OUAN504 - Character & Narrative - Acting Up: Understanding Character & Narrative (Storyboarding)

OUAN504 - Understanding Character & Narrative:

To get a better understanding of storyboarding and some helpful techniques, I sought out a handy little blog with some interesting tips from Dreamworks animation studios. Not only do storyboards allow the artist to see their film/animation before it is actually created, it can be very valuable reference when it comes to editing and knowing which characters belong where when it comes to perspective, they are just great little treasures to have with you as storyboards and even thumbnails are those first indications and representations of an idea. They are your go-to for jotting and sketching down thoughts and processes which you can then use later on. If you have a terrible memory like myself, they are your lifesavers!

Dreamworks' cartoonist, Ben Caldwell shared with us a few cells from his storyboards and allowed us an insight into what techniques he swore by, why, what worked and what didn't work. His blog was like a goldmine for ideas too, but for now, here is what I managed to unveil.

Avoiding flat staging means that you are thinking in a 3D perspective at all times. Using a "tight rope" floor (as Caldwell calls it) can help the artist avoid creating characters that seem to aimlessly float within a frame. It also gives you an idea of how your character will look within a given space and gives you valuable technical drawing ability as you will be repeatedly drawing different perspectives depending on your shots.

Using every inch of the environment to your advantage will sell the idea of depth. Instead of simply thinking about what belongs in the foreground all the time, think about background and even middle-ground and far-background!

This will convince your audience that there's a lot going on and the space you have created is very realistically used by the characters. It isn't simply there to look pretty all the time, trees don't just exist to be looked at! Your characters can interact with them and react to them - more potential ways of showing off your characters' personalities.

Lastly, another useful hint I picked out is that labelling your characters in a logical order - be it by order in perspective, order in who has the most screen time, protagonist and other characters etc. - it will be easier for you! If animating for example, having a character labelled "A" might indicate that they belong in the foreground for this scene. "D" might be completely unaware of what A is doing as he is in the background. All of this might sound complicated at first, but it actually makes the job easier.

Caldwell's storyboard examples have really illustrated some useful things I could improve on in the future with my storyboarding techniques. His blog; http://purgetheory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/storydesign-notes.html, has some fantastic advice that I will retain for future work.