Plan first | Shot scale | Pan | Zoom | Shot angles | Tilt |

Storyboards help us to imagine individual shots and to plan the shot flow of a cinematic sequence. At minimum, you should be able to communicate the shot scale and the nature of the movement of the frame (the camera) in your storyboard. This is more important than realistic drawing of the mise en scéne.

This section explains some simple techniques you can use to communicate shot scale and the movement of the camera, even with stick figures. More advanced storyboarding for cinematography does require an understanding of perspective drawing, and the fundamentals of these techniques are also explained.

Plan first

Before you start any detailed drawing of the mise en scene, it is very important that you should plan your shots and editing in detail.

• Before drawing anything, annotate your blank storyboards in pencil. Use the space alongside the storyboard to write down the shots that you want for the sequence.
• Now sketch the shot very lightly in pencil - use stick figures without any detail.
• Review the whole sequence of shots - try to imagine what it will look like when filmed.
• Make any changes to improve the shot flow.

Shot scale

It is not difficult to suggest the scale of the shot - it can be done even with stick figures.

Your storyboards will be more useful as a tool for visualising shot scale if you give your stick figures a bit of body.

The size and detail of the human beings drawn in the storyboard is the major clue to shot scale. Notice how scale is used to suggest three different framings of the shot in the images below.

(Examples after Steven Katz)

Close ups

A close-up should show the major facial features and the expression of the figure. If the figure is at a large scale in the foreground, but is viewed from behind, you need draw only the silhouette.

Conveying emotion is important in a close-up. Comics show us how very few lines are needed to convey the basic emotions.

Click on the arrow button in the example above to see how very slight deviations from a neutral facial position can communicate very different emotions.

Longer shots

Figures that are further away from the camera need not be more than stick figures, as shown in the example on the right. (The tutorial on postural analysis will give you some simple tips for drawing stick figures).

An establishing shot does not need to be a detailed drawing of a landscape, but can block out the landscape into simple shapes and silhouettes, as in the example below. When using this technique, start with dark blocks of colour for the foreground, fill in shades of grey in the middle distance, and use the lightest shades in the distant background

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Pan

Since we can't show movement in storyboards, shots with a mobile framing usually require more than one picture, or use a different format (i.e. they use a frame which doesn't have the usual proportions for a film). The example below uses both techniques, and breaks the border of the frame to show that the pan continues to the left. An arrow labelled with the word "PAN" will ensure that your storyboard is correctly interpreted.

Zoom

Zooms are often over-used by amateurs, and can be inappropriate when used in a random way. Before you use a zoom, think carefully about why you need it, and what the most effective beginning and end points of the shot will be.

Use arrows and annotations to show how big a zoom you want, and whether it should creep or crash in on the subject. Also remember to number the storyboard (e.g. shot 1a and 1b) so that it is clear that you intend to show the beginning and end points of a zoom, and that they are not two separate shots .

Alternatively, redraw the frame to show beginning and end points of the zoom in one drawing, as below.

Shot angles

Drawing the angle of the shot requires at least a rudimentary knowledge of perspective drawing. If you don't have much practice in drawing in perspective, you can still suggest the angle of the shot very effectively by "crating" your stick figures in boxes which you draw in the correct perspective. If you annotate the storyboard with labels which state exactly what kind of shot you intended, you should be able to communicate the angle of the shot very effectively, as in the images below (after Steve Katz).

If you have a good knowledge of perspective drawing, you can plan the angle of the shot using simple one-point perspective, as in the example below. (For more detail, see the discussion of drawing three dimensional forms in perspective.) (Note that perspective is applied to the figure and to the building in the background.

Tilt

A tilt can be shown by using one drawing with multiple frames to show the movement of the camera. Again, you should add an arrow labelled "TILT UP" to help the reader interpret your drawing.

Tilting the camera up or down can introduce dramatic shifts in perspective. In the example below, notice that the standing figure in the background is foreshortened as the camera tilts up to focus on him.

© Copyright Marion Walton, 2004