Story Boarding

Elements of a story:

Plot; this is the event or actions that describes the happenings that goes on in the story. The plot lets the reader know what is happening, describes the problems that are trying to be solved in the story, and gives details on how the character tries to solve them

Setting; The setting is both physical location and the point in time that the story is set. For some stories such as medieval phantasy novels this is very important to the story as it determins a lot about the story as yiu can create a whole fantacy world with unique characters and settings.

Characters; The characters are the people, animals, beings or personified objects that drive your story. A story can have as many characters as you like but can also have just one. This includes the good protagonist and the bad antagonist which can strengthen the plot.

• protagonist
• antagonist
• peripheral 

Point Of View; Point of view describes the lens throughout the story is told. An example is in the wizard of OZ, the wicked witch is at odds against Dorothy, but we get to see her when she was younger struggling with friendships and love.

Conflict; This is the main challenge the character needs to overcome throughout the story. This drives the plot forward and is usually resolved at the plots climax.

• character vs self
• character vs character
• character vs nature
• character vs society

Story elements in a Sonic the Hedgehog:

The character follows Sonic, the protagonist in this case, who battles the evil Dr Eggman, the antagonist, who is a mad scientist. The aim is to stop Eggman to try and obtain the chaos emeralds, seven mystical emeralds that has mystical powers that can turn thoughts into power and warp space and time. Eggman seeks the Emeralds in his quest to conquer the world, and traps animals in aggressive robots and prison capsules. Sonic represents "nature", while Eggman represents "machinery" and "development"—a play on the debate between environmentalists and developers.

Setting: The settings of sonic the hedgehog varies but is mainly set outdoors in a rural areas that is usually in phantasy styled backdrops, with abnormally big mushrooms and trees. The time is set to present day, just on a different planet location.

Character: The main protagonist character is sonic the hedgehog and you play as him in the different level environments. The antagonist of the game is Dr Eggman who wants to have unlimited power from the power emeralds to create and destroy. The peripheral characters are the cute animals that the Doctor has captured and enslaved in the aggressive robot capsules. You see them at the end of the acts, watching them all get freed. additionally there are the confidant which include Tails and Knuckles who you can have to join you on your journey.

Conflict: This is the level design that sonic has to overcome and complete to get to the end of the levels, so includes the relationship with Sonic and the peripherals and confidant such as Tails and Knuckles. Additionally this includes the ongoing conflict between Dr Eggman and Sonic, whi in the end you defeat, getting to the climax of the game. With knuckles who cant decide which side he wants to join, so there's conflict on self.

Point of View: Sonics, or your main PoV as you clear the stages to go and fight the antagonist.

Story Boarding:

Who created it? The animator Webb Smith created the idea of drawing scenes on separate sheets of paper ad pinning them up on a bulletin board to tell a story in a sequence, creating the first ever storyboard.

Who did the first complete storyboard? Walt Disney studios completed the first completed storyboards, for the animated short, the Three Little Pigs in 1933.

Elements of a storyboard:

Each shot of a storyboard captures several key elements: subject, background, camera shot, and the camera’s movement. Within a shot is the subject, the central character or object of a frame, and the foreground and background of a shot. Some key terms for a storyboard include:

• Shot – Titled with scene. Shot types include establishing close-up, POV, dolly shot, wide shot, full shot, etc.
• Description Panel – Where the creator can incorporate notes regarding the sequence.
• Arrangement –the order in which way the storyboard is presented.
• Action – The primary action happening in the frame
• Arrows – Arrows indicate the direction the camera moves (pan, in, out, etc.)
• FX - Refers to the technical details of the frame that is intended to be used during development.

Stitching a cohesive narrative is also imperative in the creation of a storyboard. Stick to major plot points and don't add too much detail to the storyboard as this can convolute the storyboard.

29/09/2022

Storyboard types:

Traditional storyboards:

Traditional storyboards involve a series of conceptual pencil sketches that help the writer, producer, and director to visualise their initial idea before any filming or animating starts. Drawn by hand.

thumbnails:

A thumbnail is a small image representation of a larger image, usually intended to make it easier and faster to look at or manage a group of larger images. Graphic designers and photographers typically use this term. No text is required and are usually smaller drawings, therefore means that there can be a lot less detail. All that is needed is simple drawings that convey the camera angles, composition and staging.

Digital storyboards:

Storyboards are visual representations that aid in the the creation process of digital storytelling. Storyboards layout images in sequential order to create the the flow of the production. Used in animated videos. Can use canva and storyboardthat.com.

Rules in storyboarding:

Every scene must serve a purpose - do not cut to another scene unless there is a reason to do so.

