Simulated Brief - Applying different techniques

Having learnt so much about composition and film theory in COP3, I wanted to apply these new skills towards my practical, simulated storyboards. I mainly wanted to edit the first 3 boards, which I redrew and redirected both the camera and the narration for these scenes. With my COP3 boards I added extra detail with lineart and a range of shading with the grey tones to make the light standout even more, but with these extra elements, it takes longer to create the boards and, when making storyboards in the industry, extra time isn't a luxury. For these sets of boards I wanted to experiment with the shading by using white as the main focus and light in the frame, and a few block shades of grey to determine the content in the background. I wanted to experiment with this technique to see if it would be a more efficient way to produce storyboards in the future. I also wanted to edit the narrative in the beginning frames, I wasn't too keen on how Hayley was introduced, it felt too motion graphic, which is not necessarily a bad thing I personally didn't think it would work with the rest of the camera direction, and I didn't like the narrative where Hayley walks an old woman across the road, it was dynamic enough to work with the narrative.

Example of COP3 Storyboards

Brief notes on each board:

+ Board 1 - changed the beginning of the narrative to show Hayley's morning breakfast routine, slowly showing the audience that she has super powers. Made use of the foreground being slightly out of focus to create more depth in the frame and show the focus shift to the main character of the narrative, Hayley.
- Third frame shows that she has powers, using them to make her morning breakfast. In the background the toaster rattles, showing that it will be the next focus in the following sequential frames. This frame is also the first to have some detail on the background - the first too frames not having too much of a background as to give more emphasis on the action. This frame helps to give the audience a setting, we know that Hayley is in the kitchen having breakfast.
- Following three frames show the toast flying from the toaster and being buttered - range of close up and long shots aid to clearly show the movement.

+ Board 2 -  first frames shows a dynamic and interesting shot of the toast reaching Hayley, linking to the next shot where she is slowly eating it.
- the following two frames show Hayley reading the newspaper, shown through an over the shoulder shot as the camera pans into the newspaper, showing Hayley putting herself in the hero's shoes - I felt that the framing of the shot added a nicer transition to the next scene, adding to the narrative as it describes the elements that she wants to be; showing her dream.
- This board is quite simple in space and composition in the previous boards, in the first board I was able to take advantage of the amount of space, being able to use the russian formalist technique of the dominant and defamiliarization, presenting the chain of events in a different way in order to make the main action in the scene standout to the audience, regardless of the hierarchy in the primary planes.

+ Board 3
- first frame shows an over the shoulder shot of what Hayley is seeing, the camera panning into the burning building - revealing the source of the cry for help. I didn't make this shot a power angle as I felt that this would be better suited for a more dynamic action, for example when she arrives at the scene and lands in front of a crowd of worried citizens, or when she finally captures the bad guy, etc.
- Hayley flies towards him - using Hayley's fist as a transition to the next scene. I personally liked this as it made it more interesting of a shot - leading to the following scene.
- extreme close up of the name tag to a long shot of the next scene helps to build up anticipation of the following narrative.

The overall aesthetic for the storyboards works successfully for the motion graphic advert, I wanted to twist the visual style so that it was a merge between a motion graphic approach with added detail - mainly the addition of more detailed backgrounds and use of camera angles. This practical has aided the growth of my practice substantially as I have had a taste of what a client would need from a storyboard, commercial wise, and how the script is approached in industry - the layout and timing with the audio etc. At the beginning of these simulated boards, I wasn't sure were to start, I had only drawn storyboards for short animations, and the tone, spacing and aesthetic is completely different for commercial animations. There needs to be a clear path in the frame to show the subject of the narrative and scene. Regardless I really enjoyed this brief and want to keep using this brief as an experiment, in the future, to see what techniques I can get away within order to retell the narrative so that it still suits the target audience.

Board 1

Board 2

Board 3