Personal Approach to Teaching Storyboarding

Editing is the final step in filmmaking. The process of taking all of the footage that has been created, shot, materialized from the ether, then juxtaposing those shots with each other is editing. Good editors understand the meanings which can be inferred from images and audio put together. Editing is a post-process in filmmaking.

Storyboading is the pre-process to filmmaking. Storyboarding, could be just simple thumbnails drawn out in a sequence so someone can understand what to shoot or create for a shot or it could be a long process of creating all of the shots needed for a film and putting them together in an animatic (animated storyboard).

Good editors make for good storyboarders and viceversa. Both editing and storyboarding revolve around creating meaning from a sequence of images. Storyboarders should understand what happens at the end of the process of filmmaking so that the entire process can become much more efficient. Storyboarding sequences then laying them out, is cheaper in time and money than filming or creating animation shots then hoping all the continuity just falls in to place. Storyboarding is a place where creativity can be whimsical and naive because it is cheap in comparison. Storyboarding is also a place where true visual brainstorming can happen. The type of brainstorming which everyone in the room drops the ego and can present ideas free of judgement for the sake of genuine conceptual idea generation. (Yeah, I know this isn't the case in the industry everywhere, but I do wish it was)

With all of the above stated, it is from this point of view, that teaching editing in conjunction with storyboarding is key to making quality and meaningful films.

Composition

Visit the Composition page to understand the fundamental visual langue needed to create compelling storyboards. Understanding the limits of the image, and the edge of the screen is key creating successful animation and film.

Visual Staging

[Staging]

[Silhouettes]

Eisenstein montage

Sergei Eisenstein's montage theory is the filmmaking concept where editing creates meaning and emotion through the collision of contrasting shots, moving beyond the simple storytelling to provoke thought and new ideas. He identified methods of editing by treating the process as a dialectical, conflict-driven process.

Example of Eisenstein editing experiment:

[Einsenstein Example]

Below is a link to the Internet Archive showing the film Battleship Potemkin. I think everyone should watch this film if they want to understand filmmaking. If you want to jump to one of the most homage-ed scenes in film history, jump to 48 minutes in for the Odessa Steps scene.

[Internet Archive - Battleship Potemkin]

Concepts

Collision of Shots

Meaning isn't in the individual shots but in their rapid, conflicting juxtaposition, creating a "third meaning" or synthesis, much like a dialectical process (thesis + antithesis = synthesis).

Beyond Narrative

It's not just about telling a story but about generating intellectual and emotional responses, allowing film to convey complex ideas and "film the unfilmable".

Conflict

Eisenstein saw conflict as fundamental, applying it to the collision of forms, movements, colors, and sounds, not just narrative events.

Types of Montage

Metric

Cutting based on the absolute length of the shot to create a rhythm or tempo.

Rhythmic

Cutting in relation to the movement within the shots to create a sense of action or continuity.

Tonal

Using the emotional quality (tone) of the shots (light, shadow, mood) to build feeling.

Overtonal

A complex synthesis of the metric, rhythmic, and tonal methods for a broader emotional impact

Intellectual

The most advanced form, where contrasting images create abstract, symbolic ideas. Example, utilizing cuts and timing to infer a building were to come to life.

Camera Shot Types

The linked video is an older demo for camera shot types. The information is still relevant. The video contains more examples than the listed shots below, with animated scenes.

[Camera Shot Types]

Close up (CU)

The camera is placed 'close' and zoomed in on the subject being shot
Used to draw more attention to the main subject
How tightly composed on the subject can determine the level of the viewer response

Medium Shot (MS)

Labeled as a medium shot because of the distance from the subject
Medium shots are the average distance between a Close Up shot and a Full shot
Medium shots are usually used for dialogue between two subjects. Medium shots are considered to be how most people view others during conversation

Medium Long (MLS)

Medium Long shots, sometimes called an American shot, refers to the distance of the camera from the subject
Medium Long shots are the average distance between a medium and a Wide shot
The subject encompasses the frame from the knees up

Wide Shot (WS)

Wide shot refers to the amount of the field viewable through the camera
The camera is positioned so that all of the subject is viewable
Wide shots have a variety of meanings to varying people

Long Shot (LS)

The camera is placed a 'long' distance from the subject
Long shots are used to establish time, place and mood

Extreme Close Up (XCU)

Closer than a Close Up shot
The camera is positioned close to the subject and zoomed in
Extreme Close Up shots are used so that the viewer is put uncomfortably close to the subject

