Life is hard for artists who want to make art in corporal space. Anno learned that the hard way, because the last two episodes of the show reminds to be an interesting chapter of the anime business, and as far this generation is concerned, it will be seen as an huge exception to the rule of storytelling instead of being viewed as a wild experiment done by people who stuck with their fearless impulses; it broke so many unwritten rules on how you should structure a story, especially for a television audience, it caused (understandably) a big uproar that has rarely been repeated, its origins is still a big hurdle to pass in order to figure out the mindset of the studio at the time, and the content itself is still debated to this day, with nobody having an conclusive conclusion on how every single element of the episode could match to ideas everyone could agree with.
This post will not change any of that. Instead, being influenced by what the Disney artists did back in the mid 30s, what I want to do to figure out something I always wanted to know that somewhat differs to what I said: How did they construct it? The demand these episodes needed were a tall order for the studio to fill, and I know they didn't shoot around causal ideas and hope for the best. Also, speaking as a viewer myself, I don't intensely hate either episodes, and although I consider End of Evangelion to be one of the few things to come out of the business in the 90s that's worth serious examination over, there's still something fascinating about studying these episodes that I don't think the movie touch upon at such a length of time. In other words, I always thought it was an adequate way to the end to show, and I want to find out on why I think that.
Right now though, all I could muster up was some notes on the first minute or so of the 25th episode. Looking back on it, I already see motifs, but I'll save those comments until I see the whole episode again. If you guys want more, I'll be happy to comply. Heck, if you want me to do more episodes, I would love to set that up. If not, eh, I'm fine with this thread biting the dust. Until then, here's what I observed while watching that previously mentioned minute...
KEEP IN MIND: I watched the English dub while I wrote it. If the Japanese script differ from the dub script, someone please alert me.
SPOILER: Show
VISUALS ASPECTS
SCENE 1
-Starts off with text.
-Cuts to new text.
-Another cut to more text.
-SHOT of 01 holding Kaworu, from EPISODE 24. ODE TO JOY starts playing,
and will continue to do so unless I say so.
-CUT to a close up of Kaworu, presumably in the same room of last cut,
with Lilim with slanted eyes, implying anger, behind him.
-CUT to TEXT
-CUT to Shinji starting down with a mixture of sadness and anger on his
face.
-TEXT
-CUT to BLACK. You hear Kaworu being squashed by 01.
-TEXT pop in after that sound stops.
-CUT to Kaworu head falling down to...orange liquid. LCL perhaps?
-FADE to white.
-CUT to text.
-Another CUT to text, but the text is now black with a white background
this time.
-CUT to black, then FADES IN to 01's hand, with some blood on it,
mostly on the figertips with some on the palm (not inside palm though, behind it). The image is from the opening (but from the cutting of the episode, there's a strong hint in the show that it happened hours after the "Ode to Joy" scene), so it's unknown (as of right now) if they intended to use that image sometime in the future.
This could imply that NERV is washing up the unit after the "Ode to Joy"
episode, since the blood of Kaworu is now all over its' hand.
-CUT to text.
-CUT to a facial expression of Shinji. There is a mixture of fear and
terror in his eyes, since it's twitching, but his eyebrows are
positioned like a person going mad on something trivial, but personal.
NOTE: This shot PANS AWAY from Shinji.
-CUT to BLACK Text.
-CUT to Shinji. He now positions his head downward, and his hands are
now around his cranium. Is he sitting, perhaps? Either way, it's
implying that he is now scared of something, and he know doesn't want
to share it. SOME BLACK BACKGROUND can be seen.
Could he respond to the text?
-CUT to BLACK text.
-CUT to Shinji sitting on a chair, in the same position he was in the shot
before the Black text. It confirms that he IS sitting on a chair, but for
some reason, there is nothing but a black surrounding and an iris
underneath him, with psychedelic colors (red on the side, purple in the
middle). There is more BLACK BACKGROUND around him.
There is no explanation on why he is sitting in this environment.
-CUT to BLACK text.
-CUT BACK to Shinji, in the same position, but he now moves forward,
implying that the text said something that makes him uneasy to say.
-CUT to BLACK text.
-CUT BACK to Shinji. There is now a close up, where Shinji now moves
downward with no hands on his cranium. The CAMERA ANGLE is on his right,
so he is moving his head leftward.It is unknown if this happens
later, or is just another way of showing Shinji's discomfort of the
material he is hearing. HE WILL BE IN THIS BACKGROUND FOR NOW.
