These are some of the notes I took on the story board session with Luis Cook. This session was very important for my understanding of the creative process of storyboarding. Even though I wasn't able to write everything down This session helped me learn more about this process by igniting my curiosity.I followed up by looking at interviews and features online about storyboard artists and the process itself. I posted these videos in the research post for repeated viewing as they offer invaluable info on this fascinating process.
Storyboard session :
Main reason is to explore and plan:
Composition ,acting ,tone of the piece, choreography. Endlessly refine. Designing the blueprint of the film.
2 types of storyboards.
Beat board. Sells the concept to the client. Pitching it to raise money.concerned with emotional story beats.overall narrative shape .continuity not essential.more detail often in color each beat a scene,
Shooting board: is used by everybody on the crew regardless of the medium. Point of reference. Later in preproduction. Clear execution of each scene less detail/ black and white. Continuity is important here. Camera angles , composition basic of animatic.
Thumbnail board:get ideas out fast. Rough quick loose experimental free imaginative.
not to worry about continuity structure practicalities.
Beat list:what I need to communicate in each scene
Shot list what I need to communicate in each shot
Audience list: track the viewer.
Designs will emerge from thumbnailing, staging, composition, visual themes emerge.20 sec drawings.
3 tips for thumbnails
Draw small, off the fingers not the wrist.
Every angle.
Don' tdraw the frame.
Multiple possibilities.
Distil everything.
Make it clear, say maximum with minimum.
Should either:
Reveal character
Or advance story.
If not get rid of it
Imagine your film as a river, illusions of seamless continuous
Flow of action, composition, flow of each shot scene.
Continuity natural chronological flow
Inconsistent shot?
Confusing jolts us out of narrative.
180 rule :not crossing the point of view line
to avoid confusing the viewer.
Only break it for good reason.
Establishing shots
Gives sense of visual style, theme of the piece,
sense of environment, of world,
Direction is often about reducing.
Point of view shots:
The fly film 1980
Reaction shots. Acting shot/ reaction to the acting shot.
Cross cutting example:The Untouchables climactic scene in the stairs.
Non linear cross cutting: Don't look now 1973 .sex scene.
Match cut:Shot similar to the previous
shot but with more emphasis on detail.
Connection by action and story
Natural flow
Slice through time /location.
Cut away
Entrances and exits:
Examples:El empleo Santiago grasso. 2008
My neighbor totoro 1988
How the characters enter and exit a shot
tells a lot about the character itself.
Visualising the movement. Whip pans speed lines, multiples.
Anticipation, poses
Squash and stretch distortion
of form movement and stop.
Follow through and overlapping action.
Staging Blocking: posing and choreography
of subject, characters and the camera.
Explore and plan staging and acting choices.
To find the relevant way of doing the shot.
Camera placement.aesthetic/ psychological impact pact
Visual emotional response.
Dutch tilt cookie angle
Places the viewer in a
delirious irrational place.
Close ups
Incredibly powerful shots.
Use with caution.
Isolate a significant detail.
Powerful and iconic
Honda civic commercial.
The 5c's of cinematography.
Camera Angles = defining the angle of the camera relative to the POI The angle of the camera helps establish the viewer’s emotional relationship with the POI.
Continuity = establish a logical coherence between shots in both time and space.
Cutting = showing multiple views of the same action.
Close Ups = hide or reveal info.
Composition = defining the position, arrangement, and view of the objects within the frame.
Light and shade may be significant, weather,
Or colour.
How detailed?: clear
Simple
Minimal
Unambiguous poses.
Clear silhouettes
Avoid extraneous detail.
Be bold. Edit to sound
Gather reference.
Use a camera if not able to draw it.
Or try it as an alternative.
(Look at Norman Rockwell.)
Act it out.
I am expected to be:
Director
Writer
Cinematographer
Designer
Editor.
Tone /music.
11 rules?:
Clarity
Be inventive
Show , don't tell
Add facial expressions.
