
Are you alright?
​
Rain
Yes.
​
Her hand is bleeding, and he notices this.
​
Glas
You’re bleeding.
​
He takes her hand.
​
She looks suddenly up into his eyes. All the hurt, all the loneliness reflected there. A moment passes between them; a charged moment.
​
Glas suddenly breaks away.
​
Glas
I should go.
​
Rain moves to the open door, then turns to face him, uncertain.
​
Rain
(quietly)
You don’t have to go.
​
She makes her way to the corner of the bed, where a towel lies crumpled. She picks it up and presses it to her cut.
Glas
Should I go?
​
Glas
Maybe I should go.
1)
int. rain’s bedroom - night
​
Glas approaches Rain at the bed and sits down beside her. She’s cradling her wounded hand in the towel now, and he puts his arm around her. She leans against him.
​
They turn to face each other, and embrace, deeply. (Terminator 1 love scene)
​
fade to black
1)
int. rain’s bedroom - night
​
Glas makes his way over to the door.
​
Glas
I’ll come by tomorrow and see how you’re doing.
​
Rain nods, then approaches him and hugs him.
​
Rain
I’ll be okay.
​
After a moment, he turns and walks out the door.
​
fade to black
Cutscene D056N (4 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
int. rain’s apartment – later that night
​
Rain tosses and turns through a restless sleep, bedclothes in disarray and tangled around her, then suddenly calls out Hana’s name and startles herself awake.
​
Rain
Hana!
​
She reaches instinctively to the other space in the bed, but nobody’s there. Her hand lands instead on Hana’s photo.
​
She sits up in bed and looks at the photograph in the ambient city light streaming through the rain-sheeted window.
​
A bit of light glints off a gold ring on her finger and she looks at it more closely. She runs her finger over the pearl in its setting. This is Qin’s Pearl (from FE2), and the ring was a gift from Hana.
​
She climbs out of bed.
1)
int. bathroom – night
​
Rain opens the tap to fill the sink, and the soft sound of the falling water permeates the room, echoing the steady rain outside.
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She peers into the desolate, defeated face looking back at her from the fogged, cracked mirror.
​
She dips her head and splashes warm water over her face, and as the water falls away, she becomes faintly aware of an encroaching whisper, intermingled with the sound of the falling water, and growing louder.
​
She wipes the water from her face, with increasing urgency as the whispering grows steadily louder, and clears her eyes just in time to see a blurred figure in the shattered, steamed reflection.
​
Someone’s watching her. The whispering is almost deafening now – a waterfall of unintelligible speech.
​
She spins and yelps and turns to look.
​
cut to:
rain’s pov: down hall toward bedroom
​
The whispering stops as she turns, leaving only the sounds of the rain and running faucet. No one’s there.
​
The faucet squeaks as she twists it shut.
​
She glances back at the mirror again, but nobody’s there either.
Cutscene D002N (19 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
int. rain’s bedroom – night
​
Rain approaches the figure in the corner, tentatively. With savage speed, a clawlike hand suddenly shoots out of the darkness and clamps a freezing grip over her wrist.
​
Rain cries out in pain and squirms in its icy clutch.
​
She watches in terror as the darkened figure hauls itself from the shadows.
​
It stands upright and drags Rain close. Long black hair hanging in clumps and knots prevents Rain from making out a face.
​
With superhuman strength, the creature forces Rain to her knees.
​
She looks up at the creature swaying slightly above her, but still can’t make anything out.
​
The creature tilts its head to look into Rain’s face, and the whispering resumes. Suddenly, just as the eyes connect, she realizes who she’s looking at. It’s Hana.
​
But her features are gray and lifeless. Her pupils are dilated; hands are claws. Numerous, small shark-like teeth fill her mouth.
​
Hana
(a tortured, demonic voice)
Help me, Rain.
​
She clutches at her more tightly. Hurting her.
​
Hana
(almost hissing)
The gate is in Shan Xi.
​
cut to:
int. rain’s bedroom – night
​
Rain startles awake, her scream mingling with the wail of an ambulance outside.
3)
Rain
Tell me, dammit!
​
Glas
I can’t.
​
Rain
Why?
​
Glas
Because I don’t know what happened! All right?
