This story — inspired by the incredibly cinematic and excellently composed third full length by Ukrainian black metal band White Ward, entitled False Light — begins where the preceding chapter concluded:
GUNSHOT, ABRUPT CUT IN:
[Cue “Leviathan”]
1. WIDE PROFILE SHOT – MADAM X‘S OFFICE, ALL CHARACTERS IN HIGH CONTRAST SHADOW
Kensington on the far left of frame, Madam X on the far right. A single bullet penetrates Kensington‘s skull. In slow motion, blood spatter flies through the air, and Kensington lifts off the ground. Smoke wafts from the barrel of Madam X‘s revolver.
2. ABRUPT CUT TO CLOSE SHOT – MADAM X‘S FACE IN CENTER FRAME, INSIDE MOVING VEHICLE
A violent explosion of guitars bursts from “Leviathan.” Madam X races away from White Ward Agency HQ in her car. Her knuckles whiten as a sheen of cold sweat covers her face.
3. HELICOPTER SHOT – FOLLOWING MADAM X‘s CAR
as she weaves recklessly in and out of city traffic, rain pouring and thunder pealing. “Leviathan” speeds up tempo and comes close to flying off the rails entirely as the car makes increasingly dangerous maneuvers.
4. MEDIUM SHOT – MADAM X‘S HOUSE
Emotional leads bloom from the song as Madam X flies out of the car. Steel, Madam X‘s loving and loyal husband, attempts to greet her on the way in but to his bewilderment, she tries to shove him aside in her rush.
5. MEDIUM SHOT – FOYER OF THE HOUSE
Steel manages to catch Madam X just as “Leviathan” cools down into a gentle, saxophone-led segment. She resists for a brief second before melting into a tender embrace. She pulls back to speak, but we cannot hear what is said. Steel’s expression eventually shifts from utter confusion into troubled understanding.
6. MEDIUM SHOT – FACING OUTSIDE THE HOUSE
Madam X and Steel enter frame from behind. She gets in the car as he hefts her bags in the back. Guitars return in a immensely emotional midtempo burst, telegraphing a wave of desperation from Steel as he makes one final emphatic cry out, hoping to stop the car. But it’s too late…
7. ABRUPT CUT INTO CLOSE SHOT – KENSINGTON‘S BODY, SPRAWLED ON MADAM X‘S OFFICE FLOOR
“Leviathan” pivots to a shockingly menacing advance, pummeling blasts and violent swirling guitars taking the spotlight. At that same moment, Kensington‘s eyes snap open. The camera slowly pans away towards the ceiling as paramedics crowd the frame, load Kensington onto a stretcher, and cart him away.
FADE OUT
[Cue “Salt Paradise”]
FADE IN:
8. CLOSE SHOT, KENSINGTON, LAYING IN A HOSPITAL BED, COVERED IN BANDAGES
Kensington, asleep, breathes in shallow, weak breaths. The somber number playing during this segment signals a dark, hypnotic ambience, using chanting clean vocals and stripped down instrumentation to evoke underlying turmoil.
9. HOSPITAL SCENE MORPHS INTO DREAM SEQUENCE
Kensington finds himself stranded in a field of wheat. “Salt Paradise” continues its hypnotic dirge, as the somewhat monotonous vocal delivery seems to guide Kensington, leading him to a lone house found in a clearing, derelict and long abandoned.
He enters the clearing, and stops short. Madam X is standing right in front of him, several yards away.
10. ABRUPT CUT TO CLOSE SHOT, MADAM X, ASLEEP IN A MOTEL BED
The song fades out, and we are left in silence. After a brief pause, Madam X‘s eyes flutter open.
FADE OUT
[Cue “Phoenix”]
FADE IN:
11. WIDE SHOT – THE HOSPITAL
Slow fade as “Phoenix” evokes an ominous musical foreshadowing of imminent danger. There are remnants of snow on the ground, the accumulation already erased by spring’s first melt. Drums drops in, signaling a cut into the hospital’s halls. A particularly sharp crash of the cymbals ushers another cut into Kensington‘s room. His bandages are gone but an ugly scar mars his face. He wakes, filled with unhinged determination, and rips out his IVs. An energetic saxophone blares into existence, motivating Kensington to get up.
12. MULTIPLE SHOTS – FOLLOWING KENSINGTON
With “Phoenix” having entered an especially animated, furious passage, we follow Kensington as he bolts out of the hospital into town. He weaves in and out of pedestrian traffic, recklessly knocking down whatever impedes his progress. Before long, he’s returned to White Ward Agency.
Once inside, Kensington pauses. The music calms slightly, accompanied in short order by a lonely saxophone. “Phoenix” resumes a more militant pace as Kensington moves to grab his revolver and some clothes.
13. CLOSE SHOT – FACING THE EMPTY DRIVER’S SEAT OF KENSINGTON‘S CAR
The music dies as an introspective saxophone bellows a calm, relaxed tune. Kensington swings into the frame from the right, resting briefly. Taking a deep breath, Kensington turns the key as the engine roars to life and “Phoenix” launches into a fiery burst of unrelenting intensity. He drives hard and fast until reaching a road bookended by fields, riding into the horizon.