-CUT to WHITE text.
-CUT back to Shinji. Same action as the last cut to Shinji, only
this time the CAMERA ANGLE is on his left, so he now moves downward from
the right; mathematical symmetry if you will.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT to Shinji. We, the audience, are now starting right at him, and
Shinji is still in a state of discomfort, but this time his face moves
around. In the first "HE WASN'T!," he THURTS his head down before saying
it, says it again, then moves his head up. On the thirid "HE WASN'T,"
he THURTS the head again.
-CUT to Shinji bending his upper torso, and head, to his hands
on the chair. There is nothing in between this shot and the last shot
to link them, so Shinji is now in a uncomfortable position for some reason.
CAMERA ANGLE: The audience is seeing Shinji from a Southwest perspective
from the viewer's eyes, just as you're standing there. The Iris is still
above Shinji, but it is now wider, but this might be because of the
perspective, not for any artistic decisions.
Rei FADES IN from the opposite direction of Shinji. She is looking down
on him, but no emotions can be seen, so it's unknown on what she thinks
from a visual standpoint.
Shinji THENS shakes his head no (again, because of discomfort)
after Rei says "Even though he was as human as be?", responding with
"No, he was an Angel!"
-CUT to a close up to Rei. She is looking Southeast at Shinji and has her
eyebrows positioned with a mixture of anger and impatience.
Her perspective only makes he seen from her left shoulder, so
the audience is looking at her left half. Her eyes are
half seen, so she's probably calmly scowling him.
Possible reuse from an earlier episode. 17? 18?
-CUT BACK to Shinji in his last position.
CAMERA ANGLE: He is now seen in this position UPWARDS, but not in a bird's
eye perspective, so the iris is now LARGER than he is, but the iris
hasn't taken control of the background just yet. Picture it like you're
seeing down to Shinji from the right (after taking a few small steps).
-CUT BACK to Rei. No changes.
-CUT BACK to Shinji. Same position, same drawing, but things are ZOOMED
in a little bit.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT to Shinji. Still in the same position, but this time, you are now
seeing him right in front of you, but Shiji now takes up the majority of
the screen. He says he need someone, or someTHING, to help him.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT BACK TO Shinji. Same Cell, only ZOOMED IN.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT BACK TO Shinji. ZOOMED IN Cell again. Shiji now takes up the entire
screen.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT BACK TO Shinji. ZOOMED IN cell again.
-CUT to White Text.
-There is now a montage of images. Closer examination of these images will
have to wait, BUT it does follow the structure of the previous episode (that aired), so it's a possibility that Shinji is still thinking about the previous events in his mind.
-CUT to reused footage of episode 16 (but with a black background and a
double exposed (?) Shinji. He is now moving his head, out of an emotional impulse, to as far as he could reach, just like on what he did in episode 16 and 20. Like last time, his eyes are closed, his hands is on his ears, his mouth is wide open...Obviously someone is in denial at this point.
SCENE 1
-Starts off with text.
-Cuts to new text.
-Another cut to more text.
-SHOT of 01 holding Kaworu, from EPISODE 24. ODE TO JOY starts playing,
and will continue to do so unless I say so.
-CUT to a close up of Kaworu, presumably in the same room of last cut,
with Lilim with slanted eyes, implying anger, behind him.
-CUT to TEXT
-CUT to Shinji starting down with a mixture of sadness and anger on his
face.
-TEXT
-CUT to BLACK. You hear Kaworu being squashed by 01.
-TEXT pop in after that sound stops.
-CUT to Kaworu head falling down to...orange liquid. LCL perhaps?
-FADE to white.
-CUT to text.
-Another CUT to text, but the text is now black with a white background
this time.
-CUT to black, then FADES IN to 01's hand, with some blood on it,
mostly on the figertips with some on the palm (not inside palm though, behind it). The image is from the opening (but from the cutting of the episode, there's a strong hint in the show that it happened hours after the "Ode to Joy" scene), so it's unknown (as of right now) if they intended to use that image sometime in the future.
This could imply that NERV is washing up the unit after the "Ode to Joy"
episode, since the blood of Kaworu is now all over its' hand.
-CUT to text.
