HOW TO STORYBOARD
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ast issue we attempted to cover the basics of writing a script, but unfortunately we were so drunk and miserable, it barely made any sense. But as you may have surmised, script writing is easy, you just need to follow the format; keep the action simple and understand how your characters communicate with one another in your story. Once you have your script, it's time to start planning how you're going to shoot it; this is where the storyboard comes in. Storyboards are really useful; they're essentially a cheap way to build a visual edit of your film, and great for communicating your idea to your cast and crew. Most importantly it's a chance for you to take something from inside your head and solidify it on paper. As a consequence of the storyboards fundamentality, it's a process that is often
You don't need to be a talented artist, indeed the quality of your drawings will in no way effect the quality of the cinematography. You just have to communicate your ideas in a simple and understandable way. If you're a little worried you won't be able to get your story across, annotations are perfectly acceptable. As usual the following examples are by no means the definitive way to do things, but they've always worked for us.
XCU
CU
MS
LS
XLS
34 HOW TO: STORYBOARD
regarded as superfluous. Obviously you can shoot a film without a storyboard, but you're not doing yourself any favours. If you want to save time and money, and avoid stress, storyboarding will give you the safety net to avoid splattering on the bone-crunching failure metaphor.
XLS
XCU: Extreme Close Up CU: Close Up MS: Mid Shot LS: Long Shot XLS: Extreme Long Shot