The Vanishing Hitchhiker

My second project for principles of screen design. We had to take a fairytale or folktale and put a twist on it. I ended up choosing an urban legend.

The tale I chose was The Vanishing Hitchhiker. These storyboards were more of an illustrated story concept instead of storyboarding for animation, so direction and dialogue isn’t included. I’m hoping it’s easy enough to follow.

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The story is following a truck driver that’s been on a long haul in the dead of winter. In the fourth panel where he’s introduced, he looks exhausted and is sipping on a cup of coffee. He’s taken by surprise when he sees a young girl walking through the snow on the side of the road. She’s barefoot and in nothing but a tattered nightgown. He offers her a ride home and his jacket to warm up, but she simple tells him her address and goes quiet.

On the 14th board there’s been a short passage of time; the sun is rising and he tells the girl that they’re almost there. He looks over and notices that there isn’t anyone in the passenger seat. He convinces himself that he’s not gotten much sleep the last couple nights and might be a little delirious.

Board 18 he reaches the city limits of the town the girl had mentioned. He passes the road she supposedly lived off of and decides to go down it out of curiosity. He finds the house number and stands bewildered in front of the burnt down foundation.

He goes up the walkway to the front door, his hand reached out for the door. He stops when he notices the jacket he had given the girl is hanging from the door handle. Board 26 is a reverse view from inside the house, looking down on the driver as he backs away slowly. The camera pans to the right to reveal a photo of the girl sitting on the dresser.