This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Working with Storyboards
As you start working through your idea in shot list form, you may want to dive into a little more specificity.
I know I want John to come in and sit down in front of his camera, and I know that I want it to be a medium shot… but I want to see him like this!”
I believe many of us have a pretty good idea of what we want our stories to look like. We just need to figure out a better way to articulate this to others so that we can get on the same page. This is where a storyboard comes in really handy.
What to Include in a Storyboard
A storyboard is a graphic layout of the shots in your story. Its overall goal is to give you (and others) an idea of character, scene, location, and movement—that’s it!
A storyboard is not meant to show off how awesome you are at drawing things. In fact, I think a lot of people hesitate to use storyboards because of a general fear of being asked to draw—and many of us (me included) think we’re terrible at drawing. Stop worrying: The pictures you add to storyboards can be extremely rudimentary as long as you follow these guidelines:
Use perspective and scale to show the position of the camera.
Draw characters in the direction you want them to face.
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FIGURE 3.11 Even primitive drawings can make a storyboard come to life.
Draw an arrow in the direction you want a character to move.
Make a rough shape and label it to stand in for something you can’t draw.
Indicate specific camera motions you need with arrows.
The more information you can give to someone in terms of location, angle, character, and mood, the better it is. If you are an artist and can really add details here, that’s awesome! Just know that you are adding the details in the storyboard to render the idea into better focus. If what you draw cannot be reproduced due to time, manpower, or budget, you may not want to be as detailed.
Video Storyboarding à la Robert Rodriguez
An amazing creative talent, Robert Rodriguez has shot, directed, scored, written, and produced El Mariachi, One Upon a Time in Mexico, Desperado, and many, many other films. Having his hand in every part of the creative process of his movies has led to his distinctive type of moviemaking to being known as “Mariachi style.” Robert has also developed a previsualizing process for streamlining the production of a scene. As he discusses in his video “Anatomy of a Shootout” (YouTube: https://rcweb.co/anatomy-shootout), Robert used a small camcorder and stand-in actors to record what a scene would look like while making El Mariachi. He then used the video to previsualize the angles and frames in the scene so that when it came time to shoot the scene on cinema cameras, he would already know what would work and what would not.
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FIGURE 3.12 The artist himself
ANATOMY OF A SHOOTOUT
Use the QR code to view Robert Rodriguez’s video about previsualizing on the cheap. If you’re reading a print book, scan the code with your mobile device. If you’re reading an ebook, tap or click the QR code.
Using your smartphone, you can adapt the same technique to help keep your own productions on time and budget. If you have access to the location where you want to shoot, bring a couple of stand-ins along to previsualize your planned scene. You can record from all the angles you think you like—and even take still images from the video right on the fly. To take a still photo while recording your video, tap the small white button (iPhone) or the shutter icon (Android phone) in the lower part of the screen. The still photo will have the same aspect ratio as your video.
When you are back at your computer, you can import those pictures into a storyboard document, and you’ll have a template for where you need to place your camera and talent. When it’s time to go shoot the video, you won’t be guessing at what you think will be successful—you’ll know. You will be building to your preset plan.
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FIGURE 3.13 You can make a video storyboard using a mobile phone.
Anatomy of a Storyboard
A Google search will yield a ton of options for storyboard templates. Make sure whichever one you use has four key components:
A set of cells to hold your drawing (or photo) ideas
An area to mark the scene number
An area to mark a shot number
An area to write out more information about the cell
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FIGURE 3.14 A storyboard template
When the entire storyboard is put together, you’ll have a clear progression of your idea that looks like a comic book (graphic novel) version of each scene in your story.
The drawings may not be perfect, but your overall plan will be clear.