Activity 1 - Intro to Storytelling
Activity 2 - Storyboards
Activity 3 - Colour Scripts
Activity 4 - Animatics
Students will need the following 2 Behance projects for this unit of study:
- StoryTelling Unit (Individual project)
- Group Story Project (group project)
Cover:
-Reflect theme of Course
-Art Cover image 404 X 316
-Text "StoryTelling Unit"
Settings:
Creative Fields:
-Apply 3 project theme-related "Creative Fields"
Tags:
- 10 theme generated tags (use key concepts)
Project Description:
- "this is my concept art portfolio, storytelling unit"
Extra Information:
-Brand: Animation and SislerIDM
-Agency: Winnipeg School Division
-School: Sisler High School
Credits:
-Add the cast and crew with roles for the Group Story Project, but not for the StoryTelling Unit
Tools Used:
-Identify all tools used in this unit: i.e., Adobe Flash CS6, Adobe Audition CS6, Behance, paper, pencils, light-table
Content:
-Embed all Unit components
-Reflect theme of Course
-Art Cover image 404 X 316
-Text "StoryTelling Unit"
Settings:
Creative Fields:
-Apply 3 project theme-related "Creative Fields"
Tags:
- 10 theme generated tags (use key concepts)
Project Description:
- "this is my concept art portfolio, storytelling unit"
Extra Information:
-Brand: Animation and SislerIDM
-Agency: Winnipeg School Division
-School: Sisler High School
Credits:
-Add the cast and crew with roles for the Group Story Project, but not for the StoryTelling Unit
Tools Used:
-Identify all tools used in this unit: i.e., Adobe Flash CS6, Adobe Audition CS6, Behance, paper, pencils, light-table
Content:
-Embed all Unit components
-Title each activity
-Use the portfolio Text styles appropriately
-Use the portfolio Text styles appropriately
Task:
Students:
- record discussions in your sketchbooks
- post your work using text editor and upload snapshots of your sketchbooks to StoryTelling Behance project.
Part 1 - Developing an idea
Task:
Students:
- are to work in assigned groups
- brainstorm potential stories for 2 classes
- pitch characters and environments
- must use the Pixar In A Box approach presented in the class activity (above)
- are to select the most appropriate story structure (Hero's Journey, Story Circle or 3 Act/8 segment structure.
- record discussion in your sketchbooks
- post findings/plan use text editor and upload snapshots of your sketchbooks to Group Story Behance project.
Part 2- Adding Structure
Task:
Students:
- are to continue working in assigned groups
- develop the story spine of your story for 2 classes (be sure to follow the beat board format to help develop your story).
- Pitch potential story titles
- Pitch potential group names
- Adapt to your desired story structure
- must use the Pixar In A Box approach presented in the class activity (above)
- record discussion in your sketchbooks
- post findings/plan use text editor and upload snapshots of your sketchbooks to Group Story Behance project.
Part 3 - Character Development
Task:
Students:
- are to continue working in assigned groups
- develop the main characters of your story for 2 classes
- Adapt to your story structure
- finalize your story title
- finalize your group name
- map out your character arcs
- must use the Pixar In A Box approach presented in the class activity (above)
- record discussion in your sketchbooks
- post findings/plan use text editor and upload snapshots of your sketchbooks to Group Story Behance project.
Helpful steps for planning Character Arcs:
- Establish the Problem / Issue / Flaw
- Create a Change
- Make Stepping Stones
- Test and Reward
Posting:
- Upload all your work to your StoryTelling Unit Behance Project & Group Story Project on Behance
- Format your text styles appropriately
The idea of storyboarding was developed at the Walt Disney Studio during the early 1930s. Disney credited animator Webb Smith with creating the idea of drawing scenes on separate sheets of paper and pinning them up on a bulletin board to tell a story in sequence, thus creating the first storyboard (Christopher Finch, The Art of Walt Disney, Abrams, 1973). The first complete storyboards were created for the 1933 Disney short Three Little Pigs (The Story of Walt Disney, Henry Holt, 1956). According to John Canemaker, in Paper Dreams: The Art and Artists of Disney Storyboards (1999, Hyperion Press), the first storyboards at Disney evolved from comic-book like "story sketches" created in the 1920s to illustrate concepts for animated cartoon short subjects such as Plane Crazy and Steamboat Willie.
