Storyboard notes

Question 1

What is a Storyboard?

Answer 1

I. A film storyboard is essentially a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help film
directors, cinematographers and television commercial advertising clients visualize the scenes and find potential problems
before they occur.
II. In creating a motion picture with any degree of fidelity to a script, a storyboard provides a visual layout of events as they are
to be seen through the camera lens. In the storyboarding process, most technical details involved in crafting a film or
interactive media project can be efficiently described in picture and in additional text.
III. The general public have recently become more aware of storyboards due to DVD special features`

Question 2

Brief History of Storyboarding?

Answer 2

I. The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at the Walt Disney studio during the early 1930s.
II. The first complete storyboards were created for the 1933 Disney short Three Little Pigs. They evolved from comic-book like
“story sketches” created in the 1920s to illustrate concepts for animated cartoon short subjects.
III. The idea was to draw scenes on separate sheets of paper and pin them up on a bulletin board to tell a story in sequence.
IV. One of the first live action films to be completely storyboarded was Gone with the Wind.
V. Storyboarding became popular in live-action film production during the early 1940s, and grew into a standard medium for
pre-visualization of films

Question 3

Why use Storyboards?

Answer 3

I. Communication:
• Art is the basic communication of ideas, and film is a visual medium. Therefore films should communicate visually.
Storyboards allow film artists to communicate with each other through visual means
• Storyboards allow film artists to study icon and metaphor and how they can be used to communicate ideas.
• Due to the fact that storyboards are pictures, it allows artist to communicate beyond the confines of verbal language.
This is useful when a production is being filmed in other countries with multiple languages.
II. Production:
• To save money, films shoot out of sequence (the order that scenes appear in the final cut of a film). Storyboards allow
artists to visualize the entire film, and thus plan shooting schedules.
• Seeing the entire film in a type of blueprint, allows film artists to know how many shots will be filmed at an exact
location. This reduces the number of set ups and strikes in a given location.
• Actors can use the storyboard to follow a through line of character development.
• Technicians use storyboards to preplan designs of sets, costumes, and props. It is also used to scout locations.
• Storyboards allow several filming crews to shoot simultaneously.

Question 4

The Storyboard Process:

Answer 4

Initial ideas of a story are expanded to a full length screenplay
• Producers are solicited to read the screenplay, and if selected, a “pitch” meeting is scheduled.
• Illustrator are hired to draw specific shots of the potential film on to paper to allow for visual communication (Pictures
are often more exciting than just words).
• After the pitch is successful, a team of illustrators are hired to create the full illustrated screenplay.
• This tool is then used for pre, actual and post production