Reverse Storyboard and Film Analysis: Satoshi Kon's Paprika (2006)

Paprika (2006) Shot Analysis:

Satoshi Kon’s Paprika is a 2006 animated Japanese Science-Fiction film featuring set in the universe in near future that has an advanced technology called DC mini. A DC mini device allows psychotherapists to enter the patient’s subconscious and dreams. The plot involves the theft of DC Mini and the villain’s misuse of it, making the dream world of patients to collide and intertwine with the real world, leading to chaos. Many featured films produced by Satoshi Kon’s have the reputation for their thoughtful shots, each planned with specific purpose and astatically beautiful sceneries. Paprika is one of these films; each shots were planned with precisions to flow cohesively without struggling from one to another and convey powerful emotions and moods. In this specific scene, the main protagonist, Doctor Atsuko Shiba, alongside with her partner, Doctor Kusaku Tokita were trying to find out who is behind the incidence. The scene takes place in Dr. Toki’s close friend, Dr. Himuru, who they suspect to be the thief behind the incidence.

The room’s darkness, mess, and lack saturation, contrasts to the colorful toys that scatter all across the room. This reflects the inhabitant’s personality and symbolizes the latter’s innocence and conflict in a way. However, as the two protagonists explore deeper in the room, the toys and the room’s ambient shifts their hue into cool colors, contrasting with the protagonists’ warmly lit figure. This is also a great use of a film technique that warmer colors especially orange normally associates with lives, warm flesh, and something we as humans-beings can relate to, as it corresponds to our skin color. The cooler colors such as blue, on the otherhand, consciously give us certain uneasy feelings as it is something inhuman, dead, and cold (as human flesh turns more blue when we die). With this, the audiences get the certain amount of stress and tension as the protagonist explores deep into enemy’s territory. There are also other elements that further enhance this feeling, such as objects with sharp edges and shots that objects confine the characters in limited space, giving us the fear of claustrophobia (especially the part that is chosen for reverse storyboard).

This shot of the bedroom, for example has a natural arrow (the leading lines and the light) dragging our attention towards the balcony, which the protagonist will fall from, in a few moments after.

There are also a lot of thriller elements in this scene. As Dr. Shiba lifts the picture of a little girl up from the end table, the camera cuts to her point of view and the little girl in the picture frame is revealed to have Dr. Himuru, the room’s owner’s face. This tells the audience that this particular scene is not taking place in the realm of reality, that this takes place in DC Mini, as it is almost impossible for an adult male to have a body of a four-year-old girl. The Reverse cymbal sound effect was used in the reveal to astonish the audience, we then get to see that this little girl in the picture actually is a tangible living person, as she appears behind Dr. Shiba. This scene has a very good use of rule of third in an animated cut.