Do you storyboard everything?

Again, thanks for all the input.
I always have been using a shotlist so far on my projects, but if I do coverage of one scene, I only write down the important/difficult shot eg track-left, because I´ll need to set up the dolly of course. On set I´ll maybe do some additional static shots, just to have sth to choose in post.
Also shot/ reverse shot is sth most of us will probably do automatically...
I just never did storyboards, cause I thought of them to be no real help for my work( too timeconsuming and too vague and I can´t draw as stated before...).
Well, but people (non or semi pros) I work with keep asking "Where is the storyboard?" like this would be as important as having a camera/lights/actors to shoot with...
Maybe it is because of all the special features DVD, which show storyboard pages or even the progress of the storyboard/animatic in the making-of...
Hehehe, now I find it more astonishing that almost no one in this threat uses storyboards for pre-vis...!
 
I think for anyone who wants to do sci-fi, storyboards are impossible to ignore.

SFX and compositing requirements will put limits on the type of the shots. The camera guy and compositor will probably spend more planning a shot than the usual production.

I'm lucky that I'm both the camera guy and the compositing guy.

For most genres like chick flicks, heavy dialogue stuff etc a simple shot list is fine.
 
Drew599 said:
Has anyone tried using a digital still camera to get storyboard frames.
Click to expand...
We did this for a short film all the way back in 1999, and it was extraordinarily helpful for those of us who can't draw! It was easy to do for that film because it was one actor in one location, so we went to the location, used a stand-in, and shot frames for every setup. Using an actual camera let us experiment with camera angles that I never would have been able to draw.

I don't know how useful the technique would be for multi-character/large-cast scenarios, but for a smaller film it was brilliant -- we storyboarded the entire 14-minute production in the course of about two hours.
 
Barry, I can kind of draw. It just takes me way too long to do storyboards for...anything. The taking pictures thing I really like. For the same reason you said. It allows you to experiment with different camera angles. That way you might have some crappy angles that you can throw out right off the bat. I like it also because it gives me an idea of how the light looks on location. Plus, you could get one of those new iPods and put all the storyboards on there for referance.
 
For narrative work, I have found that using stand-ins with a Directors viewfinder during preproduction is very helpful. You have the ability to see the size of frame and can control exactly were the camera is positioned. This, with an overhead diagram has been very beneficial. It saves a lot of time from looking at your shot list and going "what was that shot again?". I'll have a binder with pages of overhead diagram's on set. Each diagram will have the the shots for the day, equipment needed for that scene, were each camera placement is, lighting set-ups, possible notes for dolly, grip and electrics. These diagrams can be very easy to create. A ruler, (film tools sells stencils), stencils and some location pictures of what the place looks like and in 20 min you can outline 10-15 shots.
It's great because, If anyone on set has a question of what the next shot is they can easily see the set-up.

Storyboards have been most beneficial when working one on one with the director during pre-pro for visualization. It helps me get into the same world as they are. If you are the director and DP, then you already know what the shot looks like. An overhead diagram should answer most other questions.
 
ok, i started to write out an answer...and it turned into a fricken essay...

anyway, i will try to make it simple.

the more simple the commercial, scene, short, feature, whatever...the less you really need to do some form of storyboarding. "football diagrams" work great.

but, once things start to get complex or the scope of work goes up. when you start to get things like major sets, locations, massive extras, special effects, or visual effects. you may want to plan this stuff out a bit more ahead of time. get your ideas/vision down as clear as you can on paper/computer so that the heads of these departments can better and more efficiently do their jobs.

you might be clear/understand what you want...but people cant read your mind. boards help people understand what your after....and there are many added bonuses to the storyboarding process. you might even stumble upon better ideas while boarding a scene...ive seen it happen many many times...

talented board guys bring allot to the table as well. many well known directors thrive on the creativity of storyboard guys. the storyboard process is a great way for a director to bounce ideas around and try different things.

anyway, yes i use boards as much as i can...helps me flesh out ideas, and get everyone on the same page. i love'em.
 
I enjoy the previsual's. It's like seeing a film without motion. It gives me ideas that, otherwise, I might have missed out on.
If there is a storyline to your shoot I would suggest using the storyboards. Get your angles and framing all worked out.
That's my preference, anyway.
 
Okay, so the consensus is that storyboards are generally good.

Now, if money were no object (and it seldom is) which storyboarding software is the best in terms of comprehensiveness, ease of use and efficiency?

Could there possibly be more than one?
 
I've only used one, and it the free version at that, but frame forge fits my needs. I'll have to take a look at lightwave. Who makes it? care to share the link-
 
That is a link there.

If you get halfway decent with the tool, you can use it for visual effects as well. It was used for Titanic, Serenity and a boatload of other FX laden films. Cameron is using it exclusively for his new Sci-Fi film that is in production now.
 
People are so impressed by my 3rd rate stick figures that I've never even considered software for storyboarding.......
 
