TO STORYBOARD OR NOT ...

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Dave Watterson
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TO STORYBOARD OR NOT ...

Post by Dave Watterson »

There is some controversy about storyboards.

One group of film makers would not work without them. They sketch rough drawings of each scene they want for their movie - whether a fiction or documentary film - and use that as a means of planning not just the shoot but also as a guide to the editing, shape and pace they want to achieve.

Another group think this is a waste of time - especially for documentaries. They think that approach curtails their freedom during a shoot and is often unrealistic in expectations.

What say you, good film makers?

- Dave
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Willy
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Location: Antwerp Belgium

Re: TO STORYBOARD OR NOT ...

Post by Willy »

There is some controversy about storyboards.
What say you, good film makers?
It depends on what kind of film you are making, Dave. As you know I filmed my clubmate's wife who is an artist. I had sketched about 70 rough drawings of each scene. Thanks to this storyboard "the filming was going like a bomb" (That's the right English expression I think. In Dutch : "het filmen verliep als een trein"). The artist and interviewer knew what they had to do. I also sketched the facial expressions. Look at the "smilies" on this page. Some little men are happy, some are angry, some are just serious. In that storyboard you can already see the film. Actually it was young Douglas Boswell who showed me how to make such a storyboard. He was a filmschool student and one of my clubmates. The drawings show where the camera must be placed. So I mean the right angles. It means that you have to see the location first before sketching the drawings. That's clear.

No storyboard for "The Battle of the Oranges"
It does not mean that you can do this for every film. Do you remember the film "The Battle of the Oranges" by Bernard Hausberger ? I am sure that he didn't make a storyboard to prepare that film. Sometimes you don't know what will happen.

Storyboard for "Say Wensleydale Cheese !"
Now I'm preparing my film "Say Wensleydale Cheese !". It's about that beautiful part in the Yorkshire Dales. Just like "Together with Yoda" and "Guernsey, I Love You !" it will be a documentary (or let's say a travelogue) with acting scenes in it. Up to now I have sketched 128 rough drawings ! I will film most scenes in the cottage that I have hired. You can find it on internet. See "Mile House Farm Cottages" ... surf to "Fell View Cottage" in Bainbridge. A camera takes every corner of every room in the cottage. Thanks to this film on internet I could sketch the scenes in the kitchen, the living-room, the bedroom, ... I will only stay there for one week. It means that I will not have much time to do the camera work. Actually this is also good for an other reason : most of my films are too long for festivals.

Weather conditions are essential
I also sketched the scenes outside. At Hardraw Force, Jervaulx Abbey, "Black Sheep" Brewery in Masham etc... Of course the weather conditions are very important for the scenes outside. If it is raining cats and dogs then it's better not to do camera work, unless it is functional. It means that it is always possible that I will go back to the Yorkshire Dales a second or even a third time. Luckily I am helped by Geoff Harrison of the Preston Movie Makers. I am an honorary member of that group. He helps me finding the actors, finding objects, etc...

The landlord of the "Rose and Crown" in Bainbridge does not reply !
At this moment I still have big problems with one location. I already sketched the acting scene in the "Rose and Crown" in Bainbridge which is very essential for my story. I found some photographs of the interior on internet. However, the landlord didn't send me a reply to my messages. I asked the permission to film in his pub, but he didn't answer.

Contacting locations is also one of the challenges that I always enjoy. A positive reply creates happiness. A negative reply gives a boost to try and find an other solution. I received a positive reply from "Black Sheep" Brewery in Masham. Also one from the "Creamery" in Hawes, but Geoff Harrison contacted them because they didn't reply very soon. Last week Geoff called the landlord of the pub "Rose and Crown" in Bainbridge. This man had a bad cough. He would reply very soon... If he does not do this then I will have to use my Plan B. I will sketch rough drawings for Plan B in a few weeks.

I am looking for a horn. Who can help me ?
There is only one problem in Plan B. In the "Rose and Crown" a horn is hanging in the bar of the pub-hotel. Every evening a hornblower blows the horn. It dates back to the Middle Ages. I would like to show this in my film. If the landlord does not give me the permission I will film a dinner scene in my cottage which is in the village green. In the distance the actors David and Anita can look through the window and see the pub. An other actor can blow the horn. Is there any one who knows where I can find such horn ? You can find a photograph of a hornblower in Bainbridge on internet.

Geoff Harrison has found the two actors. They are members of the Blackburn Drama Group. He knows these people very well. He has sent me photographs of David and Anita who are the two main characters. I am looking forward to meeting them in the beginning of June. Then I will be in Bainbridge. I have already sent a part of my storyboard to them. I am sure that they will find me a bad artist. I cannot draw very well. On the other hand thanks to this storyboard they will know what I will ask them to do.

Preparing the film (sketching drawings) is as enjoyable as doing camera work and editing. Of course that's my opinion.

- Willy
Willy Van der Linden
Brian Saberton
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Location: Scotland

Re: TO STORYBOARD OR NOT ...

