Découpage

In the following pages I will analyse the sequence of the killing of Sara and Carlo. The beginning of this sequence, from a narrative point of view, is previous to the point in which the analysis begins (it could be when Sara arrives by taxi in front of her house). It has been chosen, instead, as the first shot the master of the hallway of Sara's flat, the location in which all the rest of the sequence is set.

Note. A.S. = American Shot (all the human figure, from the head to the knees); W.F. = Whole Figure (from the head to the feet); M.S. = Medium Shot (the human figure occupies about 1/3 or 2/3 of the screen); L.S. = Long Shot (the human figures almost disappear in the ambient); C.U. = Close Up; V.C.U. = Very Close Up; TOT = Total (a shot embracing the place of the action and the characters).

Shot Visual Track Soundtrack
No. LengthCamera movements Characters' movements Elements on the scene Notes on the lighting Dialogue (voices) Noises Music
011M.S., fixed, horizontalHallway of Sara’s flat, with red light, and a part of the living room, with blue light. ///
027"H.F., l-r trav. Ending with a short forward trav., horizontalLiving room; Sara enters first, from the left, then the camera follows Carlo, entering after and going to the couch.Carlo: “What do you do, Sara? Do you study or work?”
Sara (o.s.): “I study music”
Steps/
033"M.F., fixed, horizontalSara, giving her back to the camera, going to the turntable.Sara: “And what do you do?”
Carlo (o.s.): “I’m a journalist”
Steps/
041"A.P., fixed, horizontalCarlo, standing in front of the couch, talking to Sara, off screen, at his left.Carlo: “Television sport reports”//
053"A.P., fixed, horizontalSara is bent towards the turntable, then, when she talks, turns to Carlo, off screen, at her left.Sara: “Can I ask you something weird?”//
062"Like 04Like 04Carlo: “How weird?”//
073"Like 05Sara talks to Carlo, o.s., turned to her left.Sara: “Have you ever heard about the three sisters?”//
082"Like 04Like 04Carlo: “You mean those black singers?”
Sara (o.s.): “No…”
//
094"Like 07Like 07Sara: “I mean that ancient myth, the Triad”
Carlo: “No, wait…”
//
103"Like 04Like 04Carlo: “… if you’re talking of ghosts or stuff, I’m sorry, but I don’t believe in those things”//
113"Like 07Like 07, then Sara bends towards the turntable behind her.Sara: “How can you be so sure?”
Carlo (o.s.): “I don’t believe in them, I don’t and that’s all”
//
123"Like 07Like 04Carlo: "Without any philosophical arguing"//
132"Like 07Sara stays up for a second to talk with Carlo, then she bends down picking the turntable's arm. Sara: "So, what do you believe in?"//
145"Like 04Carlo stands, then, after he speaks, sits on the couch. Carlo: "In everything I can see… and touch (little laugh)"Noise of Carlo sitting on the couch/
1534"A.P., fixed, then short pan to the left, horiz.; at the end we have a H.F.Like 07: Sara looks at Carlo (o.s.), then turns to the turntable and put the arm on the record. When the music begins she stands up and goes a bit forward, talking to Carlo (o.s.) at her left. When she finishes to talk, bends her head downward to her left and then turns it slowly till she sees upward to her right. Sara: "You probably know this music: it is Verdi's Va' pensiero".StepsVerdi's Va' pensiero begins (intradiegetic music), that will last till the end of the sequence
165"Master, fixed, slightly from belowThe window of the living room, with the full moon covered by the clouds.//First strings forte
175"Like 16A part of the window, the sky and the moon, without clouds..//Second strings forte
185"Like 16Only the moon. //Third strings forte
1916"H.F., short pan left-right, then forward zoom to a C.U., horizontalSara enters from the left, then sits on the bed in her room, takes the telephone and dials a number; then she takes the letter (not seen) from behind her back.Sara (at the phone): "Is it you, Mark? Here I have your sister's letter you forgot in the academy"Noise of Sara sitting on her bed; noise of free line of the phone; noise of the dial; rustle of the letter.The Va' pensiero continues, some measures before the entrance of the choir