Do not move the camera unless necessary - Moving the camera at every opportunity does not benefit the story or make aesthetically please to the eye

Watch for "jump cuts" - jump cuts usually occur when cuts are made from scene to scene creating a jarring to look at. They may also make things randomly appear or jump into a new position in field.

Watch your composition - Ensure that you are making the most of your negative space. Do not draw a little tiny character in your frame, and nothing but background around them unless it's for a reason, for example-feeling lonely

Watch your axis - There is an imaginary line that runs through the centre of your frame that the camera should never cross. Although not impossible, you would need to cut placing the camera on the axis before cutting to the other side • Avoid complicated angles-It is highly recommended that you avoid overcomplicating your camera angles as it makes you scene very difficult to animate

Clear animation and camera instructions - Chances are your work will be worked on by other people than yourself. Having clear and concise instructions will help everyone to understand what you want in that scene.

Watch your continuity - A common mistake found in storyboards is the lack of continuity. Ensuring that characters in the correct positions and props are accounted for will make sure everything remains consistent throughout a sequence.

Don't be lazy with your poses - Ensuring that characters have a start pose and a final pose will make sure that scenes are match-cut properly. It will also ensure that there is no cross communication in the animators having to think about how actions are to be performed.

If necessary, indicate your light source - If your scene has shadow effects, make sure that your light source is clearly identified. If not, animators make put shadows in places they are not suppose to be.

Make sure your characters are acting in the correct camera direction - If characters are interacting make sure they are facing the correct way. Otherwise, it will appear that they are not interacting with each other.

All important action should happen centre screen - Keep in mind there is a safe frame to keep all the important action inside of. This ensures that none of the important content is cut off the screen.

Ensure posing is strong - Ensuring that posing is strong will still identify the pose. even when silhouetted. This means that if the image was coloured in, you would still be able to tell what the character is doing.

On all of the frames i will add start and end poses so that the characters so that, if animated, the characters are easier to track and follow their movements of the screen.

On all of the frames, again, i should probably indicate the light source so that the animators can put the shadows in the right place.

I need to ensure the posing is strong so that the characters shape or silhouette isn't confused for any other body part or background.

Writing a narrative to a story:

The Mapmaker crept around the corner of the cold, dank room. She sniffed, exhaling condensation into the air because of how far down she was. 

The coordinates of her map led her to this location of the outer edges of what she has explored herself. The further out she went, the more treacherous the terrain and the wild animals became, causing her to be on edge, her hairs on the back of her neck tingling.

She took a deep breath and peeked around the corner of the old, crumbled temple, her eyes straining to see any type of light or threat in her way. Seeing nothing she slowly crept closer to her target, the long forgotten amulet of the King Arun. The amulet was a sickly green colour, almost radiating its own light source in the dark chamber that The Mapmaker located.

She quickly grabbed the amulet, half expecting the whole room to erupt into chaos, instead there was an eerily quiet sound of the water dripping from the ceiling; drip, drip, drip. That was almost more unsettling for her as she stashed the Amulet into her waist mounted satchel. 

The Mapmaker quickly turned around and started jogging towards the entrance that she entered through. The foliage slapping her arms and legs like they don't want her to leave them to their solemn existence in the dark.

Rumble. She felt the chamber behind her shiver and quake. She stole a look behind her and saw large chunks of the roof collapse where she was standing just moments before.

"damn old temple cant support its weight" she muttered.

She quickly sped up her pace from a light jog to a desperate scramble to the long stairway that brought her closer to the piercing light of the Mediterranean sun. She could hear the crashes and loud clatters of the limestone behind her gathering more force and volume indicating that it was gaining ground on her. 

The Mapmaker desperately took the steps of the temple 3 at a time, trying to outpace the oncoming rumble behind her. She clutched onto her satchel and with a grunt burst out of the cold chamber of the temple. She was greeted by the dappled shade of the balsa trees that were dotted around the overgrown ruins of the temple.

She exhaled slowly, reaching into her satchel to retrieve the fruit of her troubles. She pulled the Amulet out watching it glint in the tropical sun creating green highlights in the dappled shade. The Mapmaker smiled to herself, realizing what she had just done: defying the odds and coming out victorious once again.

The heroes journey: RE2 remastered

1. Ordinary world - Leon Kennedy drives into a gas station that has infected people who are zombies in

2. Call to Adventure - Continues to drive into the city to get to the police station

3. Refusal of the call - 

4. Meeting the mentor - Marvin Branagh gives Leon objectives in the police station

5. Crossing the threshold - Leon starts clearing out the zombies in the police station

6. Tests, allies, enemies - meets different characters and finds lots of enemies

7. Approach - kills all the zombies in the police station

8. Ordeal - constant physical ordeal from the threats

9. Reward - Gets new guns and mods for the guns, while also getting more inventory space

10. Road Back -