Carolyn Guertin MAIS 620: Digital Storytelling

Nov 2014

Storyboarding A Script

Visual storytelling is a very old art form

Most cultures have visual storytelling traditions that resemble nothing so much as comics

The main purpose of a storyboard is to

convey the narrative flow by defining the

challenges and problems of a project

through visual and technical information.

Storyboards are used in advertising campaigns, video games, television series, multimedia CD-ROMs, interactive programming, web design and industrial and government videos.

The first modern storyboard was invented by Walt Disney for The Three Little Pigs

Why use storyboards?

Storyboards are efficient. They save

time and money. They are essential

for achieving complexity or

intricate special effects.

“You storyboard everything because you want to think about how you’re going to shoot the movie before you

actually shoot it. I mean, it seems self-evident” ~ Ethan Coen, Director, No Country for Old Men, The Man Who Wasn’t There,

The Big Lebowski, Fargo, Blood Simple, etc.

A STORYBOARD CAPTURES A FILM SHOT BY SHOT, INCLUDING CAMERA ANGLES AND CAMERA MOVEMENTS

What’s the difference between scenes and shots?

The most basic unit of film production is the shot, a continuous view filmed from one perspective.

•  Think of it this way: any time the camera is turned on, films something, and then is turned off, that is a shot.

•  If the camera set up is changed to show a different viewpoint, this constitutes a new shot.

•  Scenes are a combination of shots of the action that takes place in one location or setting.

•  All screenplays are also made up of sequences, a combination of several scenes.

STEPS TO MAKING A MOVIE

1. The Idea

Begin with an idea. C.S. Lewis, when he was 16, had an image of a faun with an umbrella in a snowy wood come into his head. Many years later that became the seed for his novel The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

2. Concept Art and Design

Translate your idea into visuals. Your characters, backgrounds, props, etc. will keep changing until you arrive at a design that works perfectly. Design is an evolutionary process.

Rudolph and Hermie Robbie The Reindeer

3. Storyboarding

Your script and final design should be blocked out in a series of frames--like a comic--to help you plan how you will present your story. The strength of your final production will rest on this foundation.

4. Build or Assemble Materials

Get everything ready before you begin filming. Do you need props or sets? Do you have to make arrangements for lighting?

5. Filming

With the sets and materials ready to go, set up your camera and lights for each shot. It will probably take you a few takes to get a scene right.

Why storyboard?

The average feature length production has 1,200 shots.

Shot set-ups are determined by different factors.

One is to capture the best viewpoint on the action -- best means both visually stimulating and easy-to-follow.

Mood is also a

determining factor.

Framing •  The frame in storyboards and comics is the equivalent of camera angles in film

•  Extreme close-ups produce very different moods and effects from long shots, for instance

Framing heights have a big

impact on the mood and

meaning of a shot

It is important to remember that the camera

(represented by framing on your storyboard) has its

own perspective.

In fact, the camera can occupy three different

points of view.

The objective shot. The camera is in a neutral position. The audience does not take

the position of any of the characters.

Used in documentaries, sitcoms, interviews.

The point of view shot. The camera

occupies the perspective of a

particular character.

It increases audience

involvement.

The subjective shot. The most personal and

interactive shot. The camera trades places with an on-screen character,

seeing the action through the character’s eyes.

Often used in videogames (first-person-shooter) where we become the

character or comes into play when the character

looks in the lens and

addresses ‘us’.

How to storyboard?

Camera Angles

•  Camera shots are identified by how much of an average-sized person or persons are included. A long shot shows at least the entire figure with enough space at the top and bottom of the frame so that the people do not appear cramped.

David Beckham for Disney

Framing : Long Shot

Framing: Medium Shot •  shows a person from the waist to above the head.

Framing: Close-Up •  shows head and shoulders

Framing: Extreme Close-Up •  An extreme

close-up isolates only a portion of the head and is used for dramatic visual impact.

Framing: Eye-Level We see the world from our normal perspective as if we were in the scene

Framing: Low-Level •  Changing your vantage point means taking another point of view or seeing

from a different perspective. From this low angle, the figure in the foreground is always dominant.

•  In Citizen Kane, Kane’s power is often underlined through the use of low-level camera angles.

Framing: Extreme Low-Angle •  For a dramatically different angle, we can also look up at our

subjects •  This angle encodes power usually (powerful or threatening figures

or people we respect). See how Spiderman’s internal turmoil is reflected in the camera shot.

Framing: High-Angle •  In this dramatic shot, the camera is looking down in a scene in

which a conversation overheard from the top of the stairs is central to the plot. It acquires heightened drama in The Little Foxes when interspersed with Low-Angle reaction shots.

High-Angle Low-Angle

•  A high vantage point provides what is known as a bird's eye view.

•  The camera emphasizes the speed, force and angle of the attack while keeping the identity of the attacker a secret in this scene from Psycho.

•  It can increase dramatic tension and underline the powerlessness of the subject

Framing: Extreme High Angle (Bird’s Eye View)

Framing: Dutch or Oblique Angle

•  Extreme cant or off-kilter angle makes the world seem weird, dangerous, as in the asylum scenes in

Twelve Monkeys

Camera Motions Even slight motions of the camera has a dramatic effect on your filming

Advanced tutorial (optional): How to Create Emotion with Camera Movements https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P3oxjnFr0c

https://vimeo.com/1461280

THE RULE OF THIRDS HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/14315821

And last but not least