To demonstrate how storyboarding promotes interpretative ...



Storyboarding promotes interpretative, interactive, and presentational communication in foreign language classrooms

Summary of pedagogical theory

Samples of student processes and products

Overview of storyboarding basics and online tools.

Storyboarding



What is Story Boarding?

A storyboard is a series of simple pictures that depict in sequence, the scenes or events of a story/narrative. It is a pictorial continuity. The sequence of pictures should clearly and easily describe to a viewer the whole story: beginning - middle point - end. Storyboarding is an invaluable pre-production exercise used widely in animation, advertising, video production, cartoons, and other areas of visual media. As such it becomes a valuable tool in FL pedagogy since it highlights sequencing, creativity, and a simple means to convey ideas that can be applied already with elementary but also at the most advanced and professional level.

The storyboard is a blueprint from which narrative productions such as written texts, storybooks, or as in my case, student produced videos can be built. The storyboard is a guideline that leaves plenty for creative input. Storyboarding is an excellent "team" activity. As such storyboarding in teams promotes interaction and negotiation of ideas, two primary goals in the FL classroom.

Building Your Storyboard

Above all, keep your storyboard simple. Each event or image in the sequence should be there for the service of the story only. Cancel any scenes that do not further the story itself. For this reason your storyboard template should include graphic as well as written representations of the story.

Methods

The whole idea behind storyboarding is that the sequence of images become a "visual shorthand" to allow the team to explore ideas very quickly. To get ideas out and down on paper as quickly as individuals or the team can envision them, requires minimum drawing time. This can be accomplished by using small thumbnail sketches. More elaborate storyboards can be designed from the initial ideas. Make frames as large as the team finds comfortable. Using storyboard cards can also be useful, placing the graphics on the front and the textual references on the back. Cards can be repositioned if scenes work better in a different order.

Standards:

EKS for this Unit

(1) Foundations. The student demonstrates knowledge and appropriate use of hardware components, software programs, and their connections. The student is expected to:

(I) distinguish between and use the components of animation software programs including cast, score, stage, and the animation control panel;

(J) select and connect task-appropriate peripherals such as a printer, CD-ROM, digital camera, scanner, or graphics tablet; and

(K) distinguish and use the different animation techniques of path and cell animation.

(5) Information acquisition. The student acquires electronic information in a variety of formats, with appropriate supervision. The student is expected to:

(A) use the Internet and retrieve information in electronic formats including text, audio, video, and graphics, citing the source;

(B) demonstrate the appropriate use of digital imaging, video integration, and sound in documents; and

(C) import sounds from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, audio CD, tape, and microphone.

(7) Solving problems. The student uses appropriate computer-based productivity tools to create and modify solutions to problems. The student is expected to:

(A) combine graphics, images, and sound for foundation or enrichment curricular projects;

(B) integrate the productivity tools including, but not limited to, word processor, database, spreadsheet, telecommunications, draw, paint, and utility programs into the digital graphics;

(C) use perspective including backgrounds, light, shades/shadows, and scale to capture a focal point and create depth;

(D) use the basic principles of proportion, balance, variety, emphasis, harmony, symmetry, and unity in type, color, size, line thickness, shape, and space;

(E) use repetition of color, shape, texture, spatial relationships, line thickness, and size to develop organization and strengthen the unity of a product;

(F) create three-dimensional effects using foreground, middle distance, and background images;

(G) apply a variety of color schemes to digital designs including

(7) Solving problems. The student uses appropriate computer-based productivity tools to create and modify solutions to problems. The student is expected to:

(B) integrate the productivity tools including, but not limited to, word processor, database, spreadsheet, telecommunications, draw, paint, and utility programs into the digital graphics;

(H) use the basic concepts of color and design theory to work in a bitmapped mode, creating backgrounds, characters, and other case members as needed for the animation;

(I) use the appropriate scripting language to create an animation or movie;

(J) read, use, and develop technical documentation;

(K) edit files using appropriate digital editing tools and established design principles including consistency, repetition, alignment, proximity, ratio of text to white space, image file size, color use, font size, type, and style; and

(L) use a variety of techniques to edit, manipulate, and change sound.

