Storyboarding, method, tips, tricks, resources. I'm not a story teller, help!

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peripatew

Well-known member
I feel that I'm pretty technically proficient. I can understand how to get a "good" shot. However, I've found a lot of my shots tend to be boring (likely for several reasons, one being that I'm a noob), and I think the main reason is that I'm liking storyline that drives me.

What helps you in creating the storyline? How do you make and use storyboards?

I don't yet have a particular style that I'm always shooting, as I'm trying lots of different things (all of them relatively short though).

What resources have you used to tell better stories with your videos?
 
There are two issues. One is the 'story telling', the other is the technical aspects of camera placement, frame composition, talent blocking.

If your 'shots' are boring, then I'd suggest watching a number of movies on your computer, and pause the movie at shots you think are 'good', capture the frame by some method, then analyze the shot, relative to 'camera setup', 'lighting', and 'talent'.

Once you've done this sort of think, you can begin to see how 'story telling' works into the technical aspects of the shot.

In addition to the Steve Katz books (there's several), I like the following as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Cinematic-Storytelling-Powerful-Conventions-Filmmaker/dp/193290705X/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295543761&sr=1-11

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Shots-Techniques-Expensive-Low-Budget/dp/1932907513/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

There are others, but these would be a start.

As for the general issue of 'story telling', if you are not particularly inclined to 'write', then perhaps find someone who does write to partner up with.
 
Check out Marvel comics & graphic novels for shot ideas, and an iPhone app called Hitch or Hitchcock for storyboarding.

RBG
 
Not strictly to brag, but more to show where I'm coming from on this--I won a full storyboarding scholarship at Digital Media Arts College and my brother-in-law is an Emmy award winning storyboard director for his work on Family Guy.

You definitely don't need to know how to draw very well. If you have a great artist with no storytelling talent vs a stick figure artist with great storytelling talent, the stick figure artist will win every time. The best storyboarders understand visual strategy, composition, depth cues, eye/horizon line relativity, and overall storytelling. The best book out there right now to learn all of this is Gustavo Mercado's The Filmmaker's Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition. His other book, The Visual Story, is required reading as well. It was compulsory for me to read The Art of the Storyboard and Storyboards: Motion in Art in college (I studied Computer Animation), but neither book is as revelatory as The Filmmaker's Eye.

I used to use Blue Line Pro Comic Book Layout Paper with a mechanical pencil and grayscale markers, but I've since moved on to using Photoshop with my Wacom tablet and a neat bit of 3D storyboarding/animatic software called FrameForge which comes with a control pad. FrameForge will set you back a pretty penny, though. I've also used Canson Comic Book Layout Pages which come in a small book form for quickly sketching out ideas or roughing out other people's descriptions on the fly during meetings.
 
Thanks for the responses so far. I plan on picking up some of the books mentioned. However, I'm currently working on my masters (not film related at all), and my brain is pretty maxed out in terms of its reading capability. Are there any DVDs/video resources out there that are any good on this topic?

I've got a few general DSLR video series, but they don't focus much on storyboarding at all. (As a side note, I'm also looking for some video on lighting). I'll likely pick up these books in the next week or so, but would love some video to be able to watch when my brain needs a break.
 
peripatew said:
Thanks for the responses so far. I plan on picking up some of the books mentioned. However, I'm currently working on my masters (not film related at all), and my brain is pretty maxed out in terms of its reading capability. Are there any DVDs/video resources out there that are any good on this topic?

I've got a few general DSLR video series, but they don't focus much on storyboarding at all. (As a side note, I'm also looking for some video on lighting). I'll likely pick up these books in the next week or so, but would love some video to be able to watch when my brain needs a break.
Click to expand...

The Filmmaker's Eye is an easy read with lots of picture examples from films. Its chapters are only a few pages each. I have the book someone else here recommended, Film Directing: Shot by Shot, and a book like that is a tad heavy to take on. I have a couple of DVDs like Cinematic Storyboarding with Coro and the Gnomon Workshop one, but they're very fast pace and assume at least an intermediate knowledge of Photoshop on your part. I don't recommend them for the beginner.
 
vcassel said:
The Filmmaker's Eye is an easy read with lots of picture examples from films. Its chapters are only a few pages each. I have the book someone else here recommended, Film Directing: Shot by Shot, and a book like that is a tad heavy to take on. I have a couple of DVDs like Cinematic Storyboarding with Coro and the Gnomon Workshop one, but they're very fast pace and assume at least an intermediate knowledge of Photoshop on your part. I don't recommend them for the beginner.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in more info on the DVD's, and appreciate the further info on Filmmaker's Eye, sounds like a great book. I have a pretty good knowledge of the CS5 suite, Photoshop included, with Illustrator as my weak point.
 
Storyboard artists (and directors who create their own) need to work with material that is already dramatic. Shots should be motivated by story and drama first and foremost. If you're having trouble with the storyline, then that's where you need to work--not your storyboarding. I mention this because your original post sounded like you were having story/drama issues and storyboarding issues. Story/drama issues need to be dealt with first.
 
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