As found in my research in both this unit and the pre-production unit, storyboards are a useful tool as they act as a timeline of events from top to bottom. This helps in visualising the narrative so that all major shots can be thought of in order to convey the storyline of the script in the most effective way.
Through my research, I found that "the storyboard helps bring out ideas and find trouble spots in your scenes". [1] I found the majority of the storyboard simple to put together as I could clearly visualise how each of the scenes in the script needed to be portrayed in order to form the narrative of the production. However, I struggled when it came to scene 4 as I couldn't visualise how I would film all the movement within the scene. Firstly, I needed to film Tim moving the dog from the road to the van in such a way that the dog is not seen. I also needed to film Luke opening up the van for Tim and fumbling around for Tim's tools. I needed to film all of this in such a way that it was clear that Tim was working on the dog in the van but also capturing Tim and Luke's facial expressions and reactions. To overcome visualising this difficult scene, I sat down with the director and brainstormed ways that the action within the scene could be captured to give the best result. We discovered that I could film the majority of the scene from sat inside the van pointing out at the characters (an option I hadn't thought of prior to beginning the storyboard and sitting down with the director to discuss options). This shows how the storyboard can be used to find problematic or complex sections of the production to film and rectify them before entering the production stage. Finding these problems and solving them prior to filming them helps to make the production process a lot smoother as I won't be trying to solve these problems on the spot with the actors present. If I hadn't made this storyboard, I would end up encountering these problems on set and having to rectify them on the spot which could result in a lower quality product as the optimum shots to convey the narrative of the scenes may not end up being used as I may not have thought of them if it were not for the process of producing the storyboard.
The storyboard makes the production process a lot smoother as all the different shots and the details of how to shoot these shots (i.e. the camera movement involved etc.) have all been considered prior to the production. The storyboard also makes the creation of a shot list a lot more simple. The scenes within the script may call for multiple camera angles and shooting these in a linear order is not the most practical or effective way to shoot. The storyboard allows you to visualise these shots which can then be grouped together in the shot list to make an efficient shooting schedule. The advice I found in my research suggested to "prepare the list by looking through a scene's storyboard and noticing which frames can be captured during the same setup". [1] I took on this advice and created my shot list based on the frames drawn in my storyboard - at the end of each scene's shot list, I then compiled a list of the different shots that needed to be captured to make up the narrative so that I could shoot the scenes from one type of shot / angle at a time to prevent constantly changing the camera and lighting setup unnecessarily.
As my shot list and storyboard are very detailed, I was unsure whether I would need both on set with me as I shoot the project as this could over complicate the shooting process. I decided to refer back to my research in which I contacted DOP and editor Tom Baker for his guidance and advice. When asked his opinion on using storyboards and shot lists, he said the following:
"Most of the time the storyboard (if you use one at all) is a guide or help sell the idea to the client. But the idea and shots always develop from there. Shot list is invaluable and one of the most important things. If you don't have a shot list, you forget ideas and key narrative shots to shoot." [Baker, 2019] [2]
From this, I decided to prioritise using the shot list on the shoot days as this details what exactly needs to be shot in a logical filming order. In my shot list, I created both a detailed list which outlined every single shot in detail in chronological order according to the narrative and a simplified list which outlined each type of shot to be captured in a logical filming order (which would then be cut between in the edit to fulfil the order of the more detailed shot list). On the shoot days, I will use the simplified list as this outline everything that needs to be captured to fulfil the more detailed list - I will use this as my guide and check off the shots as they are captured to prevent overlooking any important shots to the narrative.
Further to being useful to me, the shot list is also useful to the producer as this will help to schedule the shoot days. The shot list outlines how much needs to be captured in every scene - this will help the producer work out how long each scene will take to film and, therefore, when it should be scheduled to be shot.
Below is my storyboard. Like with my storyboard in the pre-production unit, I read through the script and picked out which actions were required to convey the narrative of each scene. During dialogue scenes I had to ensure that both action and reaction shots were accounted for. I also had to consider who the audience are most interested in within the scene i.e. for the most part, VET-MAN revolves around Tim and his actions so most of the shots should communicate this and convey this as the focus. However, in scenes such as scene 11, at the beginning of the scene where the owl is behaving frantically, this is the main action within this section of the scene, so the shots need to communicate this fact. I followed this principle throughout the process of creating the shot list, considering what the most important aspect of each shot needed to be in order to work out what shots needed to be conveyed to visually build the narrative of the production.
At the beginning of each scene, the location and lighting set up / equipment is specified as this informs the visuals and atmosphere of each scene. Then for each shot it shows a sketch of what is to be expected within the shot, the shot type, framing, camera movement and character actions /dialogue involved within the shot. The storyboard gives a clear idea of the plot and action to show how VET-MAN will be captured through the cinematography.
Below is my shot list. The shot list gives an objective list of the shot types, framing, movement and description of the contents of the shot. Like with the storyboard, at the beginning of the scene, the location and lighting set up / equipment is specified so that the crew members know exactly what is required for each scene so that the production can run as smoothly as possible. This is important as these aspects inform the visuals and atmosphere of each scene which in turn affect the shots which are subsequently listed. Listing the equipment on the shot list also helps with the scheduling of the production as all the information about how to shoot each scene is included - the amount of equipment involved affects how long it takes to set up each scene and, therefore, affects the overall time it will take to shoot each scene. This will help the producer in scheduling as she will be able to work out how long each scene will take to film and then allocate the appropriate amount of time to filming each scene in the shoot days.
As well as including the detailed shot list, I also created a simplified shot list based off of this more detailed version. This simplified shot list outlines all the different angles that are needed to make up each scene which works to make the shoot days more efficient as I will shoot the scene from each angle one at a time so that I am not having to change the camera and lighting set up between every shot (like I would need to if I were to shoot it in chronological order like the detailed shot list suggests).
Sources:
[1] https://www.videomaker.com/article/c18/14584-the-perfect-plan-storyboard-and-shot-list-creation
[2] Baker, Tom (2019) [Interview by email, 30th January 2019]
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