Storyboards

When you write a story, or in our case listen to a song, you visualise what it happening throughout. A storyboard is all your thoughts and visions drawn on a piece of paper so that during shooting the product the director can look over at the sheet and see that everything is going to plan and running smoothly. It is laid out in a comic book style, which show all the crew the compositions, framings, cuts and actions that will take place. Also, when thinking of storyboards everyone envisions them as a piece of art and that they have to be well drawn in order for them to work however, you could use stick people but underneath described what was going on and how everything will work together.

History of storyboards

The first storyboard that was produced was by Walt Disney Studio’s in the early 1930’s, for the short production of “three little pigs” John Canemaker, author of “Paper Dreams: the art and artists of Disney storyboards” states that they made the storyboard in a comic book style using sketches to act out the story. Webb Smith, animator at Disney studio’s created the idea of drawing each shot individually on different pieces of paper and pinning them up on a bulletin board, resulting in the first official storyboard. The first live action film that used a completed storyboard was gone with the wind, Cameron Menzies was hired to designed every frame that was going to be used in the film. Many large budget silent films were storyboarded what they hoped to achieve. Since then storyboards have became a key element in the creation of a media product.

By the 1940’s the standards grew and Annette Michelson stated in 1993 that, “we can see the last half century... as the period in which production design was largely characterised by adoption of the storyboard”

Creation

When drawing by hand, the artist will sketch a thumbnail storyboard usually drawn by the director in the margin of the script. Thumbnails are used frequently with directors as it is a quick way to jot down ways in which the scene should play out and in big motion pictures.

Film makers rely heavily on storyboarding. If the thumbnails need more detail then a professional storyboard artist will be hired to supply detailed illustrations, these are better than amateur images as they include emotions, directions and costumes.

After that it is technical previsualisation (3D storyboarding) will be created. The advantage of using this software is it while show exactly what will be happening in the shot, if it will look right through the camera lens and the duration of the scene. However, the disadvantage is that it is extremely time consuming to create them. Some of the 3D storyboard making software is available to the public in order for them to create effective storyboards, some of these models include: Storyboard quick and Storyboard artists.

While storyboards can be helpful, it can also limit the director’s creativity. A classic example of this is Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” he created storyboards that the cinematographer thought was impossible to do in reality. Working on this for a long period of time they found some creative solutions and so the director’s visions came to life before his eyes. They worked so long on trying to find ways in which to shoot the film the way the director imagined because it is believed that you should never limited the directors visions to the normal or possible if you did this it would be just like every other film. This is when 3D programs can help the cinematographer plan what and how they can do things in order to achieve the almighty dream that is in the director’s head.

Benefits

The benefits of storyboarding are it allows the crew to experiment with the storyline so that it evokes reactions and interest. Flashbacks are not often in the original idea but when they talk over during storyboarding they will be used.

Also storyboarding allows the crew to brainstorm and the n arrange the story into an innovative sequence. Not only that but by getting the whole crew involved it make sure that everyone has had an equal say and that everyone knows the storyline.

Example of storyboarding in music videos

Storyboards are still used today in media products such as films but also in music videos. Here are the story boards that were used to create Britney Spears video for “If you seek Amy”

And here is what the finished product looks like.

By Hannah Tabor