Film Studies and Cinematography/Final Project – Storyboard and Animatic

01/12/2024 - 29/12/2024 (Week 10 – Week 14)

Shao Han / 0369187

Film Studies and Cinematography / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylors University

Final Project – Storyboard and Animatic

• Introduction
• Final Project
• Feedback
• Reflection

INTRODUCTION

 

FINAL PROJECT

For this task,We need to draw a short animated story with a length of between one minute and three minutes. We need to start writing on the basis of the previously designed script, from the draft of the lens to the design of the split lens to draw the finished product. The finished product needs to have a color relationship of black, white and gray.

1. Objective: The objective of this project is to produce a 1-3 minute animatics storyboard based on your approved short animation. 

2. Requirements: The animatic storyboard production must be based on the proposed story ideas developed for Project 1. 

Script

PROCESS

Before I started the sketch, I read my story again, extracting key information from the script to make sure there were no extra shots, but each sketch should be sufficient to express general information.

Because the story is rich, so my draft picture needs to draw a lot of content. In order to avoid lengthy sketches, I put nine sketches in a drawing board.

In order to make the sketch look clear and simple, I use a black line on a white background to adjust the stroke to a smaller width, and it is also convenient for me to add detailed information.

Fig1.1 Deliverables sketching,Week 10(01/12/2024)

Deliverables

Final Deliverables

Next, I began to design the change mode and duration of the lens, although the final presentation may be different from the current design, but more detailed design can help us save more time in the final production process. It can also be adjusted and upgraded on the basis of this design in the final design.

I use bright red to mark the picture, so that I can clearly see the transition of the picture, and add a canvas at the bottom of the picture, marking the approximate duration and sound effect of the character's actions, lines and picture.

Fig1.2 Storyboard sketching,Week 11(08/12/2024)

Storyboard

Final Storyboard

• Using any editing software such as Adobe Premiere, create a new project with 1280 x 720 size and 24fps framerate.
• Import the image of each panel and arrange them according to the panel sequence.
• Put the right estimated duration of each panel. Preview and edit back and forth to get the right pacing, continuity and screen direction.
• Animate the character action and camera works, replacing the arrow direction in the storyboard. You may have different layers of the shot such as background, prop, character etc to make it animatable in the editing software.
• Animate the transitions (fade in, fade out, dissolve etc.)
• Put the audio elements such as music background that can enhance the emotion of the shot, voice over (dialogue / monologue) and sound effects.
• Indicate of each panel number and timecode through text overlays
• Output the video as mp4 format

At the beginning of the short film, I first drew the background of the story-the village, and the story was also unfolded by Ellie, a girl in the village.

Fig1.3 Final task drawing,Week 12(15/12/2024)

After that, the camera turned to Ellie, pointing out the protagonist of the story, and as the lens zoomed in, the protagonist's hand, an ancient book, also came into view, which is the key to promoting the development of the story.

Fig1.4 Final task drawing,Week 12(15/12/2024)

In the next scene, the picture directly shows the flipping of the ancient book, telling the audience that the perspective of the story begins to turn to the content in the book. This expression can directly and clearly reflect the switching of the content, and will not make the audience feel baffled.

Fig1.5 Final task drawing,Week 12(15/12/2024)

Then, show the contents of the book-a castle belonging to the magical country, shining brightly in the dark night. Next, there is a transition lens designed for this scene, the castle begins to turn into a whirlpool, and the protagonist Ellie's eyes slowly open as the whirlpool disappears, showing the end of the story in the book.

This specialty is designed to highlight the fantasy of the magical land and lay the groundwork for the powerful magic of the follow-up mirror, and in order to connect smoothly with Ellie's departure to the castle, I added Ellie to open her eyes when the castle whirlpool was about to disappear.

