Every professional movie and animated film is storyboarded before any film or animation is started.
What is storyboarding you might ask? Storyboarding is the visual depiction and translations of scripted scenes.
Storyboarding is a process by which the written word is transformed into images.
Sure, one can read the script and describe to everyone what to do but it is much easier to have it laid out visually.
Now as an Indie Animator, you may be a one man team or just a few.
In some cases you and your team may share the same vision.
I tend to think that the only way to not do a storyboard is if you are a one-man shop.
The more creative folks added to team, the harder it is to share the same vision.
Personally, I like to plan everything before I do anything artistically.
I find that I enjoy creating the final product much more when I only have to think about drawing or modeling (or whatever it is I'm doing).
Creating compositions is much easier when I know ahead of time what I'm going to do.
Creating storyboards can be fun and at times overwhelming.
The sheer number of boards that must be created can be large.
But, making this boards and putting them all together can be used as a tool to see what works and what doesn't about your story.
Understanding the Script - Use the (#) to match up with the descriptions below Sample Script: INT.
CHILDREN'S BEDROOM - JIN REMEMBERING UNCLE BAE (1) Jin leans back with a puzzled look on her face and begins to think of her uncle Bae.
Scene is beautiful and a little over-exposed with foggy edges.
This is a happy memory but it also underscores the heavy influence of socialism in the country.
(2) UNCLE BAE (3) Jin! Jin! Come on Jin! We're going to be late.
JIN (Tying her shoes) (4) OK Uncle.
I'm coming.
Camera pulls back from Jin's shoe and reveals a beautiful building.
As the camera continues to pull back, it shows Jin running to catch up with her uncle.
(5) Scene Headings-Will tell the location and time of the scene and is in capital letters.
Scene Headings are usually indicated by INT for internal or EXT for external (1) Actions-Will tell what is currently happening in the scene (2) Character Names-Names of the characters in the scene (3) Parenthetical-Used as a stage direction and a place to add further details about the scene (4) Dialogs-The bulk of the script is most commonly dialog.
Dialog can be what is said between characters, as a narrative or to themselves.
(5) Camera Movement-Indicates what the camera is doing in the shot and directs the reader.
(6) For my boards, I use a medium amount of detail.
They are not quite a thumbnail but far less finished than a final composition.
The purpose of my boards is simply to show how I want the scene to look and where the camera will be.
A lot more can be added and would need to be added if there were other team members using these boards.
However, I'm a one-man studio when it comes to this animation so there isn't that much that I don't already know in regards to what I want to do with the scene.