Many of us probably would like to engage in professional filmmaking, because the laurels of fame of famous directors sometimes haunt. Filming a movie is not such a simple matter. And here it’s not enough to have only professional cameras and microphones for recording sound. At the preliminary stage, called pre-production, a storyboard will be required. This is one of the main points, without which it is impossible to fully create the concept of a film, animation, commercial or a single scene.
What it is and how to perform such actions will be discussed later. By the way, it doesn’t matter whether you can draw well or not. In this sense, the storyboard can be created not on paper, but with the help of special computer programs, although the most primitive methods can be used. Next, it will be understood why.
Storyboard: what is it?
According to official and respected sources, the concept of storyboards boils down to the fact that initially a certain conditional sequence of drawings with the image of characters and dialogs is created, taking into account the angle from which the camera will shoot a particular scene.
Thus, a storyboard is a graphic expression of the concept of a film or video, taking into account some technical aspects relating to both the actors' play and the operator’s work. In any case, a good movie cannot be created without such preparatory actions. And almost all modern filmmakers use the storyboard to the fullest. However, the question of how to make a storyboard yourself, it is worth starting to consider the history of its appearance and implementation in the cinema.
History of the concept
From the history of cinema, it is known that the first to propose a similar scheme was Webb Smith.
In this case, we are talking about the full-length film "Gone with the Wind", which was shot back in 1939.
For feature films, this was a revolutionary innovation. But it is worth paying attention that in the 20s of the last century for the first time the animation approach was used in animation to animate the concept of the plot of comics. And only in the late 20s - early 30s. This technique was widely adopted at Walt Disney Studios. So, two short animated films were released that were fully screened (“Steamboat Willie” and “Crazy Aircraft”). Since then, this concept began to spread to other studios and applied in feature films.
How to make a storyboard?
So, you have decided to carry out a graphical representation of the plot yourself. But how to make a film storyboard if you do not know how to draw?
In general, drawing is not the most important thing here. You can act like an ordinary child, who knows how to draw at the level of “arms, legs, cucumber - that’s the man left.” Here, the main focus is not on the artistic level of rendering scenes and characters, but on how it will look in the future, what dialogs the actors will say.
Accordingly, cooperation with the operator plays an important role. For example, battle action scenes in most cases are removed from the perspective of the general plan to show the extent of the action. But when some dramatic scene is shot, the operator uses an approximate angle so that the viewer fully appreciates the experiences of the characters.
The storyboard (examples of which will be given below) also involves the introduction of special effects used in the future into the graphical representation.
Very indicative in this regard is the rendering of the battle of Neo and Morpheus in the first part of the Matrix trilogy. At first, the entire scene was mounted in the form of drawings on a computer, then two understudies of the main actors performed the battle in reality, and only after that their images were replaced by actors Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne.
What points to consider
Since the storyboard is a general concept, you need to approach its creation very responsibly. Many modern filmmakers openly dislike this stage in the creation of films or commercials. Indeed, in addition to working with the operator, scriptwriters will also have to be involved in direct cooperation (since the dialogues will have to be registered anyway).
It goes without saying that considerable attention will also have to be paid to the specialists responsible for creating and applying special effects, without which almost no film can do today. Finally, the appearance of the actors plays an important role. Here the tips of make-up artists and lighting artists come in handy so that performers of the roles look in the frame from the most favorable side.
Simplified Animatic Packages
Now directly about creating an initial project. Many specialists advise those who cannot draw or use special computer software to download the so-called simplified templates. What it is?
In fact, this is a kind of empty layout, like the ones we see in comics. There are several fields for drawing characters, background or landscape, and separately made areas for text. In other words, you get a rough sketch (by the way, this technique is called a thumbnail storyboard).
Frequently Used Programs
However, the above method does not seem to be effective enough in that it cannot be taken into account exactly at what point and where the camera of the operator will be located, and how the whole scene will look when shooting.
In this case, programs for creating 2D and 3D images are useful. The first type is often used to create two-dimensional cartoons, the second is used in more complex animations and films.
For 2D sketches, you can use applications like Springboard, ArtRage, Toon Boom Storyboard, StoryBoard Quick & Storyboard Artist, or some programs from Adobe.
Programs such as SketchUp Pro and FrameForge 3D Studio are suitable for creating three-dimensional images, and Lightwave 3D, D Studio Max, Maya, Blender 3d, etc. are useful for subsequent processing of graphics (or for creating animated objects).
Naturally, not all programs are free, and some of them are quite expensive (the price can start from a hundred dollars or more). Nevertheless, if you really need an explanatory storyboard program, you have to fork out a little.
Is it possible to make a movie without a storyboard?
The question of the application of creating sketching scenes, many call quite controversial. You can, of course, refuse the storyboard. But, as it is believed, this is mainly suitable only for creative directors who are not afraid of daring experiments in the process of filming a movie or video clip and rely more on improvisation (both their own, and the cameraman, and the actors).
But it is thought that without understanding the general concept of a film or video, it is unlikely that it will be possible to remove something worthwhile. Therefore, it is worth at least sketching yourself some minimal number of sketches. This is akin to the fact that without a script, a movie is not made. A storyboard - this is almost the same scenario, but only performed graphically.
By the way, even Stanislavsky successfully applied the described technique for staging performances at the Moscow Art Theater. In particular, using the storyboard, the play The Seagull by A.P. Chekhov was staged in 1989.
Conclusion
It is hoped that the material provided will give at least an initial idea of the storyboard and its essence. Still, those who are going to start filmmaking need to master the creation of sketches at least at some primitive level. This, incidentally, is confirmed by many reputable directors. And here we are talking about animation, advertising and the game, and not documentary films.