CHAPTER 19

Project Hail Mary — Fan Storyboard

72 PANELS 6 ACTS AUTHOR: ANDY WEIR
← CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 →
I
RELATIVITY & THE CHAIN
1
TWO-SHOT — Rocky rejects relativity outright. Ryland gestures upward, insisting time dilation is real.
TWO-SHOTROCKY / RYLANDDISBELIEF
"Time not change. Time is time." Rocky, flatly, on the matter.
2
INSERT DIAGRAM — Ryland sketches a light clock. Two mirrors, one bouncing photon — stationary vs. moving frame.
INSERTRYLANDLIGHT CLOCK
Same physics. Different reference frames. The photon path is longer when the clock moves.
3
CLOSE — Rocky motionless. One limb tapping the floor. Processing.
CLOSE-UPROCKYPROCESSING
A long silence. The tapping is the only movement.
4
TWO-SHOT — Rocky accepts. Limbs lowered. Ryland allows a small smile.
TWO-SHOTROCKY / RYLANDRELUCTANT ACCEPTANCE
"Okay. Time change. I not like. But okay." Ryland: quietly relieved.
5
WIDE — The problem made visual: Hail Mary hovering above Adrian. Astrophage breeding layer far below. Chain is the only way.
WIDETHE PROBLEMESTABLISHING
Ten kilometres of atmosphere between the ship and the Astrophage layer.
6
CLOSE — Rocky animated. All six limbs extended. A plan forming.
CLOSE-UPROCKYEUREKA
Every limb out at once — this is Rocky at maximum enthusiasm.
7
MEDIUM — Rocky sketches in Eridian notation: ship at top, chain descending, sampler at the bottom.
MEDIUMROCKYTHE CHAIN CONCEPT
Simple. Elegant. Two hundred thousand links, five centimetres each.
8
CLOSE — Ryland wide-eyed. The idea landing. Then the math clicking.
CLOSE-UPRYLANDREALIZATION
"That… could actually work."
9
× 200,000
INSERT — Tablet calculations. 200,000 links × 5cm = 10km. Rocky's geometric build progression.
INSERTRYLANDTHE MATH
Two hundred thousand. The number sits large on the screen.
10
MEDIUM — Rocky's section. Fabrication begins. First links forming under six working limbs.
MEDIUMROCKYFABRICATION BEGINS
Day one. Rocky does not stop.
11
WIDE — Three-stage montage. Two weeks. Spools filling. Rocky working without pause.
WIDE — MONTAGEROCKYTWO WEEKS PASS
Two hundred thousand links. Rocky fabricated every one.
12
MEDIUM — Twenty completed spools mounted on hull. The chain is ready.
MEDIUMROCKYREADY
All twenty spools in place. Rocky surveys the work.
II
PROBE & DESCENT
13
MEDIUM — Rocky presents the sampler probe. 20cm steel sphere. A miniature life-support system.
MEDIUMROCKYTHE PROBE
Pressure sensor. Heater. Eridian radio transmitter. Everything an Adrian organism needs.
14
INSERT DIAGRAM — Probe cross-section. Pressure seal, heater coil, Eridian radio module, inlet holes.
INSERTPROBE SCHEMATIC
Rocky's genius: life-support for an alien organism in the volume of a grapefruit.
15
MEDIUM — Centrifuge spun down. Zero gravity restored. Objects float. Ryland floats.
MEDIUMRYLANDZERO-G
"Oh, that's nice." Ryland spreads his arms in the weightlessness.
16
MEDIUM — Exterior. Hail Mary tilting backward — engines reorienting to face the planet.
MEDIUM — EXTERIORTILT MANEUVER
The ship rotates to point its engines at Adrian. Sixty degrees.
17
WIDE — Hail Mary firing at 1.5g, angled 60°. Engines blast toward Adrian. Hover achieved at 127.5 m/s.
WIDE — EXTERIOR1.5G HOVER127.5 M/S
Engines hold the ship in place above the atmosphere. The ionization glow begins.
