Not everything revolves around post-production, as much as I would like it to. In fact, most films spend the majority of their time pre-production, or the development stage. This is where lots of fun stuff (an some not-so-fun stuff) happens, and one of those things is storyboarding. Used more often in the "old" days of making movies, drawing storyboards is the process of drawing what each shot will look like, so as to convey the director's vision to the rest of the crew.
George Lucas did this in the 1970's when nobody knew what he was talking about when he discussed his big ideas for the Star Wars Universe. He contracted Ralph McQuarrie to paint some concept art so he could convince the studio execs at Fox what he was talking about. Below are some examples of his first concept paintings from Star Wars:
Very cool stuff. Obviously, it worked for George Lucas.
Now on to some storyboard examples:
Anyway. I am taking a storyboarding class right now and we have to storyboard a scene for our final project, and so I went into Adobe Illustrator and created a 9.4"x4" storyboard template (which is a 2.35:1 aspect ratio) with room for a scene number and some lines for a description. And that's free for you to download and use in the production of your film! It's on an 8.5"x11" piece of paper to make it easy. So just right-click, and save image as...
The box with the question mark on it can be explained by this TED talk he did a while back:
Some text from /Film:
Since Abrams was announced as the new Star Wars director a
few days ago, discussion of the new film turned into a swirl of speculation and
reactions to the fact that Star Wars and Star Trek are now, in a way, united by
one creative force. Peter was extensively quoted in USA Today, for example,
saying:
It’s the ability to get the audience to care about the
characters on a much deeper level. Lucas’ Star Wars characters were iconic but
not much more than archetypes that may have now been copied over and over to
become film stereotypes. Abrams will be able to bring a deeper connection to
the characters and moments in Episode VII.
But what about comments from the director himself? At the
PGA Awards this weekend, Abrams told E! Online that being hired to make a new
Star Wars film is “wildly surreal,” and deferred any real talk of the script,
saying “It’s obviously way too early to talk specifics.” Given the nature of
this project, and the secrecy that Abrams likes to bring to all his work, we
should get ready for a barrage of content-free quotes. He told the Huffington
Post, for example,
“I can just say what I want to do:
I want to do the fans proud. I want to make sure the story is something that touches people. And we’re
just getting started. I’m very excited.”
With Episode VII set for a 2015 release, we’ve got at least
a year, and probably two, of similar dancing around specifics. Those who want
real info on Episode VII: be prepared to wait a good while longer. In fact, THR
says that Abrams isn’t fully committed to the 2015 release date, and cautions
that the film may be released later if the development process warrants it.
'The World's Fastest Indian', a true story starring Anthony Hopkins, is a wonderful road movie. Anthony Hopkins plays the part of Burt Munro, a New Zealand native with a dream of taking his modified 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle half way around the world to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, and set a land speed record. Here's the trailer:
The film isn't new: it was made in 2005 (is that really 8 years ago?!), and it is set in 1963. I really enjoy road movies, and as such I really enjoyed this film. As Burt, with the help of the rest of the small town where he comes from, gathers the funds and sends him on his way to America, we find him like a fish out of water. He has never driven on the right side of the road before, and that causes some fun with everyone.
But one of the things that I really like about this film is that whenever Burt gets himself into a jam (which he often does), a stranger is always there and willing to help him out. For example, while he is driving down the road, in the middle of nowhere, one of the tires on his trailer comes off. Well, Burt Munro is always in a good mood it seems, and not even this gets him down. A local Indian helps him out, and Burt is on his way once again.
I really like of of the themes which this film portrays, which is that you should sometimes get out of your comfort zone. Thomas, the neighbor boy next door who helps Burt on his motorcycle, asks Burt if he's scared that he'll crash and die. Burt responds, "No... You live more in five minutes on a bike like this going flat out than some people live in a lifetime." This is profound. How often do we get caught up in the mundane, everyday tasks of our lives? How often do we "go back to the grind" and just live meaningless lives? Go out and DO something! Get out of your comfort zone and live a little! Burt Munro was 63 years old when he sailed half way around the world and set a land speed record of 178.95 mph. What did you do today?
Another theme from this film is to chase your dreams. In another conversation with Burt, Thomas asks Burt why he is doing what he is doing. Burt pauses a moment to think and then says, "If you don't follow your dreams, Thomas, you might as well be a vegetable."
Follow your dreams, even if they take you out of your comfort zone.
News broke today that JJ Abrams will be taking the helm of the newest Star Wars film, Episode VII. Due to Abrams' list of directing credits and his storytelling capabilities, this is a very good thing.
One of the things that I like about Abrams' style is that he shoots on film. Real film. The stuff that people keep saying is extinct. This is hopeful for Star Wars fans, because the series went south once Uncle George started shooting the films on his shiny new HD cameras:
Now I'm not saying that HD makes things bad. Only partly though. I'm saying that shooting in HD is easier to do than shooting with film. The turnaround time is faster. The image is cleaner. You can get 14+ stops of Dynamic Range with the RED EPIC. You can review what you're shooting as soon as it's been shot. It's just easier. And that easiness leads to complacency, and complacency shows when you're making a film.
The above image shows the stark contrast between the Original Trilogy and the prequel trilogy (it's not capitalized because it doesn't deserve it). I hope JJ Abrams uses actual models in his film, rather than just saying to throw in some CG and calling it good. The fans deserve more than that.
One of the things that I am concerned about with JJ Abrams taking the helm of this film is his excessive use of lens flares everywhere, and so our movie could end up looking like this:
I hope not. I hope he leaves those in the Star Trek universe where they belong. I trust that he'll make the right decisions when it comes to things like this.
And so there you have it. I can't wait for 2015 (seems like forever away). Make us pround, JJ, make us proud.
