All three of these sites are good as they give easy to follow breakdowns of the storyboarding process and I like how the Karen J Lloyd blog tells you what you're doing wrong so that you know not to make the same mistakes again!
This is the one I think is the best: http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-draw-storyboards-095842/
as it is simple and doesn't over complicate the process. It also gives clear concise tips that allow you to completely understand the process of storyboarding. The site also has a video which helps us learn about the styles of storyboarding. It also gives some related links of other useful videos/sites that will help to improve your storyboarding technique.
In the opening sequence we see a toilet door along a corridoor. The shot then mixes into a low angle of a man in his 30's stood at a row of sinks leaning over slightly. We then see a tilt up his body and see he is wearing quite plain clothes and we then see his face (but he's still bent over the sink). This then cuts to a high angle pan from left to right across some objects including a photograph, watch, notebook and wallet. We then see blood flowing down the plughole in a close up hinting at trouble/murder. It then cuts to hands wrapping a bandage round some hand wounds in another close-up. The man then clenches his fist in a mirror image and then the shot tilts up and the man turns his head to the side, and the shot blurs. We then cut to a boy entering the toilets (in a mid-shot) and it then cuts back to the man in the toilet putting a gun into his belt. We then dramatically cut to an ECU of the mans eyes with lots of shadows. The shot then fades to black and a gun sounds.
B) How is the narrative flow established?
The shots in P is for Psycho keep cutting in quick movements from one to another and the distance type varies greatly between each following shot. This means the audience keep getting jolted and has to focus a lot of attention on the scene. The shots don't directly flow from each other either as you jump from a shot of the door, straight to the man inside. We don't see the jounrey from the door into the toilets meaning the audience doesn't get a very good idea of whats going on. The shots only show minimal surroundings/objects to keep the viewer guessing.
C) If I was directing this sequence, how would I change it?
If I were directing this film I would perhaps give the audience a wider shot of the corridor or maybe take the camera down part of it so there would be more of a sense of mystery of what's behind it as the camera creeps towards it. I would also make the shot of the blood running down the sink wider and perhaps put his hands wrists in the shot too so that some cuts/scars could be seen and make the shot more interesting. I would also have the man looking around suspiciously to make it seem as if he has actually done something wrong earlier on in the scene, rather than at the end when he shoots the boy so that the audience immediately knows there is something to fear. I might add a side on shot of the boys profile at one side and the gun with the mans hand a the other just before the boy gets shot so that we can see the fear on the boys face and then it would cut to black rather than fade as the gun sounds.
So that they know if the film flows or not and the director can visualise it.
They have a clear idea of the narrative.
So that the producers don't waste their time with unnecessary shots: they know exactly what they need so it is more time and cost efficient - it would waste so much time if the directors had to stand around deciding everything as they are shooting the fim.
It is easier to see whether the directors ideas are going to work on screen.
It means that it is easier for the director to decide what the lighting should be like and how the acting should be done as they have a rough idea of what to work from.
It reduces the time that the actors are needed for so it saves paying them more money.
The actors peformances will be more convincing as they know what they need to react to and exactly where they should move to.
It's an important piece of communication between the members of the film crew as it provides a clear outline for everyone to work from.
It helps the production team with the order of shots and then after shooting it is easier for them to know what has or hasn't been filmed.
Before production it allows the production team to sit down and talk about how they are going to make each shot work so that they all have a clear idea of what they need to do.
The set designers/costume designers know what they need to do and it allows them to get everything oprganised before shooting.
(This is the trailer for The Notebook because the opening sequence is no longer on youtube.)
The film I am looking at is called The Notebook (2004, Nick Cassavetes) and its genre is Romance/Drama. The film cuts between a couple in the 1940’s and another couple in modern day. It’s set in South Carolina America out in quite a rural setting (lots of lakes/forests).
The film starts with a long shot of the sunset with someone rowing a boat on a lake, and then the credits begin. This gives the audience a calm feeling and lets them know this will definitely not be a horror/thriller film. At this point there is calm music playing (piano only) which immediately tells us this film will be of a romance genre. We then see cut to a MCU of an elderly woman watching the same lake (but this time empty) and being told she should go to bed (is perhaps in a nursing home). We then cut to a long shot of an old man walking through the nursing home and he starts speaking a voiceover. He talks about love in his voiceover also hinting at the genre. We then cut back to the old lady in her room, who is again looking out of her window in a pensive way. The elderly man then enters the womans room after the nurse has been trying to persuade the woman to go outside. The man is then told ‘I’m sorry it’s not a good day’ by the nurse. This lets the audience know that something may be wrong with the woman and that the man often visits the old lady. Both characters are wearing plain clothing, the woman mainly in red, and the man in a dark shirt and trousers. The opening makes it seem as if these two characters are at the source of the story as the main focus is on them. The lady is then persuaded to listen to Duke (the man has just been given a name) read, and then she reluctantly goes with him into a conservatory where they both sit down.
