Directing the Story

Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation

Francis Glebas

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781136138690
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Digital Media
• Index: Computer Science

Francis Glebas, a top Disney storyboard artist, shows how to reach the ultimate goal of animation and moviemaking by showing how to provide audiences with an emotionally satisfying experience. Directing the Story offers a structural approach to clearly and dramatically presenting visual stories. With Francis' help you'll discover the professional storytelling techniques which have swept away generations of movie goers and kept them coming back for more. You'll also learn to spot potential problems before they cost you time or money and offers creative solutions to solve them. Best of all, it practices what it preaches, using a graphic novel format to demonstrate the professional visual storytelling techniques you need to know.

1

The Goal: Why Do We Watch?

Why Do We Watch Movies?

This is the first question I ask my film students: “Why do we watch movies?” Most of them have never thought to ask this question. They think about it, raise their hands, and start suggesting answers.

There are many reasons why we all watch movies, and as my students comment, I write their answers on the chalkboard. There is the wish to share experiences with the characters and our friends. We watch to learn all kinds of things. We watch to see spectacles. We get to see other worlds that we’ll never go to. We want to hear a good story. Someone suggests we watch to escape. Escape what? “Boredom!” comes the answer, and the students laugh. But why do they laugh? Maybe there’s a clue there.

The most interesting answer to this question that I always get, without fail, is, “We watch to be entertained.” To this I always answer, “Yes, that’s true.” Okay, now we know that we watch movies to be entertained. Then, I challenge them, “Can knowing that we watch movies to be entertained help us become better filmmakers?” They unanimously agree that it doesn’t help. It really doesn’t tell us anything useful except to point out a direction. But we don’t have a map. We have to dig deeper and chart out the territory ourselves, and that’s what we’ll do in this book. We’re going to dig deeper until we get some answers that provide us with specific tools and techniques to “entertain” our audience. So our question is: What is entertainment? Well that reminds me of a story….

1001 Nights of Entertainment

We’re going to take a trip in our imagination. I’d like you to read this paragraph, and then take a slow deep breath and close your eyes. I wonder if you can imagine that you have been invited to a wonderful paradise. If you’re a skier, then it could be high up in the Alps. Can you feel the cold, brisk wind blowing the fresh snow powder in your face? If you love beaches, it’s your own private beach with a perfect surf break mixing in with the ocean roar and the seagull cries overhead. Maybe you prefer a jungle with the smells of exotic flowers and interesting animals crawling around. Take a moment to imagine how it feels. What do you see? What sounds do you hear? How does it feel, such as the temperature? Take a moment to entertain the fantasy. After you do this, hit the “pause” button on your imagination and come back.

It feels wonderful, doesn’t it? But do we have a story? No, so far we merely have a fun fantasy. How long would you be willing to watch this onscreen? A minute? Five minutes? My guess is not that long before you’re wondering when something is going to happen.

Let’s go back to the fantasy now, and I’ll give you some more information. The powerful ruler has summoned you—just you—to this paradise and magnificent palace. Hit “pause” again. Any story yet? Well now we have some questions. Why did she summon you? What does she want? Still no story yet, but we’re getting warm.

Hit “play” and go back to your imagination. There’s something I forgot to mention. It’s kind of important, and I just thought you should know: The ruler who summoned you is crazy. Yes, you heard right, he is planning to kill you in the morning. Quick, hit “pause” again.

Do we have a story now? Almost—we certainly have some tension and conflict. These introduce the beginnings of a story.

Hit “play.” What do you do? Your mind races as you search for solutions. Escape is impossible—guards are everywhere. What if you tried to explain to the ruler that killing is wrong? She’s crazy, remember? Explanations won’t change a crazy person. Unfortunately, logic and facts don’t even persuade normal people. If you’...