(beat)
We followed Wee Ming’s trail to Madam Chen’s… then… it all turned into… some sort of bad dream.
​
Rain
Take me there.
​
Glas
Rain, Hana’s dead! You have to face that. Nothing in Shan Xi’s going to help that.
​
Rain
(fiercely)
What are you afraid of, Glas?
​
Glas
I’m not afraid.
​
Rain
Then take me to Shan Xi.
- I’m going with or without you.
​
She waits for his response, either way.
2)
She sits up and collects herself, disentangling herself from the sheets and sitting on the edge of the bed as the siren echoes off into more distant streets.
​
It’s then that she notices the marks on her arm.
​
Still shaking, she reaches for the phone on the nightstand.
​
intercut with:
​
int. glas’ loft – continuous
​
Glas sits in the dark at a small, plain table amid a cavernous, but largely empty, loft. A rumpled bed isn’t far away, and he’s clearly just left it.
​
A cordless phone handset sitting on the table in front of him starts to ring. He looks at it, then finally picks it up after the second or third ring, almost as though he were expecting the call.
​
He simply clicks on the handset and puts it to his ear, without speaking.
​
Rain
Glas? It’s Rain.
(beat)
I just saw - …I think I saw Hana.
​
He moves his own arm into the city light angling through the window, and the telltale marks are there.
​
Glas
(beat)
You had a nightmare. That’s all.
​
She’s not having any of this. Not tonight.
​
Rain
Dammit, I saw her! She was here! She was- …She said something about a gate… in Shan Xi.
(beat)
What happened there, Glas?
​
Glas
I’m not gonna talk about that.
4)
Glas
(after a beat)
God dammit, fine! I’ll take you, but here’s the deal – once we’re there, you’ll do exactly as you’re told.
(beat)
I’ll need some time for – preparations.
(half to himself, half to her)
I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. It’s not gonna change anything – you know that!
​
Rain
Thanks.
​
She hangs up the phone, and he does too. A moment later, he picks it back up and dials a number.
​
cut to:
​
int. darkened room – night
​
Close on a ringing phone. Once, twice…
​
Pull back after the third ring to reveal a figure, sitting in the dark, watching it, taking a deep drag from a bottle.
​
He puts it back on the table and raises a cigarette. As he takes a drag, the light from the cigarette illuminates his face, just for a moment. It’s Deke.
​
We see his arm too, with the same bruises.
Cutscene D057N (23 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
int. glas’ loft – the next morning
​
Glas is carrying a military duffel bag over his shoulder and is about to head out when a knock at the door stops him. He drops the bag against the wall and opens the door.
​
An attractive Asian woman, with shoulder length dark hair, and a tattoo just visible where her sweater parts from her skirt, stands on the landing.
He stops cold. This is the last person he expected to see today.
​
Glas
You!
​
Nile
Hello Glas.
​
Glas
What do you want?
​
Nile
I wanted to see you.
​
Glas
Why?
​
Nile
Can I come in?
​
He doesn’t answer, doesn’t move.
​
Nile
They know you’re after the key.
​
This stops him cold. He knows who she’s talking about.
​
A beat.
​
Glas
(simply – not an accusation)
So they sent you.
2)
Nile
They don’t know I’m here.
​
Glas
Bullshit.
​
Nile
Please, Roy.
​
He steps back, allowing her inside, but still keeps them at the door. She enters and steps to the side. He closes the door.
​
Nile
I missed you.
​
Nile
I know I’ve made some bad calls …about us. …and I don’t expect you to forgive me.
​
Nile
I love you, Roy. I guess I haven’t given you much reason to believe that, but it’s true. We were good together.
​
He walks out to the table, where his laptop is open, leaving her alone, and closes the laptop on the table. On the laptop screen was a frozen image of Hana.
​
Glas
It was too late for all that the day you decided the shop was more important than we were.
​
She moves to join him where he stands, at the table, and faces him.
​
Nile
You know I didn’t have a choice.
​
Glas
Sure you did. You just made the wrong one.
​
She makes her way over to the bed.
​
Nile
It’s an impossible dream, Roy. You know that as well as I do.
She sits down on the edge.
3)
Nile
People like us don’t get normal lives.
​
He leaves his coffee on the counter, and moves to sit down beside her, but doesn’t face her.
