Storyboarding: 36 Frame Space

So far, I have only had experience storyboarding for 5 seconds or longer.  Although 5 seconds is a short amount of time, it is only 125 frames, I have a shorter amount of time that needs filling at the start of my title sequence - 36 frames.

Rather than avoiding the problem and shifting the music, I think it would benefit my practice if I work out a way of filling in the space.  I also think the beginning also helps to ease into the soundtrack - so I see scrapping it as a null option.

I want to have the olympic rings, staying true to the style, in this small piece of animation.  Here are some storyboards demonstrating fade in & out effects, small movements & rotations and zooming into the piece.

Storyboarding Ideas

I decided to keep the whole thing as simple as possible, looking at the 'Catch Me If You Can' video in particular.  Silhouetted figures with a simple colour scheme is what I will be aiming to achieve.  It gives it a sophisticated look, and allows the text to stand out from the animation.

Here are initial storyboards with ideas on how to approach it.  I think the kinetic lines are effective, it would allow the imagery to stand on it's own whilst making space for text to be displayed.

Applying a Timeline to my Storyboards

In response to the timeline workshop, I constructed 5 separate timelines, 5 seconds on each, and placed my current storyboards on there.  To save time, and to make it easy to move frames around, I scanned in my work, printed it out and cut them out with blu-tac on the underside.

Because I am using the blu-tac stick and move method, I am able to remove frames off my storyboards to investigate whether or not they are still understandable.  I reverted back to the 5 keyframe format, and found that they still made sense.  It was still beneficial to have the other frames there to understand them, but it shows that my frames are concise and easy to follow - the green pen can demonstrate motion and reduce numerous frames, to the one.

Feedback From the First Crit

Overall, the feedback I got from Yafet and Ben were good.  Both of them recognised what was going on and didn't have much trouble understanding the concept of speed with my timestamps.  I covered up the annotations at the side for the purposes of the crit.

Considerations

Disperse 1:  Colour to the 'r' could give emphasis before exploding into the screen.

Drop 1:  It could read better in the end, as in falling in the correct order.

Drop 2:  They could drop out of the frame as they keel over, giving another relation to my theme.

Drop 3: The stem of the 'd' could stretch before it drops, and the letters could fall out of the frame.

Annotating Ideas - Introducing Timing

To get a better understanding of what is going on, I annotated my sheets in a different colour.  This included a brief explanation at the start of the storyboards, and timestamps to suggest the speed of the animation.  When it comes to applying these digitally in Aftereffects, it will also make my job a lot easier.

I also added some movement marks where it is necessary, for example on the 'drop' that sways side to side.  It just allows the viewer of my storyboards to paint an accurate picture in their mind of what I want to communicate.

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Developing our Strongest Ideas

I came up with a quick technique to make storyboarding my ideas quicker and more accurate.  By tracing the previous frame on a separate piece of paper, it allowed me to map out the next one by placing other aspects of the frame around existing ones.  For example, here I could copy the last frame directly and extend the pool around the lettering.

Also, for this exercise, Lorraine allowed us to use as many frames as we needed to, which freed up the 5-frame restrictions we had before.  It just allowed me to add extra details that portray my idea more accurately.

Developing an Idea: Working with Words

Idea 1: A drop of water, using water within the design.  Inspired from the definitions "a globule, i.e. rain drop" and "a fall in globules".

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Idea 2: A drop in confidence, from high to low.  Inspired from the definition "abandon; ignore" and "reduce or hurt".

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Idea 3: Dropping from a height, usually breaking the word.  Inspired from the definitions "let go of, or fall" and "fall apart or break down".

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Idea 4: The dispersing of information or ideas.  Inspired from the definitions "to spread, or to broadcast information" and "to distribute".

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Idea 5: To disperse in different directions, scattering about.  Inspired from the definitions "to drive off or scatter in different directions" and "break up, disband".

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Analysing Initial Storyboards

3 sheets, 15 sequences, 5 frames each.  Every one reflecting on 5 seconds worth of footage.  Our first workshop in motion, and we had restrictions on each:

Sheet 1: Couldn't move the letterform, only allowed to adjust scale and weight.

Sheet 2: Could only move and rotate around the frame, one frame being identical in each - diagonal along each sequence (demonstrated with red pen)

Sheet 3: Again, the same frames had to be identical, but this was focusing on moving in and out of the frame - creating a 3D effect.

Difficult, but rewarding.  The workshop broadened my mind and introduced me to thinking 4D.  Storyboarding also forces me to improve my drawing skills, something that will be incredibly useful in my practice.