(9) Solving problems. The student uses technology applications to facilitate evaluation of work, both process and product. The student is expected to:

(A) create technology specifications for tasks and rubrics for the evaluation of products and product quality against established criteria;

(B) design and implement procedures to track trends, set timelines, and review/evaluate progress for continual improvement in process and product;

(C) evaluate data by using criteria appropriate for the purpose;

(11) Communication. The student delivers the product electronically in a variety of media, with appropriate supervision. The student is expected to:

(A) publish information in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, printed copy or monitor display; and

(B) publish information in saved files, Internet documents, CD-ROM discs, or video.

(12) Communication. The student uses technology applications to facilitate evaluation of communication, both process and product. The student is expected to:

(A) determine and employ technology specifications to evaluate projects for design, content delivery, purpose, and audience; and

(B) seek and respond to advice from peers in evaluating the product.

Links to online assistance with Story Boards:

Acting with a Pencil

Storyboarding your Movie on the complete eejit's guide to film-making

Storyboarding?

Storyboarding is the process of producing sketches of the shots of your script. The end result looks like comic book of your film (without the speech bubbles).

Why do it?

It helps you think about how your film is going to look. You can work faster on set and as pictures communicate better than words it will allow your camera crew to move their camera and lights, for producers to foresee problems, for the art department to know which parts of the location are going to be in shot and so on. Even the actors will get a feel of what they are going to be shooting!

So I need to be an artist?

Well you can be, but looking at storyboards by Hitchcock or Spielberg you have to admit that they can't draw. There are professional storyboard artists that can give you results that look better than the final film. However its a good idea to bash them out yourself, it allows you to experiment quickly and cheaply, testing out different versions of how a scene may look and play on camera.

Storyboarding is especially useful for complex visual sequences e.g. elaborate shots or special effects sequences. Sometimes a film only uses storyboards for difficult sequences other times the entire film is storyboarded. The Coen Brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski) storyboard extensively, allowing them to shoot just the sequences they require for editing, saving both time and money.

Hang on though, pictures are still, movies move.

Ah! You got me there. There are a few tricks storyboard artists have up their sleeves to illustrate movement - whether its movement within the frame (actors walking) or the frame moving itself (camera panning etc.).

Arrows - Suppose the camera is tracking in, following a bad guy's footsteps. Draw in an arrow pointing into shot to show the camera's movement. Now the hero's head is pulled back by one of the bad guy's goons. Use an arrow to show the movement of the head being turned. What about a zoom in? From each corner draw in arrows pointing to the centre, draw in a new smaller frame to show the end of the zoom. Generally I try and use thick white arrows to show camera moves and thin black arrows to show objects moving.

 

The floating frame - What if you want to show the camera panning to show a cityscape, or following a character as they walk through an airport? There's two options here: 1) Illustrate one shot using more than one storyboard frame showing the key stages of the shot's movement across a number of frames or 2) Draw out the entire scene (e.g.. the horizon of a city) and place a frame on it with an arrow indicating the direction of movement.

Transitions - The storyboard can also include transitions in your film. Write these in the gaps between the frames e.g.. DISSOLVE TO :

This is great but I can't draw!!

Neither can I, so I cheat.

Screen time is filled with people, and figures are painful to draw, getting the correct perspective of arms and legs is problematic. The people in my drawings tend to look like car crash victims with limbs all over the place.

I managed to pick up some really cheap wooden mannequins (they're 12 inch high artists models with joints so you can bend them into shape) that I use for more professional looking storyboards (oh! and did I mention they're fast too?). Over a couple of nights I rattled through the script, breaking the scenes down into shots, arranging the mannequins and shooting stills of them. I used a video camera and grabbed the shots, then arranged them as a storyboard. You could just as equally use a stills camera or draw from the figures (which is a much easier than trying to imagine where hands and legs go in your head).

       

If you can't get hold of any mannequins try using an Action Man and Barbie and start playing (I'm sure this is how director Todd Haynes got the idea for 'Superstar : The Karen Carpenter Story' - a shot entirely with toy dolls). If your film stars a baldie like Yul Brynner you can always try Lego men.

Now you can add to the images if you want, scribbling on rough faces and expressions or drawing in props and buildings. I left most blank, figuring that this was the actors' job.

You can quickly build up a store of images, and because many shots in films are similar (over-the-shoulder shots, wide shots etc.) you can use pictures again and again for different scenes and different movies.

Here's a few quick methods for producing fast and dirty storyboards.

