because of lengthy animation process it helps to plan ahead, especially if you are working with a large group of people and not with yourself. You may have a clear idea of exactly how your story and movie will look in your head, but how do you convey that idea to other people? That’s where storyboards come in.
The role of the storyboard in the animation process
storyboard quite a bit of , what it sounds like — boards for your story. Serving as a visual representation of the still images of your film, a storyboard marks each key moment of the film, drawn out and presented in a picture book-like order. It has key movements and events laid out visually as well as camera angles and any camera movements.
Storyboards themselves do not have dialogue bubbles so they don’t look like the comic book version of the movie. They leave dialogue and any details off and just focus on what will be visual. Sometimes they include big arrows to show something is approaching or panning left or right, but they put the dialogue or any key information at the bottom, or someone speaks through the storyboards introducing them.
Check out great storyboard comparison for introductory sequence The Lion King with the final animation of the same sequence. This shows a great example of a storyboard, all matching the themes and camera angles of the final animation they created. This precision not only allows people to more clearly understand the story and what is about to happen, but it also helps the animators tremendously.
Lighthouse for the animator
If you bringing history to life then you you know What would you like , so that it happened, but when it gets transferred to whom — something else that when it becomes clear that two people can have wildly different interpretations of the same scene. The storyboard helps the animator’s guide understand what has been set in your prep work. Through the storyboard, they know which camera angles to use, how to move the camera, and how the action should take place.
A storyboard isn’t just limited to animation. Live action films tell things the same way animation does — when a live action sequence is filmed, it helps all cameramen, actors and assistants get to the same page of what needs to be done.
For example, storyboarding has been the dominant method for Mad Max: Fury Road. Instead of writing a screenplay, screenwriter George Miller made the entire film into one big, long storyboard. «Road of Fury» is the kind of visual film that, using a storyboard-style script rather than a screenplay, helped bring to life the amazing vision that was envisioned. (Fun fact: Due to the heavy influence of the storyboard, Miller originally envisioned it as a film with no dialogue.)
Help or Hinder
When you’re working on your own, a storyboard can be both a help and a hindrance. For a solo project, this can slow you down and limit what you can do once you start the animation. Also, since you have a clear idea of what you’re imagining, you may not feel the need to lay it all out beforehand — there’s something to be said for just freaking out.