18
MEDIUM — Interior. Ryland pinned to wall by 1.5g thrust. Controls within reach. Every step an effort.
MEDIUMRYLAND1.5G INTERIOR
Moving at 1.5g is like walking with a second person on your back.
19
MEDIUM — Exterior. Engines blasting Adrian's atmosphere. Red ionization glow. IR heat — external cameras shut down.
MEDIUM — EXTERIORIONIZATIONCAMERAS OUT
The atmosphere lights up where the engines hit it. Cameras overloaded. Flying blind.
20
CLOSE — Interior. Life support warning: HEAT. Astrophage hull cooling activates. Green light.
CLOSE-UPRYLANDHEAT WARNINGHULL COOLING: ACTIVE
The Astrophage lining the hull acts as a heat sink. It was designed for this.
21
WIDE — Exterior. Twenty spools release. Chain begins falling, unspooling toward the Astrophage layer.
WIDE — EXTERIORCHAIN DEPLOYEDSAMPLER DESCENDING
Twenty spools. Two hundred thousand links. Ten kilometres of chain beginning to fall.
22
EXTREME CLOSE — Chain detail. Alternating link orientation. Each 5cm link interlocked precisely.
EXTREME CLOSELINK DETAIL
Rocky's fabrication: every link identical. The chain holds.
23
MEDIUM — Sampler probe descending through Astrophage layer. Pressure sensor triggers. Seals achieved.
MEDIUMSEAL ACHIEVEDLOCK CONFIRMED
Green. The probe is sealed at the correct altitude. Adrian organisms inside.
24
TWO-SHOT — Rocky receives the Eridian radio signal. Ryland watches the readout. Cautious optimism.
TWO-SHOTROCKY / RYLANDSIGNAL CONFIRMED
"Question mark? Sealed, yes?" — Rocky. "Sealed." — Ryland.
III
EVA RETRIEVAL & DISASTER
25
MEDIUM — EVA suit on. Ryland exits airlock into 1.4g gravity. Hull like a cliff-face.
MEDIUM — EXTERIORRYLANDEVA BEGINS
Fourteen metres per second squared. Every movement deliberate. The planet pulls hard.
26
MEDIUM — Rocky's winch system below the spool. Ryland tethered, at the release mechanism.
MEDIUMRYLANDAT THE WINCH
Rocky's Eridian engineering: a separator that peels links off the chain one by one.
27
CLOSE — Winch engaged. Rocky's separator mechanism cycling. Chain rising.
CLOSE-UPWINCH ACTIVEROCKY'S DESIGN
The chain rises at speed. Each link peeling off cleanly as designed.
28
MEDIUM — Chain rising fast. Ryland below, arm extended, waiting for the sampler probe.
MEDIUMRYLANDRETRIEVAL
The probe coming up. Ryland ready. Almost there.
29
CLOSE — Ryland grabs the sampler. Clips it to his belt. Got it.
CLOSE-UPRYLANDSAMPLER SECURED
"Got it." Relief in every movement.
30
MEDIUM — Ryland moving back toward the airlock. Hand over hand along hull handholds.
MEDIUMRYLANDHEADING BACK
The weight is enormous at 1.4g. Every handhold a small victory.
31
MEDIUM — The ship shudders. Unexpected thrust. Ryland loses grip — body swinging outward.
MEDIUMRYLANDSHUDDER
The hull shifts under his hands. Something is wrong.
32
MEDIUM — Hull groaning. Port fuel bay showing stress fractures. Astrophage leaking.
MEDIUM — EXTERIORHULL BREACHPORT FUEL BAY
Gold dots drifting from the crack. Astrophage, exposed to vacuum. And below them: Adrian.
33
MEDIUM — Interior. Ship spinning. Ryland tumbles through airlock. Gravity direction chaotic.
MEDIUMRYLANDINSIDE — SPINNING
Nothing is where it should be. The whole ship is a tumble dryer.
34
MEDIUM — Exterior. Port fuel bay breached. Astrophage streaming outward, migrating toward Adrian below.
