Storyboards
Hello friends,
Today I started working on the storyboards for my wee monster puppet film after writing up my sticky notes from yesterday.
I tend to think and imagine quite visually about puppetry, either theatre or film, way before I start to think about dialogue or narration. I suppose this is because they are primarily visual and physical communicators before they even start speaking so my initial ideas quite naturally start there.
Yesterday I watched Learn to Storyboard: The First Steps of Visual Storytelling taught by Disney storyboard artist Leo M, an online class on Skillshare, which detailed the tools and rules of storyboarding and the steps to create a solid storyboard. I’ve also picked Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition For Visual Storytellers by Marcos Mateu-Mestre off my bookshelf.
I bought Framed Ink about 3 years ago while in Los Angeles at a book shop you had to ring the bell to be let into (which is pretty anxiety inducing but was wel worth it). When I first read it, it sparked off a lot of connections in my brain and became one of my favourite resources especially for theatre, although it’s been a long time since I’ve reread it and implemented its ideas. So, I’m looking forward to an excuse to dive into it again.
My plan is to get some initial ideas and images down in some rough thumbs nails, then apply what I’ve learnt from Learning to Storyboard and Framed Ink.
The final storyboard is a resource only for me, so I don’t expect I will really beautify it or do my best drawing. I learnt from Learn to Storyboard that storyboarding is a place to make mistakes and figure out problems before you get to the already time consuming stage of filming. It’s also important to make exploratory drawings before getting into the nitty gritty of the final storyboards.
This is a step I forgot to take, thinking it wasn’t too important as a piece of work that is only really for my reference… and it may well explain why I have found myself stuck and staring out the window today.
I will keep working on the storyboards for the next few days and hopefully work out the kinks of the story and how it will all flow beautifully together.
