Table Of ContentD irecting the Story
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D irecting the Story
Professional Storytelling and
Storyboarding Techniques
for Live Action and Animation
F rancis Glebas
AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON
NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
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C ontents
P reface ix S how and Tell ........................................................................................ 29
E very Shot Is a Close-Up .................................................................... 30
Acknowledgments xi W hat Is a Story? ................................................................................. 41
W hat Is Character? ............................................................................. 42
C ritique: Introducing Scheherazade ................................................ 43
P ART ONE P oints to Remember ........................................................................... 44
R eferences ............................................................................................ 45
1 The Goal: Why Do We Watch? ...............................3
3 The Beginning Basics. .........................................47
Why Do We Watch Movies? ................................................................... 3
History and Function of Storyboards ............................................. 47
1001 Nights of Entertainment .......................................................... 3
V arious Types of Storyboards .......................................................... 48
W hat’s at Stake Is Nothing Less Than Life and Death ..................... 5
P roduction Process ............................................................................. 48
D ramatization through Questions ..................................................... 5
T he Beat Board .................................................................................... 48
1 001 Nights Entertainment Revisited ............................................ 6
S toryboarding Overview ..................................................................... 49
C ritique: Is It Too Late to Turn Back? ............................................... 13
S tory Reels .......................................................................................... 49
E ntertainment Explained ................................................................... 14
T he Refinement Process .................................................................... 49
O pportunity from Criticism ............................................................... 14
P itching ................................................................................................. 49
W hat Is the Audience Doing? ............................................................. 15
T he Gong Show ..................................................................................... 52
R everse-Engineering Approach ......................................................... 15
H ow to Tell a Story with Pictures ..................................................... 52
W hy Do We Watch and More … ......................................................... 15
B reaking Down the Script: What Are Story Beats? ..................... 72
P romise to the Reader: Intuition Illuminated! ................................ 19
How to Storyboard a Scene .............................................................. 72
T he Secret of Storytelling Is Story-Delaying ................................ 19
S taging the Action. ............................................................................. 73
P oints to Remember ........................................................................... 19
Critique: Scheherazade’s Storytelling ............................................ 73
R eferences ............................................................................................ 19
P oints to Remember ........................................................................... 73
R eferences ............................................................................................ 73
2 Common Beginner Problems .............................21
Where Do You Begin? ........................................................................... 21 4 H ow to Draw for Storyboarding:
T he Catch-22 of the Character-Driven Intuitive Approach . 22 Motion and Emotion ...........................................75
W hat Can Possibly Go Wrong?. .......................................................... 22
W hat Do Directors Direct? ................................................................ 28 Only 99,999 to Go … ....................................................................... 75
T he Speaking Metaphor ...................................................................... 29 F rom Stick Figures to Balloon People .............................................. 76
v
vi C o n t e n t s
W alt Stanchfield’s Gesture Drawing Class . 78 7 How to Direct the Eyes ..................................157
C aricature ............................................................................................. 86
Designing Interesting Characters .................................................... 86 V isual Clarity ..................................................................................... 157
T he Story Drive of Emotions ............................................................. 87 W hat I Learned from Watercolor Artists: The Missing
D rawing the Four Main Emotion Groups .......................................... 88 Piece of Design .............................................................................. 157
M iscellaneous Drawing Tips ............................................................... 90 W here Do I Look? ............................................................................... 158
D rawing for Clarity and the Use of Clear Silhouettes................... 91 T he Design Equation ......................................................................... 164
M ort Walker’s The Lexicon of Comicana .............................................. 92 D irecting the Eye with Composition ............................................. 179
T echnical Aspects of Storyboards .................................................. 93 A Magical Effect: How a Picture Makes You Feel ........................ 185