Do as much posing as possible
Include all direction.
Don't over use camera work
Include backgrounds.leave space
Vary your shots endless mid shots are boring.
Less is more
Allow breathing space.
Storyboard session :
Main reason is to explore and plan:
Composition ,acting ,tone of the piece, choreography. Endlessly refine. Designing the blueprint of the film.
2 types of storyboards.
Beat board. Sells the concept to the client. Pitching it to raise money.concerned with emotional story beats.overall narrative shape .continuity not essential.more detail often in color each beat a scene,
Shooting board: is used by everybody on the crew regardless of the medium. Point of reference. Later in preproduction. Clear execution of each scene less detail/ black and white. Continuity is important here. Camera angles , composition basic of animatic.
Thumbnail board:get ideas out fast. Rough quick loose experimental free imaginative.
not to worry about continuity structure practicalities.
Beat list:what I need to communicate in each scene
Shot list what I need to communicate in each shot
Audience list: track the viewer.
Designs will emerge from thumbnailing, staging, composition, visual themes emerge.20 sec drawings.
3 tips for thumbnails
Draw small, off the fingers not the wrist.
Every angle.
Don' tdraw the frame.
Multiple possibilities.
Distil everything.
Make it clear, say maximum with minimum.
Should either:
Reveal character
Or advance story.
If not get rid of it
Imagine your film as a river, illusions of seamless continuous
Flow of action, composition, flow of each shot scene.
Continuity natural chronological flow
Inconsistent shot?
Confusing jolts us out of narrative.
180 rule :not crossing the point of view line
to avoid confusing the viewer.
Only break it for good reason.
Establishing shots
Gives sense of visual style, theme of the piece,
sense of environment, of world,
Direction is often about reducing.
Point of view shots:
The fly film 1980
Reaction shots. Acting shot/ reaction to the acting shot.
Cross cutting example:The Untouchables climactic scene in the stairs.
Non linear cross cutting: Don't look now 1973 .sex scene.
Match cut:Shot similar to the previous
shot but with more emphasis on detail.
Connection by action and story
Natural flow
Slice through time /location.
Cut away
Entrances and exits:
Examples:El empleo Santiago grasso. 2008
My neighbor totoro 1988
How the characters enter and exit a shot
tells a lot about the character itself.
Visualising the movement. Whip pans speed lines, multiples.
Anticipation, poses
Squash and stretch distortion
of form movement and stop.
Follow through and overlapping action.
Staging Blocking: posing and choreography
of subject, characters and the camera.
Explore and plan staging and acting choices.
To find the relevant way of doing the shot.
Camera placement.aesthetic/ psychological impact pact
Visual emotional response.
Dutch tilt cookie angle
Places the viewer in a
delirious irrational place.
Close ups
Incredibly powerful shots.
Use with caution.
Isolate a significant detail.
Powerful and iconic
Honda civic commercial.
The 5c's of cinematography.
Camera Angles = defining the angle of the camera relative to the POI The angle of the camera helps establish the viewer’s emotional relationship with the POI.
Continuity = establish a logical coherence between shots in both time and space.
Cutting = showing multiple views of the same action.
Close Ups = hide or reveal info.
Composition = defining the position, arrangement, and view of the objects within the frame.
Light and shade may be significant, weather,
Or colour.
How detailed?: clear
Simple
Minimal
Unambiguous poses.
Clear silhouettes
Avoid extraneous detail.
Be bold. Edit to sound
Gather reference.
Use a camera if not able to draw it.
Or try it as an alternative.
(Look at Norman Rockwell.)
Act it out.
I am expected to be:
Director
Writer
Cinematographer
Designer
Editor.
Tone /music.
11 rules?:
Clarity
Be inventive
Show , don't tell
Add facial expressions.
Do as much posing as possible
Include all direction.
Don't over use camera work
Include backgrounds.leave space
Vary your shots endless mid shots are boring.
Less is more
Allow breathing space.