Notes on Storyboarding
Week 1
So this is week 1, and here is what I think are important points for storyboarding
Intro
Well, stories are like soccer games to me. I relate almost anything with soccer. In a soccer game, the team usually builds up their passes from the defence and slowly work things up to attack. That is if the team is a dominant one. So, when I am a writer, writing a story, the beauty of it is how I string up a few sentences which describes a person, situation, place or feeling and put it into a paragraph. Each paragraph must be an improvisation from the other. In other words, there must be development. And that development must lure the readers to continue on reading. Once they do so, your story can be marketed.
How to engage the audience
So how can your story sell? From what I learned from the 1st week, there must be a product to sell. And even if there is a product to sell, you must set a right price.
1) True stories are the best stories. I believe that writing something touching and from a true account is always engages the audience.
2) Improvisation is not copy. There a tons of story in the world and if you improvise on it, changing the characters and setting but maintaining the same basic plot makes it a new story
3) Somebody must die. From all the movies and books I read, somebody always dies. It is usually the supporting character. But killing the main character is not murder so play god. I find that death of a character lures the audience in and makes them fell to want to get involved in the story.
Point of the story
So what is the point? If it is war, why go to war? If it is murder why murder? Always ask ten thousand question Why Where When Who What How.
1) Logics. Your story must add up. Your story must be consistent. Always have an argument if someone were to question your story design. Back up every action. Why did Roy shoot him even though Alan had apologized? Questions eliminates the doubt
2) Research is important. Before writing a story, you need to do research. If you’re writing a murder story, dig up all the worst murders ever committed. Understand all your characters inside out before you can even say their name.
Whose story am I telling?
Is it my story? Is it your story? Am I a 3rd person here? From whose perspective are you telling the story?
1) The audience is the camera. In the movies, it is what you show. And when you are writing, it is how best you describe so the readers can imagine. You have to describe the moment so the readers can paint a picture.
2) A mind is a beautiful playground. When writing, you can have the power to play with the audience’s mind. By making them think, let them be involved. They want to know the truth, give them the truth but not till the last minute. Explore the mind.
Above are my notes and understanding of story writing and how to make my story sell. This is how I understand how to write a story.
Notes week 3
Dynamic action
Strory is action.
Has movement activity and interaction between characters and their surrounding.
Illustration beats description all the time
Film is behavior
If story is action, action is behavior.
Action is the manifestation of behavior.
Your film must make the audience think why the character does like that
Complexity of human dynamics and interaction is better understood through action, nuances and reactions of the character.
Dynamic actions that has a purpose has the potential to enrich the experience of the audience by heightening the stakes.
The power of painting the Picture
When there’s no dialogue it is hard to tell with just action. That’s the challenge
Location is physical. Place which events
Happens. If the location can be used by the character, it is an interactive location.
Using the location to shift dominance of a character.
Story telling tool 2: Memory
Points of reference to your past existence. Can be triggered by many things.
Write what you don’t know.
Leave a Comment
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