Post by Brian Saberton »

I agree with Willy - it depends on the film. For fiction, especially complex action scenes, a story board is very useful as it breaks the sequence down into manageable segments so everyone on the shoot knows what is needed. I think that story boarding was invented by Walt Disney as an aide to animation and was then adopted by live action film-makers who saw it as a useful tool. I know that the technique has been used by Alfred Hitchock and also by Steven Speilberg as well as the makers of big blockbuster movies. I can't see why it should give rise to any controversy - surely it's a matter of personal choice. I know that I've found storyboards to be useful for planning tricky scenes on some past club films I've been involved with but I wouldn't necessarily use them for everything.
Brian Saberton
Michael Slowe
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Re: TO STORYBOARD OR NOT ...

Post by Michael Slowe »

Odd about this thread,it seems to have been running for ages judging by the dates, Dave, have you revived it seeking contentious comments?

I HATE storyboarding! It is of course essential for a billion dollar feature film in order for complex plans to be made and to avoid multi million dollar costs of people waiting around needlessly. Also perhaps useful for a low budget drama for similar reasons, but for an amateur production? So much depends on who is available on a given day, what facilities are actually there rather than promised (viz Willy's pub), available light, etc etc.

For a documentary it is ridiculous to suppose that you can plan every shot and angle. Often (and I have made many documentaries) I don't know from minute to minute what I am going to be able to shoot, it's nearly always 'catch as catch can'. Sometimes (as with my 'On Silk') I can work with an individual subject and take my time but even then I proceed 'off the cuff'. How Willy can envisage shots in locations he hasn't even seen beats me, and I've corresponded with him privately on this subject. See my article in the current issue of FFM on a documentary I shot last year that outlines some of the problems. Storyboard? I was lucky to get anything in my viewfinder, let alone pre planned frames!
Geoff Addis
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Re: TO STORYBOARD OR NOT ...

Post by Geoff Addis »

During a recent presentation to the Reading Film and Video Makers Don Fairservice stated that the pros don't storyboard!! Now, Don has a lifetime of experience in editing both documentary and drama, he has won a BAFTA award for Best Film Editing so therefore his opinions and observations are worth listening to. Having said that, this comment totally surprised me, the process of storyboarding is well documented in many textbooks including Steven Latz's 'Film Directing, Shot by Shot'.

As far as Broadacst TV documentaries are concerned, the director or researcher will interview those to be featured before creating an outline script; afterwards, at the filming stage, the director will remind them of the appropriate questions asked previously together with their subsequent reply. Used as a prompt, this technique helps to get a natural, free flowing, but an essentially structured sequence. Sometimes camera angles etc. are planned in detail before shooting, especially if there are important cutaways that need to be included, but it is more common that the final positions and framing will be determined at the time of the shoot. Of course, this technique does not apply to the fly-on-the-wall genre where the editor creates the story following the event.

As far as amateur drama productions are concerned, thought needs to be given to the perspective, framing and movement of the major shots before the actual shoot, but whether this requires a story board very much depends upon the nature and complexity of the production.
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Willy
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Location: Antwerp Belgium

Re: TO STORYBOARD OR NOT ...

Post by Willy »

You hate storyboarding, Michael. Indeed, you have explained this in a private message. I can understand. My documentaries are also feature films in some way. I mean there are acting scenes in my documentaries. For instance in "Faithfully Yours" you can see an actor who plays the role of Charles Dickens. In "Maskerade" the main actor plays the role of the painter James Ensor. The co-production "Guernsey, I Love You !" is a love story. I think that "Breendonk" is the only dramatised documentary ever made about that concentration camp etc... I know some of your excellent documentaries, Michael. Storyboarding these films was not necessary. On the contrary. The interviews are very spontanuous. Maybe thanks to the fact that you have not storyboarded your films. The acting in my films are not always very natural. It also depends on the actors themselves.

I love storyboarding. Thanks to my drawings I can visualize my dramatized documentaries better. I have finished the storyboard for the film "Say Wensleydale Cheese". I have made exactly 150 drawings. I have sent the drawings to Geoff Harrison of the Preston Movie Makers. Geoff can give these drawings to the two main actors and now they know better what kind of clothes they will have to wear and how they will have directed. Our forum-friend Geoff said : it is more common that the final framing will be determined at the time of the shootings. He is right. It is not possible to visualize everything for 100 percent. However, I know every corner of the cottage that I have hired. Look at "Mill Stone Farm Cottages" ... "Fell View Cottage" in Bainbridge. I have also tried to find photographs of the "Rose and Crown Hotel" in Bainbridge. You can find them on internet. Of course there will be more than 150 shots for my film "Say Wensleydale Cheese". As I am an anglophyle I know the area of the Yorkshire Dales quite well. I have a map of Britain on the wall of my room. The map is a magnetized board. In every place where I have spent at least one night I have put a red magnet.
In the Yorkshire Dales I spent nights in Hawes, Kettlewell and Malham (3 times). So I know the landscape ( hills and drystone walls) very well.

When I was in Guernsey last time I met Robert Lorrimer. Really, I met him in one of the beautiful bays of the south coast. He was there on his own. Together with his camera and tripod. He was the only living soul there. I recognized him. I had met him before. I think it was in Chesterfield two years ago. On the beach in Guernsey he was filming. He said to me : I have never been here before, but at home I used "Google Earth" to discover this place...
Even if you have never visited a location before you can see it on internet. That's very fascinating. That's one of the pleasant things of making films as a hobby. Preparing them is already something very fascinating.
Willy Van der Linden
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