The Aleph: Scene 2 Breakdown
Part 2 of my Storyboarding and Exploration into The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges.
In this part, I drew the opening paragraph, focusing on the tone/atmosphere and the mental state of the main character.
Board 1: "Tired of his inane words, I quickly made my way. The cellar, barely wider than the stairway itself, was something of a pit. My eyes searched the dark, looking in vain for the globe Carlos Argentino had spoken of."
Board 2: "I went through with his absurd requirements, and at last he went away. The trapdoor was carefully shut. The blackness, in spite of a chink that I later made out, seemed to me absolute."
Board 3: " I felt a shock of panic, which I tried to pin to my uncomfortable position and not to the effect of a drug. I shut my eyes — I opened them. Then I saw the Aleph."
Board 4: "On the back part of the step, toward the right, I saw a small iridescent sphere of almost unbearable brilliance."
Board 5: "... one Persian speaks of a bird that somehow is all birds; Alanus de Insulis, of a sphere whose center is everywhere and circumference is nowhere; Ezekiel, of a four-faced angel who at one and the same time moves east and west, north and south."
Board 6: For this I have no quote as the animation is only meant as symbolization of what is seen in the Aleph, not what is actually seen.
Scene 2 Board 1: The stairway down into the basement. This is where the Aleph can be seen.
Scene 2 Board 2: The main character is leaning under the stairs to get in position to see the Aleph
Scene 2 Board 3: He is now laying under the stairs where he starts to see a light.
Scene 2 Board 4: He looks at the steps where there is a very bright sphere coming from the 19th step.
Scene 2 Board 5: This is the Aleph based on the description in the story.
Scene 2 Board 6: This is a representational depiction of the main character looking into the Aleph and seeing the entire universe.