Animation Storyboarding an Animated Short 1Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

What is a Storyboard? Storyboarding is the process of producing sketches of the shots of your script. The end result looks like comic book of your film (without the speech bubbles). Storyboards are part of the preproduction (or planning) process that can include creating a logline, character development, scripting, and sound design. 2Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Storyboard Example 3Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

History of Storyboards Walt Disney is credited with the modern storyboard. In 1933, “The Three Little Pigs” was completely storyboarded. Animators at Warner Brothers (Leon Schlessinger) used to post gags and try to link them together into one coherent story. Today, most all major animation studios, along with the gaming industry, use storyboards. 4Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Storyboards in Live Action Movies In the late 1930’s, David Selznik hired William Menzies to storyboard “Gone With the Wind.” The popularity of storyboarding motion pictures continued with Orson Welles, Howard Hughes, and Alfred Hitchcock. A large majority of present day directors have their films storyboarded including Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, and the Cohen brothers. 5Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Group Projects Most productions are group projects and the storyboards are essential to communicate the goal to all group members. An animator working on an individual project would still want to storyboard to plan the project, choose the camera angles, and set the timing. 6Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Benefits of Storyboarding Reduces the time spent on unfocused, undirected discussion Allows everyone to share ideas equally and promotes consensus Helpful in generating alternatives Cost effective, accurate planning Perceive possible continuity problems before they happen Communication between departments Artistic and aesthetic vision remains consistent Communication with client funding the project 7Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Sound Design The step following the storyboard process is creating the sound audio recording. Usually, audio is recorded first and the animation is designed to fit the audio. The storyboard helps the actors understand their role when recording audio. The sound design should include dialog or narration, sound effects, and music. 8Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Animatics The audio track and storyboard can be combined to create an animatic to check timing. Animatics sometimes include some simple 2D animation or camera moves. Many current movies push the storyboard to create a 3D previsualization (previz) using simple 3D models and very limited animation; a kind of 3D animatic. 9Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Continuity and Understanding If your audience does not understand some portion of your project, the visual element usually needs to be corrected. If your audience does not feel the proper emotion, the audio element usually needs to be corrected. Try to create a storyboard that communicates the story without the viewer hearing or reading the dialog. 10Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Do I Need to be an Artist? Any drawing exercise is an important part of your portfolio. Many jobs expect you to be able to draw to some degree. Most colleges and art schools require students to draw (even 3D students). Many colleges will not allow you into their animation program until they approve your life drawing samples. 11Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Storyboard Paper Storyboards used for beginning story development are often rough drawings on 4” x 6” index cards tacked to a bulletin board. Panels can be easily added and the order can be shuffled. Once the story is established, storyboard paper with 9 to 12 panels maybe be used to thumbnail (tiny rough drawings) the board. Final production storyboards are usually done using one, two, or three panels per page. A wide panel frame may be needed for pans and trucks (explained later). Production storyboards should include action and dialog. 12Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Placements Strive to use a series of shots from different camera angles that rarely last longer than a few seconds. Try to find interesting camera angles rather than straight-on. 13Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Visual Focus Always ask yourself, “Where do I expect my view to look?” Arrange your visual elements and camera so your viewers easily understand where to look. In most situations, do not position the subject centrally in the picture. Use the rule of thirds by visually dividing the width and height of the frame into three parts. Try to put the most important object one of the intersections (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right). 14Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Rule of Thirds 15Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Horizon Placement In geographic terms, the horizon is where the sky meets the ground. In art, the horizon is the eye level. In an exterior scene, they may or may not be the same line. Do not let the horizon (either artistic or geographic) split the frame in half. In most cases, lower the horizon. 16Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Horizon Examples 17Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Lens and Perspective Understand the difference in camera lenses. In 3D, use wide-angle or telephoto settings when appropriate. Lens are usually identified by millimeter measurements. Wide-angle lens: around 12 mm. Normal lens: 24 to 50 mm. Telephoto lens: 100 to 200 mm. In 2D, push the perspective when needed by changing the position of vanishing points. 18Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Lens Examples 19Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Shots: Wide and Establishing Shots Wide shot – This is the name for a shot which is taken from a long way away showing the surroundings and the actor(s). Establishing Shot – A wide shot that lets the audience know where the action is taking place. Usually, your audience has to understand the setting at or near the beginning. Sometimes, you might choose to hide the setting from the audience on purpose. 20Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Shots: Long Shot Long shot – This is closer than a wide shot. You can see the person from head to toe, but you can still see what's around them. Many times the action is best displayed using this full-body shot. 21Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Shots: Medium Shot Medium shot – This shows someone from just below their waist to just above their head. When you use a medium shot, the viewer is close enough to see actor's expressions but can see what the actors are doing with their hands as well. 22Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Shots: Close-up Close-up – This shows just the head of the person being filmed. You can use this sort of shot when it's important to see someone's expression: for example, if they are scared or angry. Extreme Close-up – A dramatic shot that shows the actors eyes and mouth. 23Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Wide Shot 24Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Long Shot 25Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Medium Shot 26Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Close-Up 27Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Shot Comparison 28Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Shots: 1, 2, 3, OTS One Shot – Only one actor is in the frame. Two Shot – Two actors are in the frame. OTS – Over the Shoulder Shot. A two shot which puts focus on the character facing the camera. This shot sets up for the One Shot, as if the viewer has assumed the other character’s point of view (POV). Three Shot – Three actors. Angle the camera so that the focal point actor is closest. Look at the triangle created by the three actors. The “power spot” is the top of the triangle. 29Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