202"M.S., fixed, horizontalBetween Sara’s bedroom opened door and part of the wall it is visible the living room: Carlo is on a couch, skimming through a newspaper: at the end he turns to the camera. Sara (at the phone, o.s.): “Listen, have you read it?”/Enters the choir of Va’ pensiero.
215"Like 19Sara on her bed, talking at the phone.Sara (at the phone): “You must read it, it’s important! Come here now, please. I need to speak with you!”/The choir continues
229"Detail, fixed, slightly from aboveA pair of black gloved hand pull a row of little black paper men, then, starts to cut the head of one of them using a pair of scissors. //Like 21
232"Detail, forward zoom, slightly from aboveA lizard that keeps in its mouth a white butterfly, still moving. //Like 21
241"Like 22The gloved hands cut the second paper head./ /Like 21
252"A.P., slight forward zoom, from aboveA hanged woman violently swings, with her eyes and mouth open. / /Like 21
261"Like 22The gloved hands cut the last two paper heads./ /Like 21
273"Master, forward zoom, horizontalSara’s building, taken from outside, then the central window. //Like 21
285"H.F., fixed, horizontalSara listens to the music sitting on her bed. The light goes away (blue lighting) and the music stops: Sara looks to her left, then to the right, to the lamp. Finally the light and the music are back on. //The choir continues: when the light goes away, the music stops.
291"Detail., fixed, horizontalThe lights goes away in the hallway. / //
302"Like 01as 29; light. as 28; / /as 28
313"C.U., fixed, horizontalCarlo, sitting in the dark, slowly turns to the camera.// /
322"Detail., fixed, horizontalThe lamp turns on, then off, then on again. //Like 28
333"Like 28Sara sits on her bed: the light and the music turn on and off for three times. Then she speaks to Carlo, o.s., to her left. Sara: “What’s happening?”/Like 28
342"Like 20Between the bedroom door and the wall it is visible the living room and Carlo sitting on the couch. The lights turn on. Carlo: “I don’t know. Maybe a loss…” /Like 28
355"Like 28Sara is sitting on her bed, looking to the right and the left. The light goes away and she screams, to her left, towards Carlo, o.s. Carlo (o.s.): “…of tension” Sara: “Carlo!” Carlo (o.s.): “Yes” /Like 28
363"H.F., fixed, horizontalSara sits on her bed: the light and the music turn on and off for three times. Then she speaks to Carlo, o.s., to her left. Sara: “What’s happening?” /Like 28
373"Like 28The lights are on again: Sara is sitting on her bed, talking to her left. Then the lights go away another time. Sara: “It’s in the cellar, over there, at the end of the hallway…” /Like 28
3812"Like 36; then short dolly upward, lateral trav. left-right, and following trav.Carlo is sitting on the couch, in the dark; then he stands up, the light and the music come back and he goes from the coach to the hallway at his left. Then again the lights go away. Sara (o.s.): “…but please, don’t go there!” Carlo: “Don’t worry, I just want to check the switches” Sara (o.s.): “Ok, but keep talking to me, let me always know where you are!” Carlo: “All right” StepsLike 28
3915"TOT, forward trav., horizontalSubjective of Carlo, who goes on through the hallway, in the darkness. / //
405"Like 28Sara is sitting on her bed, in the darkness. Sara (panting): “Carlo? Carlo, where are you?” //
412"Master, fixed, horizontalThe dark hallway. Carlo (o.s.): “In the cellar, I’ve found the switches” //
425"Like 28, then short upward dolly.Sara is sitting on her bed; then she stands up and goes leftward off screen Sara: “Wait, I’m coming, I’m frightened” Steps/
432"A.P., pan right-left, horizontalSara strides through the living room and hits something that falls on the floor breaking in pieces. She turns to see what happened. Sara: “Ah!” Steps; noise of broken glasses/