MEDIUM — EXTERIORASTROPHAGE MIGRATINGIR CHAOS
Astrophage see the planet. They want it. Their thrust is now pushing the ship sideways.
35
WIDE — Exterior. Ship spinning uncontrolled. Astrophage stream curving toward Adrian. Conflicting thrust vectors.
WIDE — EXTERIORUNCONTROLLED SPINCATASTROPHIC
The ship is a spinning top. The Astrophage are driving it.
36
MEDIUM — Interior. Ryland at pilot console. Red screens. Spinning indicator. Reads the situation: jettison needed.
MEDIUMRYLANDJETTISON DECISION
Two buttons. Two fuel bays. He has to guess which one to hit first.
IV
JETTISON & COLLAPSE
37
WIDE — Exterior. Ryland hits jettison — wrong tank. Port fuel bay explodes outward.
WIDE — EXTERIORRYLANDWRONG TANK
The wrong bay. The explosion makes the spin worse.
38
MEDIUM — Exterior. Second jettison — another tank gone. Spin momentum catastrophic.
MEDIUM — EXTERIORSECOND JETTISON
Both fuel bays gone. The ship is lighter. Still spinning.
39
MEDIUM — Interior. Centrifugal gravity building as spin increases. Ryland slammed sideways.
MEDIUMRYLANDG-FORCE RISING
The centrifuge effect. He cannot reach the controls.
40
MEDIUM — Pilot seat shearing off its mount under the spin-gravity. Ryland reaching for it.
MEDIUMRYLANDSEAT SHEARING
The bolts are cracking. 300 kilograms of chair about to come free.
41
MEDIUM — Seat slams into Ryland. Pins him against the wall. He cannot breathe.
MEDIUMRYLANDPINNED
Three hundred kilograms on his chest. The weight is mechanical suffocation.
42
EXTREME CLOSE — Ryland's face. Eyes squeezed shut. Mouth open. Suffocating.
EXTREME CLOSERYLANDSUFFOCATING
No breath. Darkness creeping in from the edges.
43
CLOSE — Rocky in Eridian section. All limbs spread, sensing vibration through the hull. Goes still.
CLOSE-UPROCKYSENSES DANGER
Rocky feels everything through his limbs. He knows.
44
TWO-SHOT — Rocky at the airlock partition. One limb pressed to the divider wall. The decision.
TWO-SHOTROCKY / RYLANDTHE DECISION
On the other side: oxygen. Instant death for Rocky. He presses the limb flat against the wall.
45
MEDIUM — Rocky at the airlock. Eridian side: amber warmth. Human side: cold blue. The dividing line.
MEDIUMROCKYTHE THRESHOLD
Everything Rocky is lives on one side of that door.
46
MEDIUM — Rocky breaks the airlock. Through the door. First contact with oxygen. Smoke begins.
MEDIUMROCKYBREAKTHROUGH
The moment Rocky enters the human atmosphere, the reaction begins.
47
MEDIUM — Rocky in human section. Moving fast. Smoke rising from vents. Orange heat building.
MEDIUMROCKYBURNING — MOVING
He is on fire from the inside. He does not slow down.
48
WIDE — Rocky finds Ryland pinned under the seat. Six limbs working to cut and lift.
WIDEROCKY / RYLANDFOUND HIM
Silver blood already pooling. Smoke thickening. Rocky does not hesitate.
V
ROCKY BURNS
49
CLOSE — Rocky cuts the restraint strap. A single precise slice.
CLOSE-UPROCKYTHE CUT
The limb tip finds the strap exactly. One movement.
50
CLOSE — Ryland. Seat shifts. Eyes flutter open. First real breath.
CLOSE-UPRYLANDFIRST BREATH
"Hgh—" The sound of a person remembering how to breathe.
51
MEDIUM — Rocky looming over Ryland. Smoke columns rising. Orange glow intensifying.
MEDIUMROCKY / RYLANDBURNING
Rocky is visibly deteriorating. He does not move away.
52
TWO-SHOT — Ryland on hands and knees, watching Rocky. Rocky — moving slowly now. A terrible quiet.