Depends on the set/location

Depends on the set/location

While I also have everything in my head as a writer/director/shooter and like to improv, I want a degree of comfort for my crew and actors before the shooting day. Unless they've worked with me before, a film is like a date, with us judging/analyzing everybody, and everybody judging/analyzing us.

Also, only very experienced actors/crew know that you can't take care of everything, so they like to know you've taken care of something besides giving them the script.

That's just the way it is, so I like to smooth the "judging/analyzing" and provide everything I can to show that I'm in control, so when the uncontrollable comes up, they can remember other things I was controlling.

I think storyboards are a good way to do that. Now I don't draw anything, and that's where my title comes in. If it's a location shoot, I take digital pictures of each camera setup, or at least where the shots will be, showing close up or wide.

I then print them on the back pages of the shooting script with scene numbers, put the next to them (3e2s) because I haven't drawn anybody on the pictures, I don't put camera moves because I do that on set, and then use a pen and highlighter to show where in the script each labeled shot will be. So: back of page 19 has the differnt shots with pictures, page 20 has the script with shot numbers (cooresponding to back of page 19) then vertical highlighter lines showing their duration through the script.

I've found this gives my actors and crew a "wow" effect as, after the original script, this might be the first tangible/take home impression they have, and when they're at home they are interacting with it and will remember it. It's also the first movement from idea/written words/concept to visual, and gets everybody in the mood for the start of production, which is almost all visual.

Like the Truffaut's classic Day for Night, a director is really the psychiatrist of a film, showing calm when everything is crashing around them. I give as many things in the beginning to make a good impression, because I WILL be asking for payback.

art
 
yagfxg33k said:
That is a link there.
Click to expand...

Thanks.


lasondas said:
While I also have everything in my head as a writer/director/shooter and like to improv, I want a degree of comfort for my crew and actors before the shooting day. Unless they've worked with me before, a film is like a date, with us judging/analyzing everybody, and everybody judging/analyzing us ... Like the Truffaut's classic Day for Night, a director is really the psychiatrist of a film, showing calm when everything is crashing around them. I give as many things in the beginning to make a good impression, because I WILL be asking for payback.
Click to expand...

Great advice Art, well said.
 
Okay, I’ll resurrect this thread since I’ve been storyboarding and writing about the process a bit on my blog. I don’t plan to storyboard everything for my feature. I need to be able to change shots and blocking to accommodate my actors. But I still think some storyboarding is helpful, even if you can’t draw. You can see from this storyboard, that my drawing skills are pretty bad.

scan3.gif


First of all, the drawing is bad, second I meant for that board to be a tighter two shot, and third, I’m clumsily using arrows to indicate where I want the camera to go. However, all that got me thinking in a way I wasn’t thinking when I was writing the screenplay. This is an important scene in my movie because we’re laying a bit of pipe, but it’s a brief scene and nothing too emotional happens. So in a no-budget flick like mine, this scene should be knocked out quickly with minimal coverage so we can move on and spend more time on the bigger scenes. So after drawing that first crappy storyboard, I decided to change the shot. Now my characters don’t sit across from each other. The chair on the opposite side of the desk will be full, forcing the characters to sit facing each other with an angled two shot. No need to move around for over-the-shoulder shots for this scene.

scan1.gif


Anyway, the storyboards are pretty bad looking, but still helpful in that it gets me out of the writing mode and into visual thinking mode.

Cheers,

Josh
 
It depends on how visual a person you are. I'm almost always my own DP but I still think story boards are very important.

If I had time, I would LOVE to storyboard every shot. But I tend to have a lot of shots and this just isn't practical. I also tend to put too much detail into the boards instead of just getting a good idea of what I need (I want them to be pretty dammit!!!). Anyway, I think it's best to just story board the shots which will have a very specific composition you want to remember. Ones where you have a great idea for a shot and it HAS to be perfect.

That said, you absolutly HAVE to have a shotlist if you're doing anything longer than one scene. I'm sure you have it all in your head, I do to, but having a shot list that you can check off (I tend to have pretty details descriptions of what the shot will look like and the action) can save you so much time. It's great just to be able to just check off shots and shoot them in the most convenient order without having to worry about if you forgot anything.

That said, I like to improve too and you should never limit yourself from that. In the film I'm editing now, I storyboarded EVERY shot and had a shot list. Nevertheless, I still ended up adding a bunch of shots on set because I instinctivly new I needed more. These are making things SO much better in the editing process and I wish I had actually tried to do more of the ones that occured to me on the spot (but time constraints provented). In two cases, I actually threw out my shot list entirely. I realized that the scenes were flat and boring and I simply started from scratch, picking shots as I went and competly recreating the scenes. I trusted my gut and hoped that I knew what I was doing and they appeared to have come out great.

I think that's the thing to remember. In the end, you have to trust your gut and not be bound by anything but it's great to have a shotlist and storyboards to fall back on.
 
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