Last year in the first part of the A1 course we did some storyboarding for our thriller idea, however last year the storyboarding was not paid much attention to, with much more work and detail being put into our second year pop music video projects its a necessity to storyboard.
So what is storyboarding? Storyboarding is the process in which a graphic representation of what the camera sees in a sequence, very similar to a comic strip it creates a narrative flow. The story of a film or any other movie picture production can be visualised through a series of drawings which depict the location, character, props and setting of each shot. These drawing representations are accompanied by captions detailing action , camera directions, lighting directions and some basic dialogue.
Storyboarding is used to enable a director to visualise the flow of camera shots and enables them to see what the final product will look like. This is also a necessity as it helps the crew plan and create the desired environment that is translated from the directors mind to drawings which the whole crew can see and understand. The scrip/screenplay or desired action is broken down into units of action which are drawn into the storyboard allowing directors see if what they want will be possible to do and/or work on screen. Once on paper storyboards add to a basis of discussion between the director and DOP (director of photography).
Story boards are used through ought the process of creating the final piece -
pre-production - in the pre production stage (this is before filming) the director and production designer will discuss how to achieve the final look and plan sets and costumes. Then the director will discuss with the DOP whose hob it is to achieve the look of the film on screen, they will talk through specific shots and discuss composition of the scene, camera placement, camera movements, lighting and the equipment necessary to accomplish each shot.
production - during the filming process storyboards are required for each shoot as it enable the crew to understand what placements of lights, camera movement, movement of actors etc is necessary for the final product. On the shoot day the storyboard is used as rough guideline for director but allows the crew to understand what is going on. Storyboards are vitally important for allowing actors to know exactly where they should be in the shot and what they have to react to.
post-production - storyboards should act as a visual reminder of what has been filmed and in what order. They are used by editors, especially in visual effects heavy films, in order to perfectly time and match the action around it. Non linear, digital film editing means that films can be swiftly edited on a computer desktop. While the storyboard remains a blueprint of the original intentions and provides a framework which changes can be judged.
During my research on storyboarding I came across some really interesting and informative video, I have linked them below -