Critique: 1001 Drawings ............................................................... 108 L ight and Shadows ........................................................................... 188
P oints to Remember ........................................................................ 108 P oints to Remember ........................................................................ 188
R eferences ......................................................................................... 108 R eferences ......................................................................................... 189
P ART TWO 8 Directing the Eyes Deeper in Space
and Time ............................................................191
5 S tructural Approach: Tactics to W hat Is Wrong with This Picture? .................................................. 191
W hat to Use: Telephoto or Wide-Angle Lenses? ......................... 199
Reach the Goal .................................................111
H ow to Use Framing to Tell a Story ............................................... 200
Once upon a time … ......................................................................... 111 C amera Mobility ................................................................................ 208
C ritique: Developing Character Relationships ............................ 117 A lternative Approaches .................................................................. 208
P oints to Remember ........................................................................ 117 A Trick for Planning Scenes ............................................................. 209
R eferences ......................................................................................... 117 P roximity ............................................................................................ 209
P oint of View: Subjective Camera ................................................... 210
TM
6 What Do Directors Direct? ............................119 T he Town of Dumb Love and SketchUp ...................................... 210
B eware of Depth Killers ................................................................... 210
How to Get Attention ..................................................................... 120 P oints to Remember ........................................................................ 210
T he Map Is Not the Territory .......................................................... 120 R eferences ......................................................................................... 211
S elective Attention ......................................................................... 121
K eeping Attention ............................................................................ 121
K eeping Structure Invisible: Tricks of Attention ........................ 121
T he Power of Suggestion ................................................................. 124 9 How to Make Images Speak: The Hidden
H ow the Brain Organizes Information: Gestalt .......................... 130
Power of Images ...............................................213
D irector as Magician ........................................................................ 150
H ierarchy of Narrative Questions ................................................. 152 A Fancy Word for Clues .................................................................... 213
C ritique: Scheherazade Directs Attention ................................. 155 W hy Should You Care about Clues? ............................................... 213
P oints to Remember ........................................................................ 155 H ow Movies Speak to Us ................................................................. 215
R eferences ......................................................................................... 155 T he Mind Makes Associations ....................................................... 217
C o n t e n t s vii
C rime Story Clues and Signs . 220 1 2 The BIG Picture: Story Structures ...........281
S ignificant Objects ...................................................................... 220
H ow Images Ask Questions ........................................................ 222 P rimitive Filmic Structures and Propp’s
S peaking Indirectly ....................................................................... 230 Story Functions ....................................................................... 282
E verything Speaks, If You Know the Code ................................ 237 T he Hero’s Journey or the Neurotic’s Road Trip ...................... 283
S emiotic Square ........................................................................... 238 T hree Levels of Story Analysis ................................................... 285
S emiotic Analysis of the Scheherazade and M entors ......................................................................................... 286
“D umb Love” Stories ................................................................ 238 P aradigms of Changing the Impossible to the Possible ......... 287
P oints to Remember .................................................................... 239 E nding, Beginning, and Turning Points ....................................... 293
R eferences ..................................................................................... 239 T ypes of Scenes ............................................................................ 293
W hat Happens if You Move the Structure Around? ............... 295
P oints to Remember .................................................................... 296
1 0 How to Convey and Suggest Meaning .......241
C ontinuity and Causality: How We Put Juxtaposed 1 3 Aiming for the Heart ....................................299
Images Together . 241
M ultiple Types of Causality ........................................................ 245 D o We Really Identify with the Hero? ........................................ 299
S creen Geography: Letting the Audience Know F ears, Flaws, Wants, and Needs ................................................ 300
Where They Are ......................................................................... 246 L ove Stories: What Keeps Lovers Apart? ................................ 300
Eyeline Matches ............................................................................ 247 W hat Is So Scary about Horror? ............................................... 301
T ime Continuity ............................................................................. 247 T he Rubberband Theory of Comedy: Aiming for
