Independent Storyboarding Research

This video on storyboarding gives a lot of advice and personal experience from experts, which in turn makes any beginners to storyboarding feel more confident and relaxed, one of my favourite quotes being 'all you need to do is convey in the the simplest terms what the camera should be looking at at that particular moment'.







This video tutorial is quick and basic, helping beginners in the simplest way possible, with also a few handy tips for storyboarding more seriously in the future.

Storyboarding and 'P' is for Psycho

Why is storyboarding an essential part of the film making process?

- It allows the director to picture what the film will be like before he starts shooting it.
- It allows the user (director, writer) to find potential problems before they occur 

-They allow the user to re-arrange their original plan and create a more powerful storyline with flashbacks etc.

- It allows the director to work out what shots look best to portray certain emotions 

-It uses visual thinking and planning so a group of people can brainstorm together and try out different senarios and shots. 

'P' is for Psycho

What is happening in the opening sequence of the film?

At first we are given the image of a male toilet door in low key lighting, then the camera zooms into the door until it mixes to a low angle shot of a mans legs leaning over a wooden panelled container (possibly a bath), as the camera tilts upwards we see he is clutching his hand over a sink wearing a white overall or shirt and black trousers. The shot then cuts to a high angle shot of the mans possessions to the side of the sink where he is holding his hand. We then find out why he is in this stance as it cuts to an image of blood travelling clockwise into the sinks drain (probably falling from his hand). It then cuts again to an image of the man wrapping his injured hand with a bandage before cutting again to a shot of him in the mirror clenching that same bandaged fist, then as the camera tilts upwards we are given a CU of the mans face before he hears a door opening and the man turns his head quickly from right to left leaving blur, making us think he is in desperation or shock, so possibly the victim.  Then we are shown a Mid Shot (MS) of a boy entering the bathroom from the right to left side of the shot.  It then cuts to shot 15 where the man is tucking a gun into his belt, followed by another cut to an Extreme CU of the mans eyes poorly lit in shadow where he says 'BAD MOVE, KID...'. This last shot then fades to black and two gunshots are heard and we then find out the injured man is not in fact the victim but the villain.

How is the narrative flow established?

The narrative is very snappy and fast-paced, very 'to the point' with no extra, un needed information. This is achieved by the range of shots, mid shots, multiple close-ups, and one extreme close-up. The use of these shots and the dark lighting (seen in shots 1 and 11), make the piece appear threatening and the main character appear calm yet mysterious and menacing. The use of pans and tilts somewhat slow the pace which almost gives it a creepy suspense, drawing it out until it gives the viewer a shock or surprise at the last moment. The narrative at first appears slow but as the shots become less ambiguous (like the beginning to keep the audience guessing) and we find out more about the main character we are given a sense of shock and anxiety and the pace picks up. 

If you were directing this sequence, what aspects of the storyboard would you change?If I were directing this sequence, i would put all the ambiguous shots of the plug hole and the bandaging of the hand before the shot of the man standing over the sink, as i think this would  create more mystery and suspense as to what has happened in the bathroom to create the blood and the bandaged hand and also make the audience question more wether the man is in fact a victim or a villain before then seeing his face and finding out. Another aspect i would change would be the pan across all the belongings, as i feel this slows the pace down too much for no important reason, instead i would change it to make a few CU cuts of singular, more relevant to the story, objects like the picture.  

