TUTORIALS | Storyboarding tips

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2005 Qurio

Board control
Storyboarding an animation saves time and confusion later on. These tips should BY NIEL BUSHNELL give you valuable pointers for planning out your rst project
storyboard is a visual script that helps everyone pitch process. Sometimes the boards can be used as one of the marketing tools to help green-light a project, especially if the investors are having trouble envisaging how a complex script might be translated onto the screen. These days many productions also use storyboards to create an animated storyboard, or animatic a version of the nished lm made from the storyboard images, which is used to test edits and scene timings. The animatic is a draft version of the nal lm; as shots are completed, theyre dropped into the animatic, replacing the storyboard image. Without this simple tool to save time, money and confusion, most modern feature lms could never be made. While most storyboard artists still use basic tools such as pencil, paper and marker pens, you dont necessarily need to be a great artist. Some people use toys or action gures to create their storyboards; others simply pose actors or friends, then video or photograph the results. Whatever your medium of choice, the ve tips on the right should contain much of the information you need to get started.

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Our expert this issue
Niel Bushnell is the founder of Qurios Entertainment, a UK-based studio specialising in storyboarding, illustration, concept design and animation. He has worked on numerous commercials, feature lms, television series and computer games. His most recent storyboarding work was for a series of pop videos and Qurios second short lm, All Colours Grey. [w] www.qurios.com

involved in a production to understand exactly whats required for each shot. While the basic concept may be universal, the exact function of

a storyboard will vary according to the type of project for which it was created. For example, traditional 2D animated series use storyboards as templates for the animators to follow. As 2D animation is typically produced in a different country to the boards themselves, its vital that they include as much information as possible. Typically, this will include every key pose of the animation, where the camera should be positioned, and how each shot should be composed. By comparison, the storyboards for a 3D or live-action lm will usually be far less polished, and will be stuck to less rigidly. Live-action lmmakers typically use storyboards only for complex scenes, or those including visual effects work that needs to be planned out in advance of the shoot; while some directors prefer to board out an entire lm, this is rare. By contrast, TV commercials tend to be boarded out as part of the

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Storyboarding tips | TUTORIALS

that particular scenes look best from certain angles, so exploit these positions. Much like live-action, some 3D projects only use partial sets, so you may be limited in the directions from which you can shoot, but a good boarder can make the best of a small or partial set.

have space for your drawing, the scene or sequence number, and notes, dialogue or scene descriptions. I prefer not to work too large; the bigger the picture, the longer it will take you to draw! Try putting two to four of your templates on an A4 sheet and see which size youre most comfortable with. Once youve got a template you like, print out lots of copies.
ABOVE One possible layout for a storyboard. Experiment with your own dont work too large, and keep the images numbered

RATIO, LENSES AND TECHNOBABBLE

Know what aspect ratio (the ratio of the width of the screen to its height) youre working in before you start drawing. If the shape of the storyboard panels dont match that of the animation, youll be severely limiting the usefulness of the board. Standard formats include 4:3 or 16:9 for TV, and 2.35:1 for cinema, although there are many others. Its also helpful (although not, in my experience, vital) to know a little about camera lenses and their effects. Finally, familiarise yourself with camera-speak! Words like pan, dolly, locked-off,
ABOVE Making a plan of your scene can help you to position your cameras and create a good board sequence. Think of how to cover the action what are the best places to view it from?

ip and op should become second nature to you. And dont forget to compensate for TV cut-off. All lm and video loses a portion of its outer edge due to cut-off during the transfer from drawing to screen.

OBEY THE RULES OF COMPOSITION

The best lms follow the same basic rules of composition as classical painting and architecture. Make sure that your shot makes maximum use of the frame; allow the image to breathe, dont overcrowd it. Dead space or bad composition can make a scene distracting, and cause the viewer to lose track of whats going on. If you dont know much about composition, take a trip around your local art gallery; drawing inspiration from sources outside of lm and TV will also help to keep your work fresh, and may just give you the jump on the next guy.

DONT CROSS THE LINE!

When storyboarding, its important to know something about staging for lm and television. One classic rule is known as crossing the line. This is important in a two-shot, where two actors are lmed from either side by two cameras. To help the viewer understand the geography of the scene, the two cameras should not cross an imaginary centre line. In other words, Actor 1 should always be on the left-hand side of the screen when viewed from either camera. If you cross over this imaginary line, the viewer will have difculty following the action. See the boxout below for an example of how to storyboard a two-shot.

GET ORGANISED
It sounds obvious, but you can quickly become swamped in drawings for a project: a complex sequence might require dozens, or even hundreds of images. Establish a numbering sequence early on and stick to it. Its worth creating a template for your boards, too (see image, right). This should

CREATE A PLAN VIEW

Take the time to sketch out your scene as a plan view (looking down on it from above), and think about where youll need to place your cameras. Its a good idea to treat the animation as a live-action shot, and think about where the best positions for a camera would be. Also envisage how the action moves around the set. Youll soon realise
ABOVE Good composition. There are mathematical reasons why some compositions look better than others, but most artists are able to judge this instinctively ABOVE Not so good composition! This is an exaggerated example, but its a common mistake to put a persons head in the bottom half of the frame, with lots of dead space above

INSIDE TRACK | Storyboarding a two-shot

A typical two-shot Heres a simple scene featuring two actors and lmed by two cameras. All the action will be captured from one side of an imaginary line, and the cameras wont cross this line

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The camera one view Note that the bald actor appears on the left of the screen in this shot. This establishes one side of the line of action, and also establishes the geography of the scene from the viewers perspective.

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The camera two view Despite the change of angle, the bald actor still appears on the left of the screen, so the relative positions of the characters are maintained throughout the scene, enabling the viewer to follow the action

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