I firstly looked at the short film 'Honorbound' which has a Scandinavian and viking theme to the entire plot, including a dark shaman which is very mystical and fits nicely with my chosen genre.
The first shot sets the scene, giving the audience a voiceover from the point of view of the protagonist and narrator. The dark beginning has the audience curious as to what is going on and is also mildly sinister and creepy when the camera finally shows the narrator's face with blank black eyes. The close ups of the the candles suggest an escape from darkness which could hint to the narrator's suffering after the events that follow in his account of the mysterious traveller and the shots of tomes that the narrator is flicking through makes the audience understand that he is searching for something.
The second shot introduces us as the audience to the figure mentioned in the introduction but also to the narrator in their youth. This helps the audience establish who the protagonist is and makes them feel like they are part of the journey with the protagonist. The wide shot of snow and mountains also sets the scene for where the film is set in a Scandinavian inspired country.
The third shot is part of a sequence of multiple shots portraying the protagonist travelling with a cloaked figure which further sets the scene for the film. The figure remains a mystery even though we as the audience are made to realise that he is significant. This also makes the audience become part of the action, travelling with the protagonist and sharing the same feelings towards the cloaked figure.
In the fourth shot we finally see the face of the cloaked figure, although his eyes are still obscured by his hood. This is something of interest for the audience as they - alike to the protagonist - learn about the cloaked figure's past as being part of a fading society of people. The close up shot of the cloaked figure focuses the action as the figure is placed under a spell and the audience is made to wonder how both characters will escape the danger.
In the fifth shot the audience is introduced to the antagonist of the film: a dark shaman who is set on killing the cloaked figure. The close up of the shaman introduces their role as an antagonist and directs the audiences fear towards him as the camera is positioned to face up at the antagonist as though they are smaller and belittled by him.
The sixth shot introduces the antagonist's weapon of choice after the audience have already witnessed his dark magic. The close up of the morningstar (his spiky weapon on a chain) that is dripping with blood emphasises on the impending threat on both the cloaked figure and the narrator. It also isolates the action as to slow down the pace of the fight sequence and seems to drown out everything else as the audience solely focus on what the antagonist will do next.
In the seventh shot the incident with the antagonist has been resolved and the cloaked figure, now freed from the antagonist's control, promises to help cure the narrator. The close up of the figure pledging to come back with a cure for the narrator (who has just saved his life) emphasises on the truth of his words and also makes the reader realise the importance of this moment in the film.
The eighth shot returns to the narrator sitting amongst his tomes in the darkness and surrounded by candles. The use of a ken-burns shot slowly zooming out from the narrator's desk adds to the mystery and slight creepiness to the elderly character with the black eyes as well as emphasising how truly isolated the character is. Until in the ninth shot when the audience are shown the cloaked figure trudging wearily through the snow towards the old cabin where the narrator resides. The shot similarly zooms out which makes the audience aware that all has been resolved and that it is the end of the film when all fades to black.
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