​
Nile
But that doesn’t mean we can’t…
​
She touches his hand.
​
Nile
…still make the time we have together…
​
She leans in for a kiss, tentatively.
​
Nile
…good.
​
She kisses him. Soon his old feelings take over and he reciprocates and takes her into a deep embrace.
​
fade out.
​
fade up.
​
int. glas’ loft – day
​
Glas and Nile lie in bed, naked, silent. After a moment, he gets up without speaking.
​
He begins to pull on his gear.
​
Nile
Don’t go to Shan Xi, Glas.
She’s not worth it.
4)
Glas
I don’t have a choice.
​
He pulls on another piece of gear.
​
Glas
I need your help, Nile. I need the key.
​
She sits up in bed.
​
Nile
Even if I could help you with that, I wouldn’t. You know what’s on the other side.
​
He looks back at her, there on the bed, naked and beautiful, for a moment, then takes the laptop from the counter and stuffs it in the duffel.
​
Glas
Nothing I haven’t seen before.
​
He picks up the duffel and heads toward the door.
​
Nile
Be careful, Roy. I’ll try to cover you.
​
He glances back her way. He opens the door.
​
Glas
You do that.
​
He steps out, closing it behind him.
​
She remains in bed for a moment longer, then stands and makes her way to her own bag without attempting to cover herself, and picks up a small communicator.
​
Nile
(into communicator)
It’s on. Proceed as planned.
​
She touches her belly.
​
fade out.
Cutscene D058N (18 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
fade in:
​
long shot – shan xi
​
We track with Glas’ ATV, as the distant rooftops of Shan Xi rise over the horizon.
​
Intercut with:
​
Details of the city
​
Deep shadows entwine with pale shafts of fading light, drifting across the ruined rooftops of the broken city of Shan Xi as the dark threat of a massive storm bears down.
​
Few buildings remain intact, or even recognizable as what they might once have been, but the signs of lives lived and lost in this place are everywhere, strewn about and crushed beneath the rubble.
​
cut to:
​
ext. rooftop – shan xi – day
​
A silhouetted figure (Deke) leans against a broken stone protrusion on one of these rooftops as the wind rises and the light fades.
​
He peers off into the distance as a plume of dust rises from the old road.
​
He lifts a bottle and downs a snort of whisky.
​
cut to:
​
i/e. glas’ atv – day
​
Glas maneuvers the vehicle expertly through the rubble-choked streets, and Rain sits beside him as the broken hulks of the now unrecognizable city rise before them.
​
Rain fingers the pearl ring on her finger.
​
Rain
…so you never heard from Deke?
​
Glas
Nope.
2)
​
Rain
I wonder if he’s okay.
​
Glas
Deke is never okay.
​
Glas swerves the ATV around a massive chunk of broken stone, and suddenly, they find themselves facing a gaping chasm, torn across the land and the road.
​
Glas swings the vehicle around and pulls to a stop.
​
cut to:
​
ext. ravine edge - day
​
He and Rain climb out.
​
Glas
Guess this is as far as we go.
​
He makes his way around to the back of the truck, opens it, and starts prepping the gear.
​
Rain rounds the hood and heads over to the ravine edge for a closer look.
​
She peers down into the blackness of the abyss; its bottom far out of view. Far down in its depths, a few faintly glowing wisps of spirit-smoke writhe among themselves.
​
The forms suddenly disappear en masse, like snakes diving back into their holes.
​
Rain continues to watch, to see if they return, but they appear to be gone.
​
All of a sudden, the mass of spirit smoke erupts out of the chasm wall just beneath her feet and arcs up toward her face. Instinctively, she puts up her hands to ward it off, and to her surprise as much as anyone’s, the pearl on her ring flashes brilliantly and a strange force shoves the being away.
​
Rain
Glas? Something’s here.
​
Glas turns to see Rain backing away from the ravine edge.
3)
Suddenly, the thing erupts out of the ground behind her, and before she can do a thing, shoves her hard. Her ring flashes, but she’s already off-balance - her foot slips off the edge and she screams as she tumbles into the blackness below.
​
Glas comes running.
​
Glas
Rain!
​
But it’s too late. She’s gone.
​
He peers into the darkness, cursing himself.
​
Glas
Shit.
​
A figure rises behind him.
