Last semester when I was doing the storyboard module, I was surprised. And now I'm once again surprised when I made a portion of the animatic for the Title Sequence Project. I was surprised because I didn't know how difficult and time consuming it was to storyboard!
Before I came to university, I have made storyboards for short films I worked on during my time in A Level and BTEC film. At the time, I was the only one making the storyboards because nobody else wanted to do it and they knew I was the best at drawing out of all of them. The criteria for making storyboards during the course was to make one…and that's it. I wasn't really taught how many drawings to make for a shot or how many notes you need to write around the panel, as long as I made one for the team I would've done my job properly. These film courses were mainly about production and post-production, so pre-production didn't matter at the time…well it did to me but it wasn't needed to pass the courses (this is why I know so much about editing in Premiere Pro).
So naturally when I found out I was doing a storyboard module in the first semester, I thought I was going to pass with flying colours because that was my main job for the past three years! I thought I can easily become a storyboard artist when I leave university because of having experience before anyone else. The key word here is thought. I thought I can easily pass this and be a storyboard artist. In reality, I knew nothing.
Storyboarding is more than drawing scribbles on a page and labelling the type of shot underneath it. Unless you're a fast worker and are already good at drawing, this module would've been tough, and it was for me.
First of all, despite people telling you you don't have to be good at drawing to be a storyboard artist...you have to be good at drawing. I know this because the students who were already good at drawing had the better storyboards. They had textures and prominent shadows and expressive faces to really show how the characters are feeling. The drawings were simple but they had the fundamentals of of a drawing that represent a part of the movie. My drawings were far too simple, like what I did during my A Level and BTEC, having no shadows, no textures, the characters looking very stiff and some objects not even looking like objects! I ONLY JUST passed the module because of this.
On top of that, everyone used a tablet to draw the storyboards and they knew how to use it. I got my first tablet a month before I moved to university and was still trying to get used to it. The digital storyboards looked horrendous, so I ended up drawing the storyboards on paper and scanning them into the computer.
Another thing I didn't understand was how many drawings to make for a shot. The more action that's happening in a shot, the more panels you should draw. I, on the other hand only made a few panels for an action shot. The drawings didn't match the action-packed feel of what's happening on screen. Even if the characters are just sitting down and talking, having multiple drawings for a shot adds life to the storyboards and looks more complete.
Finally, the notes around the storyboards: shot type, shot number, action on screen and dialogue (if any). Do this for all shots or panels (if action or dialogue changes during each panel). These notes will be helpful for the director, producer, editor, animators and practically everyone whose trying to get the grasp of the story.
Storyboarding is harder than you think and I found it extremely difficult to make one when I realised that how I made them before was NOT how to do it in the real world. Some studios might even be particular with thier storyboards, wanting them to be extremely detailed or allow you to be as messy a you want. I don't think I can ever a storyboard artist when I enter the industry as it's not my niche anymore, but after that learning curve I'm very appreciative of storyboard artists and you all should be too.
