STORYBOARDS Trade & Industrial Education

What is a Storyboard? Storyboarding is the process of producing sketches of the shots of your script. The end result looks like comic book of your film (without the speech bubbles).

What is a Storyboard? Storyboards are part of the preproduction (or planning) process that can include creating a logline, character development, scripting, and sound design.

Storyboard Example

History of Storyboards Walt Disney is credited with creating the modern storyboard. In 1933, “The Three Little Pigs” was completely storyboarded. Animators at Warner Brothers (Leon Schlessinger) used to post gags and try to link them together into one coherent story. Today, most all major animation studios, along with the gaming industry, use storyboards.

Storyboards in Live Action Movies In the late 1930’s, David Selznik hired William Menzies to storyboard “Gone With the Wind.” The popularity of storyboarding motion pictures continued with Orson Welles, Howard Hughes, and Alfred Hitchcock. A large majority of present day directors have their films storyboarded including Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, and the Cohen brothers.

Group Projects Most productions are group projects and the storyboards are essential to communicate the goal to all group members. PEOPLE working on an individual project may still want to create a storyboard to plan the project, choose the camera angles, and set the timing.

Benefits of Storyboarding Reduces the time spent on unfocused, undirected discussion Allows everyone to share ideas equally and promotes consensus Helpful in generating alternatives Cost effective, accurate planning Perceive possible continuity problems before they happen Communication between departments Artistic and aesthetic vision remains consistent Communication with client funding the project

Image 3. Used with permission. Sound Design The step following the storyboard process is creating the sound audio recording. Usually, audio is recorded first and the animation is designed to fit the audio. The storyboard helps the actors understand their role when recording audio. The sound design should include dialog or narration, sound effects, and music. Image 3. Used with permission.

Continuity and Understanding If your audience does not understand some portion of your project, the visual element usually needs to be corrected. If your audience does not feel the proper emotion, the audio element usually needs to be corrected. Try to create a storyboard that communicates the story without the viewer hearing or reading the dialog.

Image 4. Used with permission. Do I Need to be an Artist? Any drawing exercise is an important part of your portfolio. Many jobs expect you to be able to draw to some degree. Most colleges and art schools require students to draw (even 3D students). But… For this class, you don’t have to be an expert artist! Image 4. Used with permission.

Image 5. Used with permission. Storyboard Paper Storyboards used for beginning story development are often rough drawings on 4” x 6” index cards tacked to a bulletin board. Panels can be easily added and the order can be shuffled. Once the story is established, storyboard paper with 9 to 12 panels maybe be used to thumbnail (tiny rough drawings) the board. Production storyboards should include action and dialogue. Image 5. Used with permission.

Camera Placements Strive to use a series of shots from different camera angles that rarely last longer than a few seconds. Try to find interesting camera angles rather than straight-on.

Visual Focus Always ask yourself, “Where do I expect my view to look?” Arrange your visual elements and camera so your viewers easily understand where to look. In most situations, do not position the subject centrally in the picture. Use the rule of thirds by visually dividing the width and height of the frame into three parts. Try to put the most important object at one of the intersections (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right).

Image 6. Used with permission. Rule of Thirds Image 6. Used with permission.

Horizon Placement In geographic terms, the horizon is where the sky meets the ground. In art, the horizon is the eye level. In an exterior scene, they may or may not be the same line. Do not let the horizon (either artistic or geographic) split the frame in half. In most cases, lower the horizon.

Image 7. Used with permission. Horizon Examples Image 7. Used with permission.

Camera Shots: Inserts An insert shot is a full screen close-up of actions, objects, text, or a character’s reaction placed as if inserted over a longer scene or over dialog.

Image 15. Used with permission. Insert Example Image 15. Used with permission.

Camera Movement: Dolly Dolly is moving the camera into the shot, getting closer to the action. This is similar to zooming in on the action. To show this on the storyboard, a floating frame is draw to show the final placement. Arrows from the corners of the original frame to the new frame indicate trucking. Use thick white arrows to show camera moves and thin black arrows to show objects or actors moving.

Image 17. Used with permission. Dolly Storyboard Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2011. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  Image 17. Used with permission.

Camera Movement: Pan Panning is rotating the camera on a tripod to slowly reveal a wide section. To show this on the storyboard, create a wide drawing and use a floating frame. Connect the frames with arrows to indicate the direction and mark “start” and “stop” on the appropriate frames. Normal storyboard paper often makes this difficult to show. A wider panel frame is better.

Image 18. Used with permission. Storyboard Pan Image 18. Used with permission.

Camera Movement: Trucking Trucking is the lateral movement of the camera. Like panning, it reveals a wide section. Trucking usually follows an actor or an object, so the background is actually moving through the frame. Keep some space in front of a character in the direction they are moving. Don’t crowd into the edge of the frame.

Camera Movement: Trucking To show this on the storyboard, use a circled “BG” with arrows to indicate which direction the background is moving. It may or may not be necessary to draw the entire background on a wide panel with a floating frame.

Image 19. Used with permission. Storyboard Trucking Image 19. Used with permission.