​
He senses it. His eyes shift. He wheels around and unloads the clip into it, but the bullets just disperse the smoke for a moment before it coalesces back into its form.
1)
ext. ravine edge - day
​
Glas pulls the rocket launcher out of the back of the ATV, and turns around with it equipped.
Cutscene D031N (3 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
ext. courtyard - day
​
Glas passes between the statues, as he gets a few feet in, he hears a scream form behind him.
​
He turns to see the spirits veer away from an invisible barrier, screaming angrily.
​
The spirits stay outside the barrier and scream as they hover around outside the toad area, then fly away.
Cutscene D003N (1 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
ext. courtyard - day
​
Glas pulls the double doors open and steps through to the gloom beyond.
​
fade out.
1)
fade in:
​
ext. shan xi – day
​
From Camera D004L, pull out to reveal spirits, high overhead, running themselves repeatedly into a stone precipice on the rooftop.
​
It cracks and falls, thundering down over the threshold, blocking the door.
​
The spirits bank away and shoot off into the distance.
1)
int. vomit area – day
​
Glas steps off the bottom of the ladder and peers through the oppressive darkness. The stench down here is appalling.
​
He is barely able to make out the angles of this room, shifted unnaturally by whatever massive force tore this place apart, but through the gloom, he spots what just might be a human form, slumped in the corner.
​
Tentatively, he moves closer. The form is that of a heavyset man, and he appears to be breathing, alone among the rotting corpses.
​
Glas
Hey!
​
No response. He moves a little closer. A few flies buzz around the man’s head and the putrid stench overwhelms the hot, wet air.
​
Glas
Hey, can you hear me?
​
Without warning, the creature snaps his head up and vomits a putrid mixture of rancid innards and maggots into Glas’ face.
​
Glas stumbles backward, reeling in shock, and lands amid a pile of decomposing corpses.
​
He scrambles back to his feet, feeling his own gorge rising, but fights it back. The creature in the corner is gone.
2)
As he stands, angrily wiping the repulsive residue off his face and clothes, a fresh glob drops onto his shoulder.
​
Glas looks up, and there, just a few inches above his head, floating prone, is his attacker.
​
From this vantage, he can clearly see now that this creature has long since left the world of the living – his corpse has bloated with decay, most of his hair, along with much of his scalp, has fallen off. The eyes have rolled back, leaving only a dead gray space, and his slack, distorted mouth still foams from the attack.
​
Whatever fascination Glas might have felt at the utter vileness of this being is suddenly broken when the creature snatches at him with a distended hand.
1)
int. shan xi vomit area - day
​
Glas wipes the sweat of his forehead, relieved.
​
But behind Glas in the background, another floating corpse floats into view from above.
​
Glas senses the corpse behind him, and in a stylized motion, pulls his guns and blasts the corpse apart.
​
Glas walks a step.
​
REVERSE ANGLE ON: GLAS’ FACE, FROM CORPSE’S POV
​
Glas approaches warily.
​
Fifteen more corpses shamble in from the darkness behind him along with wisps of spirit smoke.
​
Glas wheels and fires wildly, but the corpses overwhelm him and lift him into the air as he flails about as if he is being crucified; then smoke jets into his mouth and nose.
​
SPIRIT’S POV
​
…as the spirit spirals above his outstretched body, then dives viciously into his screaming mouth.
​
fade out
1)
fade up:
​
ext. ravine floor - day
​
Rain twitches for a moment and then her eyes open.
​
From her vantage point on the ravine floor, the walls of the chasm loom above her.
​
She’s bruised and sore, but otherwise, miraculously, unharmed.
​
She struggles to her feet, painfully, and looks around.
​
Rain
Glas?
​
No answer.
​
Rain
(shouts)
Glas?
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Her voice echoes off the walls.
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Suddenly, she finds herself very conscious of everything else in this place that might be listening.
Cutscene D008N (8 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
ext. ravine, outside ruin - day
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Rain steps toward the door and stops – a few tendrils of spirit smoke writhe out from beneath it and begin to coil past her feet.
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Her ring begins to glow brightly and she notices this.
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The spirits slip past and behind her.
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She wheels just as they dive into a corpse, which stumbles to its feet, tumbles toward her, and locks her shoulders in a meaty, decomposing grip.