TWO-SHOTRYLAND / ROCKYHELPLESS
Ryland reaches toward him. There is nothing he can do.
53
WIDE — Rocky collapsing to the floor. One limb extended toward Ryland across the room.
WIDEROCKY / RYLANDFALLING
The limb stays extended. The last deliberate movement.
54
MEDIUM — Rocky on the floor. Not moving. Smoke thinning. Glow fading.
MEDIUMROCKYSTILL
The silver blood pools outward across the floor.
55
CLOSE — Ryland crawls to Rocky. Touches the hull. Burning hot.
CLOSE-UPRYLAND / ROCKYTOUCH
The surface is almost too hot to hold. Ryland holds it anyway.
56
MEDIUM — Ryland pulls back from the heat. Rocky burning from inside. The glow at its peak.
MEDIUMRYLAND / ROCKYBURNING UP
The ammonia in Rocky's system reacting with oxygen. An exothermic process. Unstoppable.
57
WIDE — Ryland watching Rocky. Rocky still. Smoke thinning. The worst kind of quiet.
WIDERYLAND / ROCKYTHE QUIET
The room gets very still. Only the ship hum.
58
MEDIUM — Rocky motionless. Glow almost gone. Silver blood around him.
MEDIUMROCKYAFTERMATH
The silver blood catches the light.
VI
LAST WORDS & AFTERMATH
59
CLOSE — Ryland kneeling beside Rocky. Face close to the hexagonal hull.
CLOSE-UPRYLAND / ROCKYVIGIL
He does not know what to say. He stays close.
60
MEDIUM — Rocky's limb moves — weakly — toward Ryland. The Eridian language begins.
MEDIUMROCKY / RYLANDLAST TRANSMISSION
The limb trembles. The radiator vents pulse. He is speaking.
61
EXTREME CLOSE — Rocky's radiator vents. Audio pulses fading. The Eridian language, dimming.
EXTREME CLOSEROCKYFADING SIGNAL
The pulses are getting further apart. Quieter. The vents grow dark.
62
CLOSE — Rocky's transmission. One limb still extended toward Ryland.
CLOSE-UPROCKY / RYLANDFINAL WORDS
"Save… Earth…"
63
WIDE — Rocky speaks his last. The transmission cuts. Silence.
WIDEROCKY / RYLANDSILENCE
"Save… Erid…" — and then nothing.
64
MEDIUM — Rocky. Motionless. Smoke gone. Glow gone. Still.
MEDIUMROCKYGONE
The silver blood has spread as far as it will go.
65
WIDE — The room. Ryland sitting against the wall. Rocky across from him. Only Ryland breathing.
WIDERYLAND / ROCKYTWO IN A ROOM
One of them is alive.
66
CLOSE — Ryland's face. A long look at Rocky. Nothing else to do.
CLOSE-UPRYLANDGRIEF
He does not look away.
67
WIDE — Exterior. The ship, stable and damaged, above Adrian. The planet indifferent below.
WIDE — EXTERIORAFTERMATHHAIL MARY
The ship holds. The mission is not over.
68
MEDIUM — Interior. Ryland against the wall. Rocky across the room. A long silence.
MEDIUMRYLAND / ROCKYAFTER
He will stay here for a while.
69
CLOSE — The sampler probe, still clipped to Ryland's belt. The mission succeeded.
CLOSE-UPTHE PROOFSAMPLER SEALED
Adrian organisms inside. Alive. The data Rocky died for.
70
MEDIUM — The spools. Empty. All twenty. Ten kilometres of chain, gone.
MEDIUMEMPTY SPOOLS
All that work. Every link deployed.
71
MEDIUM — Ryland stands. Walks to the viewport. Adrian below.
MEDIUMRYLANDSTANDING
He makes himself stand. He makes himself look.
72
WIDE — Final. Ryland at the viewport. Adrian below. Sampler in hand. Rocky behind him in the dark.
WIDE — FINALRYLAND / ROCKYWHAT REMAINS
The planet filled with life that does not know what was paid for this moment.
← CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 →