Extreme Long Shot (XLS)

Further away than a Long shot
The camera is position far away from the subject
Extreme Long shots are used to establish a large amount of the environment or establish the insignificance of the subject in scale

High Angle

High Angle because of the height of the camera to the subject
The camera is placed above the subject and angled down to face the subject
High Angle shots implies the viewer is superior to the subject

Low Angle

Low Angle because of the height from the subject
Low Angle shots are positioned below the subject and rotated up to focus on the subject
Low Angle shots are used to make the subject seem more imposing or heroic to the viewer

Aerial

Sometimes referred to as a Birds Eye view
The camera is placed extremely high over the subject being shot
The Aerial shot is used to establish location, time, and can reinforce mood
Aerial shots can make the subject seem insignificant

Profile

The camera is position 90 degrees facing the subject
Viewing the subject from the side, the viewer is put into a neutral emotional response to the subject

Frontal

Called a Frontal shot because of the view of the subject
The Frontal shot is composed so that the front of the subject is facing the camera
A Frontal shot can cause the viewer to become uncomfortable with the subject being shot

Three Quarter

Three Quarter refers to the amount of the subject viewable by the camera
The camera is placed at a 45 degree angle to the subject
Viewing so much of the subject helps the view identify with the subject

Two Shot

Called a Two shot because of the amount of subjects in the shot
The camera can be placed in a variety of positions as long as two subjects are in the shot
Two subjects in the same shot lets the viewer observe the interactions objectively

Point of View (POV)

The camera is positioned to view the environment from the subjects view
The viewer is forced to experience the subject's environment in the point of view shot

Over the Shoulder (OTS)

Over the Shoulder refers to the location of the camera
The camera is positioned behind the subject just above the shoulder and to the side
Over the Should shots lets the viewer into the perceptions of the hidden subject and how they see the visible subject

Over the Hip (OTH)

Over the Hip refers tot he location of the camera
The camera is positioned behind the subject just above the waist line and to the side
Typically the fully visible subject is framed through the arms of the hidden subject
Sometimes the visible subject is inferred to be inferior to the hidden subject

Cut Away (Insert)

Sometimes called an Insert, it is usually used for editing purposes
The Cut Away shot starts with the subject then moves away to another
The Cut Away is used to give the viewer more information about the subject and scene

Cut In (Insert)

Sometimes called an Insert, it is usually used for editing purposes
The Cut In shot is usually a close up shot of the subject, typically not of the head, following a shot of the subject
The Cut In is used to give the viewer more information about the subject or action of the scene

Canted (Dutch Angle)

Sometimes referred to as a German shot or Dutch shot
The camera is rotated extremely to one angle or another
The Canted shot instills disorientation of panic in the viewer

Pan

The camera is fixed in place, and rotated from the right to left or left to right
Panning shots can be used to follow action in a large scene
Panning shots force the viewer to participate in the film by following the subject

Tilt

The camera is fixed in position, and rotated up and down or down and up
Tilting shots are used to follow action upward of downward
Tilting shots usually reveal information to the viewer at the end of the Tilt

Zoom

The camera is fixed in position while the focus of the camera is opened or closed
Zoom's like Dollys, enlarges or shrinks the subject to the viewer
Zoom shots do change the receding lines of perspective

Establish, Action, Reaction

Utilizing camera shots in a particular order, with on screen action, we can begin to infer motivations. The shots are cut together, establishing, action, then reaction; then reaction of the reaction ad nauseam until the specific scene is complete.

Establish

Typically a longer distance shot from the subject so the viewer can attain more information. The typical information in an establishing shot is, geographical/spacial, temporal, motivational/emotional, and action-oriented. The use of light, weather, color in the shot will make it clear to the viewer the intentions of the director.

Action

To clarify quickly, an action shot does not imply quick, fast, visual movement. Action, refers to the subject doing something. The action could be as simple as starring into the distance with little to no on screen movement, or it could be the subject speaking to another, and yes, it could be the close up shot of car wheels squealing on the pavement.

Reaction

This is the action, after the initial action of the subject. The shot could be the another shot of another subject responding to the dialogue of another, or it could be cut-ins to the very same subject to imply meaning to the scene. The core concept of the reaction is that it moves the scene along visually. The shot should bring more information to the viewer and contextualize the scene further.

Movement

WORK IN PROGRESS

Nested Russian Dolls