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She’s completely unarmed, and in a near panic, claws at the thing’s face, and as she does, the ring flashes brilliantly, sending a bolt of energy through the creature’s head, blowing it clean off.
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The lifeless, headless corpse drops hard to its knees and falls over at her feet.
1)
int. ruin - day
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A trickle of falling debris alerts Rain, and she stops and looks around, seconds before the floor gives way and she tumbles through to the level below.
Cutscene D009N (10 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
i/e. door to chasm – day
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Rain struggles to open the large metal door, but with each attempt, it budges a little bit but doesn’t open. Each time she shoves at it as well, a thin trickle of dust sifts down from somewhere above.
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As her frustration mounts, she begins to kick the door, and again, with each hit, it opens a little more and a bit more dust falls.
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After a few more kicks, frustration takes over fully and she gives it all she has – a flying jump kick straight through it.
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That does it – the door crashes open and she stumbles through into the open crevasse beyond.
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cut to:
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ext. chasm - day
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She lands on a ledge just outside the door, but the periodic sift of debris from above has grown steady now, and as she looks up, she sees to her horror that the rock face above her has begun to crumble.
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She starts to move to scramble out of its way, but it’s already too late, and just as a few tons of rock are about to slam down over her, she puts up her hands in an instinctive gesture of protection.
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It works.
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The ring flashes brilliantly once more, and a shimmering sphere pulses outward around her, vaporizing the falling rocks.
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It takes Rain a moment to realize that she hasn’t just been mashed, but after a moment, she rises out of her huddle and looks around. Aside from a few small bits of debris, the rocks have vanished.
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A massive chunk of debris spans the chasm, creating a de facto bridge. She tests it nervously with her foot. Everything falls apart around here – why should this be any exception?
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But it holds, so far at least, and she really hasn’t got a choice.
Cutscene D038N (1 extract making up the Storyboard)
1)
EXT. chasm - DAY
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Rain pulls open the door and enters.
1)
int. fire room
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Rain steps onto a precarious metal catwalk skirting the perimeter of a cavernous industrial ruin.
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Cautiously, she peers over its edge into the bottomless abyss.
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SPIRIT’S POV – FROM FAR BELOW
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We float through the depths, past looming towers of ruined machinery. Suddenly, we sweep upward, and Rain comes into view – it’s seen her.
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We streak upward toward her now with ferocious speed, and at the last second, she dives aside. We spiral around and at the door.
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cut to:
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The door slamming
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Rain rushes back and tries to haul it open, but it’s jammed shut.
1)
int. fire area
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Rain comes up short as she reaches the end of the catwalk, opening over a churning vortex of spirit stuff.
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She looks behind her, and it’s as though the gates of hell have opened up and come after her – an army of spirits and corpses.
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She looks over the edge into the vortex, then around for other options.
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Nowhere else to go, and she couldn’t possibly fight the army coming after her.
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She jumps into the flashing, churning void.
Cutscene D042N (2 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
fade in
​
int. lower feng shui
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Rain awakens on the floor of a strange room, festooned with symbols and surrounded by noisy wooden rollers displaying more symbols – the Feng Shui, from FE1.
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She looks around as she climbs back to her feet. No visible exits. Electric arcs leap occasionally between the spinning rollers.
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Five other rollers stand separate from the others, not spinning.
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A strange device stands in the center of the room.
Cutscene D012N (14 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
INT. lower feng shui
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With a wooden thunk, the six concentric rings comprising the central floor begin to rotate, slowly at first, but gaining speed.
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The electric arcs shooting across the floor grow in intensity and the buzz and crackle swells to a crescendo.
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Rain looks around nervously, but can’t see that anyplace is safer than the one she’s in, so she stays put.
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Suddenly, the center platform lurches into motion, and Rain stumbles to keep her footing, It rises away, past camera.
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cut to:
​
int. upper feng shui
​
WIDE ON the platform from above – it’s tremendous, and broken into two uneven pieces, each supported by a few of the columns we saw below.
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PUSH IN ON Rain, rising into view with her column, which locks into place with an enormous earthy boom.
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Rain regains her footing and peers around her new surroundings.
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A lonely chair, table and mirror stand at what would be the center of the platform, were it intact, about 20 feet from her present position.
