Introduction to Storyboarding
Extreme Long Shot - This shot is normally used to compare characters to their environment, normally showing a large sense of scale.
Long Shot - This shot includes a characters full body, it can be used in the same way as the extreme long shot but without the anonymity of being so far away. Motion and body shape are focused upon in this shot, as complex emotions are hard to make out.
Medium Long Shot - Similar to a long shot, but cutting the character around knee level. Can be used to give gravitas to a character when from a low angle (As seen in example).
Medium Shot - Cuts the character from the waist up. Focus is on the character while keeping their surrounding in shot. Useful for dialogue and close cut action sequences.
Medium Close Up - A slightly closer shot than the medium shot. The shot still focuses on the face while keeping some of the surroundings visible.
Close Up - Focuses entirely on the face of a subject. Used for emotional scenes, allows the audience to pick up a larger range of facial detail. The most intimate shot because of the closeness.
Extreme Close Up - Focuses on one part of a subject, usually of specific facial features such as the mouth or eyes. Can be used to convey emotional extremes e.g. fear, rage, sadness. Or to create a sense of unease.
Over The Shoulder - Mainly used in dialogue sequences, makes the audience feel like spectators of a subject or removed from a conversation.
Cowboy Shot - A variation on the medium long shot. Frames the subject from the mid-thigh up, was introduced in western films to show a character with a gun holster.
Two Shot - A shot that includes two characters. Can be used to show relationship between characters in a visual way.
Group Shot - A shot that includes a small group of people, can be used to define relationships or characteristics.
Crowd Shot - A shot that includes a large amount of people, usually shows a faction/ opposing groups of people and armies. Can create great senses of scale.
To the right there is a collection of shooting plans. These shooting plans outline the positions and movements of actors, cameras and lights, in the environment of the shoot. These allow the crew and actors to get an idea of how the shoot will operate when on location, which can increase the efficiency of a shoot massively, compared to going in blind.
During the climax of Rouge One: A Star Wars Story (2016), two of the main characters are faced with certain doom. At the start of the sequence a long shot places the characters to the right of the shot, with a huge explosion in the background on the left , the view of the explosion is uninhibited by the characters. I think that the use of a long shot gives the explosion and the incoming destruction a large sense of scale, especially when its size is compared to that of the characters. This shot sets the feel of the sequence, with a sense of knowing what is to come.
The next shot in the sequence is an over the shoulder medium closeup shot. This type of shot was used to allow the audience to see the emotion on the faces of the characters during their final moments. I think that a closeup wasn't used in order to have a part of the background environment visible which is being lit up by the light from the impending explosion.
The next shot is another over the shoulder medium closeup, although it feels slightly tighter than the previous shot. The camera switches focus from one character to the other, however it is the character in the foreground that is still talking. I think that this shot was used to allow the audience to see the reaction of the character that was being talked to.
The final shot of the sequence is a medium closeup of the characters hands. This shot shows the relationship the characters have, which has built up throughout the course of the film. I think that a medium closeup was used instead of a closeup so that the light of the approaching explosion was visible as it swells. The use of a medium closeup also feels more intimate than a wider shot.
Shot Type Examples
Shot 1: Closeup (CU)
Shot 2: Midshot (MS)
Shot 3: Longshot (LS)
Shot 4: Dutch Angle
Shot 6: Tilt
Shot 7: Tracking Shot
Short Film - Proposal and Treatment
The Highwayman
I will be creating a short stop-motion animated film based upon Alfred Noyes’s poem ‘The Highwayman’. There will be no dialogue, with music with and SFX as the only audio. The film will have a cartoon/semi-realistic style, and be animated in the style of Terry Gilliam.
Story Synopsis:
The poem tells a story of a Highwayman and his lover, an Inn keepers daughter. It is set in England in the 16th Century. The story starts with the highwayman visiting the Inn keepers daughter during the night, they are spotted by an Ostler who is working in the stables at the Inn, who overhears their plans to meet again the following night. The story continues in the day when a troop of British red coat soldiers arrive at the Inn, the soldiers go on to imprison the daughter at the Inn hoping to use her as a lure to catch the highwayman. After trying to break free the daughter manages to get hold of one of the soldiers muskets, she moves to a window in her room in which she can see the highwayman returning, with no other way of warning him, she takes her own life using the musket. Hearing the musket shot the highwayman speeds up toward the Inn instead of turning away as the daughter intended. The story concludes with the highwayman being shot and killed by the redcoat soldiers as he returns to the Inn.
Questions for a Storyboard Artist
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What is the story about?
- The story is about a Highwayman and his lover, in 16th century England. Their affair is discovered by a stable worker (Ostler) who informs the local authorities, soldiers then arrive and use the Highwayman's lover as bait to capture the Highwayman. The lover manages to break free from her bounds just before the Highwayman walks into the trap, she uses a musket left behind by a soldier to shoot herself as a warning to the Highwayman. Instead of taking the gun shot as a warning the Highwayman rushes towards the sound, fearing the worst. He charges into the trap and is shot by the soldiers who laid the trap.
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Who are the characters?
- There are four main characters. The Highwayman, a young man who rides on horseback around the main roads into London, preying on the rich who ride in carriages with money and jewels. Being a Highwayman in 16th Century England was punishable by death. The Inn Keepers Daughter, a young woman that is in love with the Highwayman, however due to the Highwayman's profession their relationship has to be kept secret, meeting at midnight in the courtyard of her fathers Inn. The Ostler, a stable hand working in the courtyard at the Inn. He sees the Highwayman and his lover meet at midnight while he is hidden in the shadows of a stable, he informs the local law enforcement of the meeting and details of their next meeting. The Redcoat Captain, the captain of the redcoat troop that comes to the Inn to capture the Highwayman when he returns from his latest escapade.
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In each scene, what do they do or say?
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In each scene, which characters are in the foreground, middle-ground or background?
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In each scene, with whom are they in conflict?
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In each scene, where does the conflict take place?
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In each scene, what intensity is demanded?
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What should be the main light sources, for both interior and exterior?
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Where will the key lights be positioned?
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In each scene, when are long, medium and close-up shots necessary?
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What kind of reflectors, filters, gels etc. are called for to create the mood?
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What colours dominate each scene?
Shot List
Animation Thumbnail Drawings
Highwayman Animation Storyboard
Highwayman Animation Production
The first step of the production process was to create all of the character pieces and backgrounds for the animation. I did this using Adobe Photoshop and a Wacom Tablet (Below).
When animating I used a camera in a 'Rostrum' setup, this means that camera is mounted pointing directly downwards. This allows you to capture a 2D scene perfectly flat and uniform each frame, as opposed to using the camera handheld. (Image below is an example of a Rostrum Setup).
The artwork that I produced at the start of the production stage was printed out onto A3 paper, I then cut around the various characters and objects that needed to be separate. When animating and capturing the images I used a piece of transparent acrylic plastic to flatten the paper pieces down.
I used a piece of software called 'Dragonframe' while animating. This software allows a live link to a DSLR camera to adjust settings and capture images. The software also has a feature called 'onion skinning', this overlays the live link from the camera on-top of the previous captured frame, this is very helpful when animating.