-CUT to a facial expression of Shinji. There is a mixture of fear and
terror in his eyes, since it's twitching, but his eyebrows are
positioned like a person going mad on something trivial, but personal.
NOTE: This shot PANS AWAY from Shinji.
-CUT to BLACK Text.
-CUT to Shinji. He now positions his head downward, and his hands are
now around his cranium. Is he sitting, perhaps? Either way, it's
implying that he is now scared of something, and he know doesn't want
to share it. SOME BLACK BACKGROUND can be seen.
Could he respond to the text?
-CUT to BLACK text.
-CUT to Shinji sitting on a chair, in the same position he was in the shot
before the Black text. It confirms that he IS sitting on a chair, but for
some reason, there is nothing but a black surrounding and an iris
underneath him, with psychedelic colors (red on the side, purple in the
middle). There is more BLACK BACKGROUND around him.
There is no explanation on why he is sitting in this environment.
-CUT to BLACK text.
-CUT BACK to Shinji, in the same position, but he now moves forward,
implying that the text said something that makes him uneasy to say.
-CUT to BLACK text.
-CUT BACK to Shinji. There is now a close up, where Shinji now moves
downward with no hands on his cranium. The CAMERA ANGLE is on his right,
so he is moving his head leftward.It is unknown if this happens
later, or is just another way of showing Shinji's discomfort of the
material he is hearing. HE WILL BE IN THIS BACKGROUND FOR NOW.
-CUT to WHITE text.
-CUT back to Shinji. Same action as the last cut to Shinji, only
this time the CAMERA ANGLE is on his left, so he now moves downward from
the right; mathematical symmetry if you will.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT to Shinji. We, the audience, are now starting right at him, and
Shinji is still in a state of discomfort, but this time his face moves
around. In the first "HE WASN'T!," he THURTS his head down before saying
it, says it again, then moves his head up. On the thirid "HE WASN'T,"
he THURTS the head again.
-CUT to Shinji bending his upper torso, and head, to his hands
on the chair. There is nothing in between this shot and the last shot
to link them, so Shinji is now in a uncomfortable position for some reason.
CAMERA ANGLE: The audience is seeing Shinji from a Southwest perspective
from the viewer's eyes, just as you're standing there. The Iris is still
above Shinji, but it is now wider, but this might be because of the
perspective, not for any artistic decisions.
Rei FADES IN from the opposite direction of Shinji. She is looking down
on him, but no emotions can be seen, so it's unknown on what she thinks
from a visual standpoint.
Shinji THENS shakes his head no (again, because of discomfort)
after Rei says "Even though he was as human as be?", responding with
"No, he was an Angel!"
-CUT to a close up to Rei. She is looking Southeast at Shinji and has her
eyebrows positioned with a mixture of anger and impatience.
Her perspective only makes he seen from her left shoulder, so
the audience is looking at her left half. Her eyes are
half seen, so she's probably calmly scowling him.
Possible reuse from an earlier episode. 17? 18?
-CUT BACK to Shinji in his last position.
CAMERA ANGLE: He is now seen in this position UPWARDS, but not in a bird's
eye perspective, so the iris is now LARGER than he is, but the iris
hasn't taken control of the background just yet. Picture it like you're
seeing down to Shinji from the right (after taking a few small steps).
-CUT BACK to Rei. No changes.
-CUT BACK to Shinji. Same position, same drawing, but things are ZOOMED
in a little bit.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT to Shinji. Still in the same position, but this time, you are now
seeing him right in front of you, but Shiji now takes up the majority of
the screen. He says he need someone, or someTHING, to help him.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT BACK TO Shinji. Same Cell, only ZOOMED IN.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT BACK TO Shinji. ZOOMED IN Cell again. Shiji now takes up the entire
screen.
-CUT to White Text.
-CUT BACK TO Shinji. ZOOMED IN cell again.
-CUT to White Text.
-There is now a montage of images. Closer examination of these images will
have to wait, BUT it does follow the structure of the previous episode (that aired), so it's a possibility that Shinji is still thinking about the previous events in his mind.
-CUT to reused footage of episode 16 (but with a black background and a
double exposed (?) Shinji. He is now moving his head, out of an emotional impulse, to as far as he could reach, just like on what he did in episode 16 and 20. Like last time, his eyes are closed, his hands is on his ears, his mouth is wide open...Obviously someone is in denial at this point.