How to Draw a Movie.
What is a Storyboard?
In one of my blogs, 3 Essential Steps to Create any Film!, I explained the necessary tools needed to create a movie. One of these necessary tools found in pre-production is creating a storyboard.
A storyboard is a series of panels with sketches depicting important changes of a scene and action within a film. It is used to visualize scenes and camera techniques for filming. It also contains short descriptions on the specific scene, whether it be the act, scene, characters, or action found within the scene. A storyboard can also range to contain multiple pages for one scene, making the process an arduous one.
Storyboards differ with each reiteration, but each one has two fundamental characteristics:
- Sketches: Drawings of characters and scenery is a necessity for a storyboard. A sketch would also contain arrows depicting the camera movement depending on the technique. For example, a sketch visualizing the camera moving sideways would have an arrow drawn pointing to the side.
- Descriptions: any relevant information about the scene drawn. Action, dialogue, or composition are usually mentioned in every description. Camera specifications such as shot size, lens length, and more could be written in the description.
I’m not an expert at art, so the storyboard I’m creating may not be as descriptive or artistic as one produced by a film studio. Thankfully, having talent to draw is not a requirement for storyboarding. Like writing a treatment, a storyboard can be flexible and look different than others depending on the person creating it. Some storyboards may have intricate drawings while others may contain stick figures. What’s important is that the drawing should try its best to replicate the actual scene and vision for filming.
Each description should also be consistent within each sketch. While a description doesn’t have to be detailed, a consistent description can help in organization and better visualization of the shot. As such, many producers and studios when drafting their storyboard would at least write out the act, scene and shot in their descriptions
Final Thoughts
Overall, a storyboard can differ depending on each person. Some may be detailed while other can be simple. Like a treatment, no storyboard is ever the same.
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