OTS – Over the Shoulder 30Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Shots: Inserts An insert shot is a full screen close-up of actions, objects, text, or a character’s reaction placed as if inserted over a longer scene or over dialog. 31Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Insert Example 32Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Shots: Dutch Angle A Dutch Angle tilts the camera on its bank axis which slants the horizon. It is used to create tension in a scene. Fast shots at a Dutch Angle might be used during a chase scene, a fight scene, or when a character becomes violent or confused. The 1960’s Batman television series used to use a severe Dutch Angle for every camera when shooting in the villain’s lair (The Joker, The Riddler, Cat Woman). 33Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Dutch Angle Example 34Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Movement: Dolly Dolly is moving the camera into the shot, getting closer to the action. This is similar to zooming in on the action. To show this on the storyboard, a floating frame is draw to show the final placement. Arrows from the corners of the original frame to the new frame indicate trucking. Use thick white arrows to show camera moves and thin black arrows to show objects or actors moving. 35Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Dolly Storyboard 36Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Movement: Pan Panning is rotating the camera on a tripod to slowly reveal a wide section. To show this on the storyboard, create a wide drawing and use a floating frame. Connect the frames with arrows to indicate the direction and mark “start” and “stop” on the appropriate frames. Normal storyboard paper often makes this difficult to show. A wider panel frame is better. 37Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Storyboard Pan 38Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Movement: Trucking Trucking is the lateral movement of the camera. Like panning, it reveals a wide section. Trucking usually follows an actor or an object, so the background is actually moving through the frame. Keep some space in front of a character in the direction they are moving. Don’t crowd into the edge of the frame. 39Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Camera Movement: Trucking To show this on the storyboard, use a circled “BG” with arrows to indicate which direction the background is moving. It may or may not be necessary to draw the entire background on a wide panel with a floating frame. 40Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Storyboard Trucking 41Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.

Transitions When possible, help your audience with scene transitions by hinting at the new location in the final frame prior to the cut. Example: First scene is in a school hall and second shot in a classroom. Show the door to the classroom prior to the transition. Special transitions may be needed for the passage of time, flash backs, dreams, etc. Simply write on the panel a description: clock wipe or fade to black. 42Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.