Storyboarding

Why is storyboarding an essential part of the film making process?
- It helps the director to visualize scenes before they have been shot.
- It allows the director to see if there are any potential problems before shooting, therefore saving time.
- It helps the actors, as they know what to do; it's a visual way of presenting a script.
- It shows the narrative flow of a story, and we can see how the film progresses easily.
- It shows the camera angle, camera distance, camera movements and lighting, so this helps the director to shoot the shot.
- It tells us how the shots are linked together (e.g. cut, mix to), so this tells the editors what to do during editing sessions.
- They show how each shot would look like, so we can imagine the mise-en-scene easily, and this makes it easier for the prop managers as well as the director.
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'P' is for Psycho
1. What is happening in the opening sequence of the film?
In the opening sequence of the film, we can see that it is about a man who seems to be a killer, murderer, or 'psycho'.
The film begins with a low angled wide shot of a toilet door, with low key lighting. The dark lighting tells us that the film is going to be quite scary and maybe a horror or thriller, and the shot of the door tells us that we are probably going to find out what someone is doing inside. The shot then mixes to a low angle midshot of a man. We can at first only see his legs standing by a sink, and then his upper half, via a tilt. These shots are all shot from a low angle, making the character seem larger and more dominant. The scene is then cut to a slow pan, and we get to see his belongings. We see that he has taken off his watch, and taken out his wallet, notepad and photograph.
Next is a key image, a close up of a plug hole, with blood flowing down into the sink. We then assume that he has taken part in a murder of some sort, as he is washing the blood off his hands. We then have other close ups of his hands, with him wrapping a bandage up and clenching his fist, showing aggression, and reinforcing the image of him being some sort of killer.
The shot then tilts up to his head, and finally, we have a close up of his face. We can finally see who he is, but this is interrupted by the sound of a door opening, and his head turning to the side, to see who has entered the toilet. We then see what he sees; the shot is cut to a midshot of a boy entering, and then the camera is back on our main character - he is now tucking a gun into his belt.
The entering of the boy seems to enrage the main character, and we see an extreme close up of his eyes. From this image we can see the emotion and anger, and there are shadows from lighting underneath, so reinforces the character of being a 'psycho'. We then hear him say 'BAD MOVE, KID...', the screen fades to black, and there is a brief pause. Suddenly, we hear gun shots, and as viewers, assume that he has killed the innocent boy.


2. How is the narrative flow established?
The narrative flow has been established with shots linking on to eachother smoothly, via tilts, pans, cuts and mixes. For example, the midshot of his legs is linked together with the shot of his upper body via a tilt.
The shots also all link together story-wise, too, as all the shots are in the toilet and part of the same scene; there is no jumping between two scenes that are happening at the same time.


3. If you were directing this sequence, what aspects of the storyboard would you like to change?
If I was directing this sequence, there would be a few alterations that I would make. For example, the pan across his belongings is marked as 'very slow'. I would speed this up, as there aren't many objects that the viewers properly have to examine, and a 'very slow' pan would just waste screen time. I wouldn't make it a whip pan, just speed it up so we get a glimpse of his belongings.
And in shot 10, we see the main character tuck a gun into his belt. I think this is a bit pointless and doesn't really go with the story, as this means he tucks a gun into his belt, and then immediately takes it out to shoot the boy...? Instead, I think it would be better if we saw a close up of his hand next to his gun already in his pocket, as if he is thinking about taking it out. This way, we can still highlight the fact that he has a gun, and it goes better with the story.
Finally, at the end, the shot fades to black. The fade would completely ruin the anticipation and exciting mood; it should cut immediatly to black instead. This would make a dramatic ending, with the gunshots in the background too.