H istory of Film Editing ................................................................. 251 the Backside of the Heart ...................................................... 302
W hy Do We Have to Tell Stories? ............................................... 260 S o Many Crime Shows ................................................................. 303
T he Film as Time Machine. ............................................................ 261 E motional Truth ............................................................................ 314
W hy Cuts Work .............................................................................. 263 M usic and Color: Not Meaning, but Meaningful ....................... 315
W hy We Speak the Narration to Ourselves .............................. 264 W hat Is It All About? .................................................................... 319
P oints to Remember .................................................................... 265 H appy Ever After .......................................................................... 319
R eferences ..................................................................................... 265 P iglet’s Big Compilation ............................................................... 319
W hy We Watch Movies, Revisited .............................................. 320
T he Story Knot and the Formula for Fantasy .......................... 320
E motional Engagement of a Story ............................................ 321
1 1 Dramatic Irony ..............................................267
P oints to Remember .................................................................... 321
Who Gets to Know What, When, Where, How, and R eferences ..................................................................................... 321
Why (Including the Audience) ................................................. 267
C an You Keep a Secret? ............................................................... 274
P endulum of Suspense ................................................................. 275 1 4 S ummary: Recapitulation of All
P laces for Dramatic Irony ........................................................... 277
Concepts ........................................................323
C ritique: What Does the Sultan Know? .................................... 277
P oints to Remember .................................................................... 278 A sking Questions and Getting Answers .................................. 327
R eferences ..................................................................................... 278 R eference ....................................................................................... 327
viii C o n t e n t s
1 5 A nalysis and Evolution of the 1 6 C onclusion: Now We Must Say
Scheherazade Project .................................329 Good-bye ........................................................337
S tory Evolution: Making It Clearer and More Dramatic ......... 329 W hat They Don’t Tell You ............................................................. 337
T hematic Analysis and Dramatic Structures ......................... 329 T ips for Keeping Your Dream Alive ............................................. 337
S tory Parallels and Repetitions ................................................ 330 T hings Are Not Always What They Seem .................................. 338
H ierarchy of Narrative Questions of the Scheherazade
Story .......................................................................................... 330
C uts for Length or to Make the Story Move Quicker ............. 332 B i b l i og ra p h y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3 9
C hanges Made to Make the Story More Dramatic
or Resonant . 334
Index ........................................................................343
P reface
Welcome all who wish to learn the secrets of making movies. This book is really what it is that the audience is doing when they watch a film. I then proceeded to
the documentation of my trying to learn the real secrets of what makes mov- create strategies to address this when making a film. Here’s what the viewers do:
ies great. When I began teaching, my students gave me feedback that they had
never heard of a lot of the things I taught. This surprised me and I decided it was 1 . F irst, they pay attention to the screen.
necessary to get the word out. Beware though that once you open these pages, 2 . T hey perceive what is being shown and identify what things are.
watching movies will never be the same again. 3 . T hen they read the signs as characters are performing actions. They are
following the story and starting to identify with the characters they like.
T he classical Hollywood style … asks that form be rendered invisible; 4 . T hen they start to make connections as to what it all means.
that the viewer see only the presence of actors in an unfolding story 5 . T hen they guess what will happen next and where it is leading.
that seems to be existing on its own; that the audience be embraced by 6 . T hen they worry about the characters and the outcome, continually
the story, identify with it and its participants. Unlike montage and the adjusting their hypothesis according to new information provided.
long take, the continuity style was neither theorized nor analyzed (not 7 . F inally, when the film ends, they should feel the emotional closure of
by people who developed and used it, at least); its rules were developed surprise and vindication that it ended the way they thought but not in the
intuitively and pragmatically through the early years of filmmaking. way they expected.
The continuity style developed because it worked, and its working was What is very interesting is number four. Once the audience starts to connect
measured by the fact that it allowed filmmakers to make stories that the pieces of what the story events mean, they start to feel emotions. This was an
audiences responded to with ease and with desire. They liked what they amazing discovery: Meaning automatically evokes emotions!
saw and wanted more. We still want more. 1
Francis Glebas
I n my review of the literature, the classical Hollywood style was never fully ana- Phd. in Fantasy
lyzed, until now. So what is unique about my teaching? I began by asking myself
R eference
1. Hill, J. and P. Gibson. Film Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
ix