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A few spirits sense her presence and dive in for an attack and she readies her ring. She manages to get a shot off, blowing one of them apart, before another one streaks in from behind with tremendous force and plunges through her back and chest.
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Her body is hurled forward like a rag-doll by the force of the unexpected hit, and she lands in a heap, unconscious or dead, near the chair.
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The impact knocks the ring from her hand, and it tumbles and rolls with a hollow sound toward the chair, where it comes to rest.
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A few spirits circle triumphantly over their new prize. The place is swarming with them.
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Fade out
Cutscene D052N (11 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
Fade up
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EXT. Shan Xi, rooftop near madam chen’s - day
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CLOSE ON DEKE as he tosses a few more pills into his mouth.
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PULL BACK as he chases them with a gulp of whiskey.
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The earth shudders suddenly (as the Feng Shui turns on), and he stumbles slightly, but he shrugs it off – probably just the shakes – another shot’ll help.
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Deke stumbles across the rooftop toward the ruined skeleton of Madam Chen’s Black Inn, expending some effort to keep everything in focus.
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From Deke’s point of view, it suddenly appears as though the brothel is back in its pristine state, as it was so many years ago. Almost. Another step – he glances away, and when he looks back, it’s back to its shattered, burned reality.
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He’s terrified, and the drugs and whisky help less and less with each step.
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He reaches the edge of the rooftop a block away from the Inn and peers down at the alley below. It sways precariously in his view, but he keeps his balance and clambers down a fire escape toward the alleyway.
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cut to:
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ext. Beneath the fire escape - day
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Deke drops from the rickety cast-iron fire escape to the alley fifteen feet below.
As he lands hard and stands back up straight, a few of the scattered corpses behind him groan and begin to crawl to their feet.
Cutscene D039N (1 extract making up the Storyboard)
1)
ext. outside ballroom - day
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Deke pulls the Banquet Hall doors open and enters.
Cutscene D050N (8 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
int. ballroom - day
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Deke steps inside and closes the door behind him.
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He doesn’t want any more of those things following him, so he grabs a folded wooden chair leaning against a nearby column and wedges it against the door.
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Deke
That oughta holdem out.
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He steps back, satisfied.
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As he watches, however, the column from which he just took the chair begins to shift, then with a tremendous stony crash, the whole thing comes down and lands in a pile of dust and rubble against the door.
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The other column, weakened by the impact, now shifts and crashes over the first, damn near burying the door.
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Deke just watches the whole thing, helpless to stop it. Then…
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Deke
Now that’s Australian for doorstop.
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He turns from the mound of rubble that was once a door just in time to see a few spirits and corpses pass through several small holes in the outer wall. Probably investigating the noise.
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Each separates from the others and streaks toward one of the smorgasbord of corpses strewn about the room.
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Deke watches this all unfold, arms hanging by his side in a sort of ‘why does this always happen to me’ pose of resignation.
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The corpses begin to struggle to their feet.
​
Deke
Bloody hell.
Cutscene D013N (9 extracts making up the Storyboard)
1)
int. ballroom – day
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Deke stands, looking around for more, pretty pleased with himself, and maybe a little surprised that he’s still alive.
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Deke
Pansies.
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Glas comes out to the edge of the balcony overhead, from an open door opposite the spirit threshold. Deke sees him up there.
​
Deke
Ya missed all the fun, mate!
​
Glas stares straight through Deke, but something’s clearly wrong.
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Deke
S’matter ya donger? Y’been drinkin’ with the flies again?
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Glas’ answer comes without warning as he suddenly pukes a black stream of energy at him.
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Deke dives out of the way.
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He stands back up, pissed.
1)
Deke
Hey! It’s me, mate!
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Glas gears up for another shot.
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Deke
(to himself)
Gotta stop mixin’ me booze an’ bennies.
​
Deke dodges another blast, a little more adroitly, now that he knows it’s coming.
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Glas now begins to float from the balcony down toward the floor, a feat which Deke observes with some concern.
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Deke
Don’t remember you bein’ so light on yer feet, mate.
​
Glas floats a little closer, and this is about as close as Deke wants to get.
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Deke
(to himself)
Aright, screw this twinkletoes crap – I’m outta here.
Deke opens the door and runs out.