By this point we still don’t know very much about the characters as although we now know they are both in a nursing home and the woman needs quite a bit of looking after, the audience still doesn’t know the relationship between the two characters. This seems like a deliberate point of the film so that people have to keep on watching to find out the history between these elderly people.
Duke then begins to read a story to the lady, and at this point the audience does not know the relevance of it. We do get told that the one of the books characters is called Noah and that two characters met (in the book) in June 6th 1940. The man recites this date (and his face is a CU so we can see his emotion) off by heart suggesting it is an important date to him. We then get told that ‘Allie’ (another book character) was 17 at the time. We then cut to a fairground setting in the 1940’s, so the shots are no longer of the modern day characters. It is then inferred to the audience that the book he is reading is linked to these new scenes and characters. We then get a reverse track of two young men wearing workers clothes walking through the fairground. This lets the audience know that perhaps these men aren’t particularly rich (which later is a key problem in the film) We then cut to a group of girls who are on the dodgers and one of the men (Noah) singles one of them out. This then puts these two characters as the main two of the story. The girl pointed out; Allie is also wearing red (like the old lady) suggesting some link between the two characters – yet at this point the audience still has a lot to find out. We get a close up of Allie laughing telling us it is quite a light-hearted film. The camera then zooms in to Noah’s face after he is told that Allies dad is extremely rich. This is the catalyst for the disruption in the film, fitting with Todorov’s narrative theory. The zoom then gives us a better look at Noah’s face and we can see he is happy (whilst looking at Allie). This suggests to us that the film will be about these two characters and that some sort of relationship between the two will happen. We then see the group of girls get off the dodgers and the distance is a mid shot, until Allie reaches Noah and he stops her. We then cut between MCU shots of his face and Allies whilst he asks her to dance and she refuses. We can clearly see that Noah is pursuing Allie creating a strong storyline for what’s to come. Allie then rejects him and walks away but Noah looks hopeful. We then get a long shot of the Ferris wheel and we can tell its night time so the whole scene with Allie and Noah in is the same scene in the same time period. There is no jumping between days/months. We then get a mid shot of Noah watching Allie on the Ferris Wheel and we get the sense something important is going to happen by the way he is staring at her. Noah jumps up onto allies Ferris wheel seat (which she is sharing with another man) and then we get a close up of Noah as he then hangs onto one of the bars on the wheel. He then lets go with one hand and makes it look as if he is about to fall to his death. Allie is screaming and we get mid-shots cutting between the two characters. He keeps asking her if she will go out with him (and makes it look as if he will let go if she says no) so Allie ends up agreeing. This is clearly an important part of the opening as it is the beginning of their relationship, but what happens between this scene (could be anything) is still left unknown to the audience to keep them intrigued. Allie also pulls down Noah’s trousers and this adds a sense of comedy to the film. Noah says ‘I’m gonna get you for that’ and Allie says ‘maybe you will, maybe you won’t’. This tells us that there is going to be further communication between the two characters.
There isn’t much time covered over these scenes other than the fact that the two scenes are in different decades, but the scene in the 1940’s is only over about 30 minutes in their time so it tells us that perhaps later on in the film the narrative will be more jumpy and we won’t get as much time spent on each scene. The audience needs to know who are the main characters and perhaps why they are together or in the same scene. They just need to get some background of the narrative and in the Notebook they get this from Duke reading the story to the elderly woman.
1. Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be described as representing your chosen genre.
Our shot was mid-long shot from a low angle. There is minimal lighting on the shot, helping show the horror/thriller genre. The positioning of the girl at the top of the stairs in the light makes her loko vulnerable, but at the same time, in control., as she is above the dead body lying down the stairs which makes the audience question her innocence. The fear on the girls face also makes it seem as if she is the victim - keeping up with the conventions of a horror film. The body being dead also helps convey that the film is a horror. The minimal surrounding also help create an eerie sense for the picture and keep the focus on the main character in the shot.
2. What did you actually do to achieve the effect?
We needed to bend over above the dead person lying down the stairs and take the shot from below the scared girl. We used minimal lighting and we zoomed into the girl at the top so that the picture had a main focus. We made the actress wear plain clothing so that the shot was kept simple and the narrative was more obvious.
3. Identify what is successful about your shot.
I think the darkness of our shot is successful as the lack of light makes it seem more like a horror shot and adds to the ambience. I also like the levels in our shot as it creates a dynamic that puts one character at a better advantage. The composition of our shot also works quite well as the legs and the girl are on opposite sides of the shot so the frame is well filled. The look on the actresses face also helps make our shot successful as it adds to the drama of it and allows the audience an insight into her character.
4. What would you do differently in hindsight?
If we were to do it again we could add more light to the victims face so that it was half light and half shadow to show that the character has something to hide. We could also pull the shot in tighter so that there is even more focus on the girl 9whilst still keeping the feet in the shot). I think it might also be good to try and get a better quality image as this one is slightly fuzzy.