Film Opening Sequence Analysis

The film opening i have chosen to analyse is from the film '10 things i hate about you'. It is a Romantic Comedy/ Chick Flick and a remake or the classic Shakespeare play 'The Taming of the Shrew' set in a modern day American highschool. The clip i will be analysing ends at 4:55 in the video above (as the opening credits end and the story develops deeper).
The story is set in Seattle in Washington, America, in an average american highschool 'Padua High'. The time scale of the clip is only around half an hour; the morning of a new semester starting, everyone heading back to 'Padua High', seeing each other again.
First we hear the music 'One week by Barenaked ladies' already connoting a teenage, immature and lighthearted atmosphere, then we start to see the credits in a scratchy almost doodled font to also connote a youthful film and attract a young audience. This then doodled theme carries on to a picture of a roughly doodled/sketched drawing of Seattle which blends into a LS of the actual city. After a pan of the city we are taken to a shot of 5 teenage girls in a blue convertable volkswagen and dancing and smiling at each other whilst driving, this then appears to be the music that opened the film,they then stop at lights. That is when their music is suddenly drowned out by another cars music 'Joan Jett- bad repuation' and we pan over to see a girl, alone, driving a very masculine red car,. The girls look over at her, but when she looks at them they look away. As the credits are continued we cut to some boys feet hitting around a roller hockey puck and are then introduced to a LS of the school setting. Everyone at the school is talking, seems happy and upbeat until it cuts again to the angry girl from the car who walks up to a prom poster and tears it down. Again the opening then cuts to Ms. Perkys office where a boy is looking uneasy and impatient whilst Ms. herself is on the computer. We then see that the Head mistress is typing the opening to a romantic novel adding a comedy value. We then find out that the boy is called Cameron and is in fact new to the school and the head mistress is very strange and funny, in that she does not care about his welfare. On the way out of the office the new boy bumps into another boy entering the office, who gives a mean glare. This boy (Patrick Verona) has been called into the office for bad behavior in school. Cameron is then sent to meet Mike (an audio visual geek) who then shows him around the school explaining to him the different groups and most important of all the Bianca Stratford.  
The order of events is fairly significant to the story, as we find out the main settings (a zoom in from city, to road, to school) and all the main characters in their order of significance (Kat, Cameron, Patrick, Mike, Bianca), in just the opening sequence. Also where we leave off with Mike showing Cameron around, he then meets Bianca Stratford, who is the reason why the whole story falls into play and the other characters we have been introduced to previously, get involved. But the actual order of events leading up to that point aren't very significant as long as we are introduced to all the main characters and find out/know they are all heading to the same place.
The events all link to one another as the students are all starting their new semester at the same highschool. But they are unconnected in that we cut to the different mornings of each of the main characters seperately.
The first character we are introduced to is Kat Stratford (the girl in the red car). As she is driving a very masculine red car, alone, this instantly suggests she is an outcast with a 'bad reputation' (as this is whats playing from her radio). The girls look over at her, but when she looks at them they look away, almost scared, suggesting Kat is mean and angry- something to be scared of and feared by others. After we are introduced to the school setting we then see her walk up to a prom poster and tear it down, showing us that she is spiteful and maybe finds herself a bit of a feminist (not wanting to go to an event where women are subjected to prettiness). This scene also shows us she does not care what people think (as she keeps on walking even when a girl comes over to ask why she teared down the poster). From this we can see she will be the problem element of the story as she is hard to handle and opinionated.
The second character introduced is Cameron. He seems nervous and uneasy in the priciples office, and seems startled by her strange behavior connoting he acts how any other pupil would act if they were sent to the principles office (very average and normal). When leaving the office and meeting Mike he says 'Thank God, normally they send out one of those weird audio visual guys', this quote shows us that Cameron is possibly an average american teenager, one that blends in to the background usually and doesn't have a 'clique' (shown from Mike showing him the different cliques and him clearly not suitably fitting in to any of them). We then see slightly un-average behavior when he sees Bianca Stratford (the gawping etc.) and this shows us that his role in the film is possibly to have the weakness which sets the plot in motion, his weakness being his 'averageness' and love for Bianca.
The third character introduced is Patrick Verona, Cameron bumps into him in the doorway of the office, Patrick gives an rude glare, suggesting he is also mean or a bully of some kind. His offence in the office is to have 'exposed himself', suggesting he is very carefree and up for anything. This could show us that he will get roped into the situation by his will to be destructive and his mean side could link together with Kats, also mean, side and this could be his role.
Quite alot of story information is revealed in the opening sequence, as it jumps straight into the story with the credits playing over, we also meet all the characters and their main setting where we know their paths will cross in some way. We are deliberately with held from the formal introduction of Kat Stratford, to connote to the audience how the other people in the school feel towards Kat (that she is just mean and angry), when infact they just dont know her well. The fact we get alot of charaterisation in just the opening sequence aswell, allows the audience to piece together what will happen themselves (as seen in my charcter analysis above). We can clearly see the two girls of the film are opposites, which could lead to conflict, and that Cameron fancies Bianca, and Patrick and Kat are very similar in character although they may not know it (suggesting a love interest).
I think, at the beginning of the film, the audience needs to know and be introduced to the main characters to be able to see how and where the story will develop. They must also see that the film is set in a school, as this then straight away leads to many conventions of the american school typical story being played through the audiences head (two people who hate each other end up falling in love etc.). The audience must also be aware it is a lighthearted and teenage movie and this is clearly connoted through the opening, immature, youthful music, as this allows the audience to also run through their minds conventions typical to this chick flick/rom com genre.

Reflections On Shots

Q1. Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be described as representing your chosen genre

• My shot is a mid-closeup of a white teenage, boy holding onto bars and looking out of shot to the right with a scared look on his face; there are stairs leading up to a door in the background. My chosen genre was Thriller and I believe this genre is represented by the way a lot of mystery is created through the shot. The tight frame focuses your attention on to the character but also gives nothing away as to what is about to happen and with the boy looking out of shot, it creates a suspense as you don't know what know what he is looking at and why he looks so scared. The black and white/night vision gives it a Sin City feel- another thriller- and almost makes the shot more dramatic and drained of all emotion connoting the effect being scared has on your body (your face goes pale in fright). The way the boy is not at the top of the frame conventionally, suggests he is vunerable and less powerful than whatever is through the door/chasing him. Another effect creating a Thriller genre is the shadow on his face from the bars, as this could show the character has something to hide (maybe why he ended up in the situation)- a convention seen a lot in Thriller films.

Q2. What did you actually do to achieve the effect?

• To make the shot more dramatic we turned on the night vision on the camera, to make the character seem vunerable and weak we made him crouch down to take the shot and show a lot of the whites of his eyes. To create a mystery I decided it was vital to see the door, so the actor crouched down as low as possible for this and taking the shot, I crouched down a bit too. To show the shadow on the characters face and emphasize the whites of his eyes we placed the light in the space the actor was looking into.

Q3. Identify what is successful about your shot

• I think the tight framing of the shot was very successful as it emphasized the genre greatly. Te whites of the actor’s eyes were also successfully picked out to show his vunerability. The placing of the lighting to create the shadows was also successful as it gave the audience a deeper knowledge of the genre and character.

Q4. What would you do differently in hindsight?

• In hindsight I would have tried to make the stairs leading up to the door a lot darker with maybe one single light, making it seem more menacing- like the character has just run from darkness (evil) into light (good-saved-hope-etc.)