441"Detail., fixed, from abovePieces of glass on the carpet. / //
451"Detail., fixed, from abovePieces of glass on the carpet. ///
469"M.F., following hand camera, horizontalSara rapidly walks through the hallway, which initially is in the darkness, heading to the door at the end of it. She often looks back. The light and the music come and go for three times. At the end, with both the light and the music on, Sara enters the cellar door. Sara: “Carlo? My God, Carlo? Carlo, what’s happening?” Carlo (o.s.): “Nothing, I guess I’ve fixed it”StepsLike 28
475"M.F., preceding hand camera, slightly from aboveSara goes through the door and makes some step, looking inside the dark cellar with a worried expression.Carlo (o.s.): “You see?”/The choir of Va’ pensiero continues
483"C.U., fixed, horizontalCarlo pops out from the left: he kneels down, with a knife in his neck.//Like 47
491"H.F., fixed, horizontalSara looks at Carlo with horror.//Like 47
504"C.U., very short forward trav. , horizontalCarlo opens his mouth: a rill of blood comes out. Then he bends forward, to the camera./Sara’s screamsLike 47
512"Like 49Carlo grips on Sara dragging her on the floor. /Sara’s screamsLike 47
522"C.U., fixed, from aboveSara tries to free form Carlo’s grip: his hands are on her shoulders. /Sara’s screamsLike 47
531"C.U., fixed, from belowGushes of blood come out of Carlo’s mouth. /Sara’s screams and Carlo’s gurglingLike 47
541"Like 52Like 52/Like 53Like 47
551"Like 53Like 53 /Like 53Like 47
564"F.F., fixed, from aboveCarlo is on Sara, who tries to escape. /Like 53Like 47
571" C.U., fixed, horizontal Carlo is agonising on Sara./ Like 53Like 47
582"C.U., fixed, slightly from aboveCarlo’s hands, covered with blood, touch Sara’s face. /Like 53Like 47
591"Like 57Carlo is almost dying, and he looks up to his left./Like 53Like 47
601"Like 58Sara keeps wriggling./Sara’s screamsLike 47
611"Detail., fixed, horizontalA gloved hand comes out from a curtain./Like 60Like 47
627"Like 56Sara keeps wriggling, trying to turn and to get on her hands and knees twice./Like 60Like 47
631"Like 57Carlo is agonising./Like 60Like 47
643"C.U., fixed, slightly from aboveSara is free and she looks back./Sara’s groansLike 47
651"C.U., fixed, horizontalA black gloved hand takes the knife still thrust in Carlo’s neck./Carlo’s groansLike 47
661"Detail., fixed, horizontalThe hand abruptly extracts the knife and goes off screen on the right./Carlo’s screamsLike 47
671"Detail., fixed, horizontalThe knife covered with blood enters the screen from the right.//Like 47
681"Like 66Carlo, with his mouth wide open, turns his glance up to his left./Sara’s groansLike 47
691"Like 67The knife goes off screen to the right./Sara’s groansLike 47
701"V.C.U., fixed, horiz.Carlo is with his mouth open, turned to his left./Sara’s groansLike 47
712"C.U., fixed, horizontalSara is seen on three-quarter, from behind./Sara’s groansLike 47
721"C.U., hand camera with slight movement downward and leftward, from aboveCarlo falls on the floor./Sara’s groansLike 47
731"

C.U., fixed, horizontal

Sara hardly stands up: her face goes off screen to the left./Sara’s groansLike 47
741"Detail., fixed, horizontalSara is almost standing up, when the knife enters the screen from the right and penetrates in the lower part of Sara’s back. This hit pushes Sara forward and her body goes off screen to the left./Sara’s screamsLike 47
752"C.U., fixed, horizontalSara opens her mouth for the pain and bends forward, till she goes off screen down on the left./Sara’s screamsLike 47
7612"H.F., fixed, slightly from aboveSara, flat out, tries to extract the knife from her back, with no success./Sara’s groansLike 47
771"C.U., fixed, slightly from aboveCarlo is dead on the floor./Sara’s groansLike 47
782"Detail., fixed, horizontalThe gloved hand closes a door.//Like 47

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