Fig1.6 Final task drawing,Week 13(22/12/2024)

In the story, Ellie finally arrives at the castle after a long journey. In order to reflect how long Ellie has been to the castle, I use the alternating picture of the sun and the moon to show it. Using such conventional images can make the audience understand the picture content more quickly and increase the readability of the content.

Fig1.7 Final task drawing,Week 13(22/12/2024)

When Ellie arrived at the castle and pushed open the gate, I adopted the first perspective, so that the audience could intuitively appreciate the mysterious atmosphere and the shocking energy of the inverted mirror hidden in the castle after the gate was pushed open.

Fig1.8 Final task drawing,Week 13(22/12/2024)

When Ellie gradually fell into confusion and began to question herself, I used the image of falling leaves to show the change in Ellie's mind, and at the same time, through Ellie's expression-a confident and gratifying smile, to express that Ellie had found the answer in her heart. the state that is no longer confused, this technique can make the picture deeper and arouse the thinking of the audience.

Fig1.9 Final task drawing,Week 14(29/12/2024)

At the end of the story, after Ellie returned to herself, she learned her own good quality in the mirror, improved herself step by step, helped the people in the village, and was respected and loved by the people of the village. In the last scene, I used a dark background to highlight Ellie's light from herself.

Fig1.9 Final task drawing,Week 14(29/12/2024)

After the production of the picture, I began to make sound effects for the final video. I looked for the appropriate sound effects from the sound library and debugged it with AU.

Fig1.10 Sound effect addition,Week 14(29/12/2024)

Add audio to corresponding video.

Fig1.11 Sound effect addition,Week 14(29/12/2024)

Animatic

YOUTUBE LINK

FEEDBACK

Week 10

The sketch of the picture should be drawn as clearly as possible, not too thick, it will not show some necessary details, and the sketch needs more, which will help me to complete the later task.

Week 11

The design of the picture transformation needs to indicate the changing way, and the holding time and character lines of the picture can be added at the bottom of the picture, which can help me to quickly grasp the content of the picture during the post-production, thus saving time.

Week 12

No Feedback

Week 13

The relationship between black, white and gray needs to be added when the finished product is made, and I will continue to make the rest.

REFLECTION

Experiences

Working on the Final Project for Film Studies and Cinematography has been a chance to be creative and improve my skills. We started by thinking of ideas that would work well as pictures in a story. I worked on my own, like I did for Project 1, which gave me the freedom to try out different ideas without any outside limits.But this too implied that I was the as it were one making all the choices. Drawing the storyboard and putting together the animatic was a parcel of work, but it felt great to do. One enormous challenge was making beyond any doubt the timing and changes between scenes felt smooth whereas keeping the story associated. Indeed in spite of the fact that there were challenges, wrapping up the extend made me feel truly glad and made a difference me get it how vital the arranging organize is.

Observations

Amid this extend, I saw how vital it is to arrange and remain organized for a visual story to succeed. The storyboard was like a arrange that made a difference make the animatic and made beyond any doubt everything remained steady. I taken note that indeed little changes in timing or how something is appeared can totally alter the emotions of a scene.Working with others gave me different ideas, but working alone helped me concentrate on my goals and learn how to solve problems by myself. Another thing noticed was how music and sound effects improved the mood and interest of the animatic. These elements, even though people often ignore them, were very important in making the scenes come alive.

Findings

This expand invigorated the noteworthiness of thought to detail in describing. I learned that a well-crafted storyboard not because it were saves time in the midst of a short time later stages but in addition acts as a communication gadget for sharing considerations. Another key finding was the portion of program proficiency—mastering changing disobedient made the animatic era smoother and more proficient.I found out that timing and stream are really crucial to keep the bunch of onlookers interested, and I got to actuate prevalent at this.Too, working on my possess made a difference me gotten to be more grounded and way better at understanding issues, which are exceptionally vital in imaginative areas. By and large, this encounter has made a difference me develop as a filmmaker and has given me aptitudes and information that will offer assistance me in future ventures.