FADE OUT
[Cue “Silence Circles”]
FADE IN:
14. CLOSE SHOT, MADAM X DRIVING IN HER CAR
Madam X looks quite worse for wear. The music’s sampling of what sounds like a domestic disturbance mirrors the distraught expression on Madam X‘s face. In her periphery, she catches a sight she can’t believe is real, and abruptly screeches to a halt. Slowly backing up, she looks outside the passenger window. It’s the same house from her nightmare, nestled inside an isolated clearing.
15. MEDIUM SHOT, FOLLOWING MADAM X INSIDE THE HOUSE
This house has history, bearing countless scars inside. Her imagination runs numerous hypotheticals — supported by more of the soundtrack’s harrowing samples and doom-laden riffs — depicting visions of abuse and violence as she looks upon deep gashes in walls and doors; chips in the edges of counters and doorframes; and faded family photos totally devoid of even one smiling face.
[Cue “Echoes in Eternity”]
Madam X snaps out of her reverie. She can’t drive any further with any hope that she’ll find another place to hide. This horrid house will do.
FADE OUT
[Cue “Cronus”]
FADE IN:
16-19. MULTIPLE SHOTS – ALTERNATING BETWEEN MADAM X LIVING OUT THE WINTER IN THE ABANDONED HOUSE AND KENSINGTON‘S TRAVELS
Gothic clean vocals and clever cymbal patterns in the music offer a cool, structured accompaniment for this scene as Madam X adapts to life isolated in a structure no longer capable of providing adequate shelter from the elements.
“Cronus” shifts into decidedly vicious black metal as we cut to Kensington, struggling to keep his composure as he drives a seemingly endless road between two endless fields. He becomes increasingly agitated and sick with each passing mile.
Cut back to Madam X in the house. Time has passed. Paranoia has set in deeply, as she becomes increasingly convinced that the police are seconds away from discovering her. “Cronus” becomes increasingly sinister in tone and heavy in execution as Madam X sits in darkness, gun in hand, trained at the front door.
FADE OUT
[Cue “False Light”]
ABRUPT CUT IN
20. WIDE SHOT – FACING THE HOUSE FROM OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE MAIN ROAD
Kensington‘s car drives across the frame from left to right, squealing to a stop just after the turnoff. Tire smoke starts to clear up before he slowly backs up.
Cut to a close up of Kensington‘s face, as he looks towards the house from his dream. His skin appears sallow, eyes gaunt.
21. CLOSE UP – MADAM X, INSIDE THE HOUSE
Madam X hears a car approach. There’s no doubt in her mind that the cops have finally found her. The music enters an aggressive, rapid pace evoking a sense of urgency. Madam X quickly prepares for a confrontation. She hears footsteps, but they are strange. Staggered, weak, shuffling. Something isn’t right…
22. MEDIUM SHOT – FOLLOWING KENSINGTON AS HE ENTERS THE HOUSE
“False Light” enters a cool, eerily quiet jazzy passage as Kensington enters the house. The music then combusts in a vicious flare of tremolos and blasts as Kensington starts tearing apart the house. Growing increasingly aggressive and frustrated, he lets out a bloodcurdling scream.
23. MEDIUM SHOT – FOLLOWING MADAM X
Madam X hears insane screeching, and becomes more fearful than ever for her life. She has to escape, now. She eyes one of the windows on the side wall. This window outlets to the lower level rooftop, an easily managed leap. A reflection of her escape plan coming together, the music introduces a marching, confident beat, alternating between smooth saxophone solos and emotive guitar leads.
24. CLOSE UP – BEHIND KENSINGTON
Kensington hears commotion from above, and whips around to intercept.
25. WIDE SHOT – OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, FACING THE FRONT DOOR
Madam X throws herself out of the side window and leaps to the ground from the lower level rooftop, sprinting for the fields out of frame left. Kensington bursts out of the house through the front door, searching wildly for a moment before veering in a similar direction.
26. CLOSE SHOT – AHEAD OF MADAM X, FACING HER AS SHE FOLLOWS THE CAMERA
Madam X runs through the fields. “False Light” nimbly segues into delicate croons and buttery saxophone melodies backed by marching drums, mirroring the trained delicacy and discipline of Madam X‘s movements. Deducing from Kensington‘s frustrated roars that he’s struggling to make sense of her trail, Madam X carefully makes her way back out of the field. The music shifts to a more lively, double-bass-led passage as she reappears near the house.
28. MEDIUM SHOT – OUTSIDE, SIDE OF THE HOUSE
Madam X turns the corner and enters the scene, falling flat on the ground in a kick of dust. She frantically gets up to make it to her car, but upon facing the camera she stops dead in her tracks.
29. WIDE SHOT – KENSINGTON, BACKED BY A FIELD OF TALL WHEAT GRASS, GUN TRAINED ON THE CAMERA
30. CLOSE SHOT – MADAM X, EYES WIDE WITH DISBELIEF AND HORROR
31. SUPER CLOSE SHOT – KENSINGTON, SMIRKING DEVILISHLY AS HIS EYES SHARPEN
32. SUPER CLOSE SHOT – MADAM X, ONLY HER EYES IN THE FRAME
GUNSHOT, ECHOING LOUDLY
The music starts to fade, replaced by somber organs and faraway chanting. In slow motion, Madam X‘s eyes dilate and drift slowly upwards, all life draining away. A trickle of blood drips down her forehead and the bridge of her nose.
CUT TO BLACK
END
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Labels: Debemur Morti Productions
Websites: whiteward.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/whitewardofficial
Releases Worldwide: June 17th, 2022