1. Keep the area you have to draw small. It allows you to draw much faster. The pictures become more like doodles than works of art. Remember the point is to get an idea of how things will look on screen. Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise) is famous for his Ridleygrams - rough, almost indecipherable sketches that outline what he has in mind.

2. Copy up a set of storyboard sheets so you don't have to spend all night drawing screen boxes. Download a storyboard sheet.

* Standard ratio (4:3) - 20 frames (7K gif)

* Standard ratio with space for overhead plan - 8 frames (9K gif)

* Widescreen (16:9) - 15 frames (5K gif)

3. Sketch in pencil so you can make changes easily, then ink in for photocopying. Feel free to use any medium you are happy with - professional storyboard artists use everything from magic markers to charcoal.

4. Scribble down short notes about what's happening in shot (e.g.. BOB enters) what characters are saying ("Is this it? Is this how...") or sound effects (Roll of THUNDER).

5. An overhead plan view of the location of the camera, actors and light can be helpful if you know the location you are going to be working on.

6. Number your shots so that they can be quickly referred to on the shot list and during editing.

Drawing storyboards is an excellent way to keep motivated, to show you're organised and to let everyone else know what's going on in your head.

Storyboards aren't there to constrain you. Just like the script they are there to back you up during shooting. If everything starts flowing on set let it happen. In the real situation you may see a new angle - go ahead, shoot it. Get the shots you need by checking your storyboard and give yourself the time and freedom to experiment.

Microsoft online clipart:



Using Storyboards:

Thinking Through Visual Storytelling

A storyboard is simply a planning device used to visually "sketch out" the actions of a story that will be told in a visual medium like animation, multimedia, a Web page or video.

Storyboards are linear because they tell a story that runs along a straight line from beginning to end. When telling complicated or multistep stories, however, it can be helpful to begin with graphic organizing techniques, using idea organization programs like Inspiration or the outlining functions in presentation programs like PowerPoint or HyperStudio.

Some storyboards are very simple; for example, a simple animation project, such as a flip book of a dot moving across a page, can actually be the storyboard for later creating an animated GIF on the computer. On the other extreme, storyboards for a video need to include not just the action of characters in a scene but placement of lights and camera as well. Long before you get to those sophisticated storyboards, however, you should introduce the basic storytelling concept with an activity like the one below.

A Storyboarding Activity

Overview: In this project, you will lead a discussion that helps students explore aspects of a story they may not have noticed immediately, such as how it develops, what's missing, the use of language, how words and pictures work together, and what the story means to them.

Step 1: Create a panel book from a text that uses large pictures to tell its story, such as Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Keep each sheet of the panel book separate and tape them to the wall in sequence, or tape them together in accordion fashion so that you can hide certain pages when showing others to the class. Either system works, but the latter can be beneficial if you want to dwell on individual pages before showing what happens next.

Step 2: Read the story aloud to the class from a third copy of the book. Everyone should know or have heard the story before moving on to discuss the panel book. You should have prepared yourself for the discussion by putting together a few questions in advance.

Step 3:

Now, step through the panel book aloud, page by page. When finished, ask the kids what questions they have about the text, in any order, interweaving your own questions about the book, pictures and story. Remember, as discussion leader you must be a facilitator only. Be careful not to ask leading questions or to insert your own opinions or interpretations. This is a discussion-building exercise intended to help guide the children's insights by fusing interpretive questions based on information in the story, rather than factual or evaluative questions. Here's more on the art of asking good questions. As kids ask questions and as they respond to you and each other, they will notice things they never did before.

Step 4: Now ask the children to take a piece of blank paper and drawing tools. Ask them to draw one picture from the story that they think nobody else will draw. Emphasize that qualification: something that nobody else will draw. Stress also that they are not allowed to talk while they are doing it, and for a little while longer as well. Yes, that's difficult, especially for little kids, but it's just for a while—tell them that the project will be fun. Give them several minutes to draw the pictures.

Step 5: Now, gather the kids and have them join you on the floor or in some other large, open area—still without them talking. As a group, you are going to put the pictures into the proper sequence silently, just by pointing.

Step 6: Talk again and ask questions about the sequence. You've created a storyboard.

Project-based learning with multimedia

Step-by-Step This Storyboarding Guide was developed by Adam Shulman, IRL summer intern, and adapted from The Rowland Animation Guide to Storyboarding ©1997 Dave Master and John Ramirez

imovie basics tutorial:

imovie resources:

kidsvid storyboard page:

planning a video:



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