Task:
Intro to task:
Students will be placed into groups of 3-4. As a group students will work on a storyboard using the story structure of choice and using the most appropriate film grammar. All groups will pitch their storyboards (in a digital format) to the class on ________________ in class.
Come up with a group name
Remember that your group must alway keep the following 2 objectives in mind when boarding:
- detail breakdown of long narrative
- clear communication - visual representation. Present the final representation of story visually through sequential image.
Part 1:
Finally, it is time to apply what you’ve learned and practiced to the story idea you’re developing. For this exercise groups will have 3 classes where they can really focus on your storyboarding.
- Break down all scenes in your group into minor beats. Each beat should represent one or two shots.
- As seen in the previous video work through visualizing the staging, framing, and motion used to communicate each idea in the scene using simplified drawings.
- For the first iterations, go ahead and make lots of mistakes so you get them out of the way as you continue to rework and refine your scenes.
- Go ahead and add descriptive words that would help others understand and follow your vision.
- Use lines, arrows, frames within frames, directional lines, etc. that would visually indicate direction, shot types, or anything else needed to convey your ideas.
- You can use the storyboard template (below), or you can draw your own. You can also use index cards, which are easier to pin up and move around when you want to show it to someone else. THIS PHASE MUST BE DONE ON PAPER! Start by using light pencil stokes and than go over with sharpies. Keep all work in a group name labeled manilla folder (provided).
Storyboard Requirements:
- 16 : 9 ratio box with room outside the box
- Number all scenes,
- Use lines of action and movement in your storyboards (camera and action),
- Add notes and instructions under the key image,
- No colour
Creating your storyboards using Adobe Photoshop:
- open the provided template (below) in Adobe Photoshop,
- create new folders in your layer panel for each storyboard. Name each one by the number of your storyboard.
- print all storyboards,
- pin them up on boards,
- critique, review and revise,
- create a digital pitch
- pitch your story
Part 1:
- Create a group "Digital Story" (group project) project, One individual creates the group and the other members will need to be invited (settings).
- Upload all your work to your group Hero's Journey Unit Behance Project
- Format your text styles appropriately
Part 2:
- Upload your work to your StoryTelling Unit Behance Project.
- Document your individual work process and throughout this activity.
- Format your text styles appropriately
Storyboard Template (source: Jazza):
Storyboard Template (source: Jazza):
ABOUT COLOUR SCRIPT
Colour scripts serve a functional purpose in animation. Due to the nonlinear production process of computer animation, the director needs all the clues he can get as to what the finished image might look like on the screen. The colour script is an early attempt to map out the colour, lighting, emotion and moods in a film. It’s not about making a single pretty piece of art; the colour script evolves throughout the early stages of the film, hand in hand with story development.
The more ways a director can see their film, the better. By itself, a colour script will not make or break a film. But it can definitely help the studio evolve their ideas and figure out different approaches to the story they are telling.
A film’s colour works best when it follows a clear path from start to finish. Sometimes there is a tendency to view colour as an afterthought, but those who plan their colour and exploit its possibilities can create a richer and more emotionally engaging film experience for their viewers. This is why Pixar uses colour scripts for each of their films, as it allows them to map out the experience from start to finish.
A colour script defines the lighting and colour palette used in Pixar's movies.
This needs to be done to keep the look and feel consistent.
A colour script takes those definitions and expands on them by providing a rendered or filled storyboard (or more accurately, frames from the storyboard) that show what the look is supposed to be like.
This needs to be done to keep the look and feel consistent.
A colour script takes those definitions and expands on them by providing a rendered or filled storyboard (or more accurately, frames from the storyboard) that show what the look is supposed to be like.
There’s a science to choosing colour schemes in a movie, to make the movie visually more attractive and provide psychological assists, and how designers use complementary pairs in a movie’s art design.
The person who brought colour scripts to Pixar was Ralph Eggleston, and he made the first one for Toy Story in pastel. That tradition has stuck for years afterward, largely because pastel is a very fast and efficient medium to work in. Today, most of the colour scripts are done digitally because digital painting is even faster than pastels.
Task:
Students may return to their original groups, or students may be switched up. As a group students will work on a colour script for one of the Storytelling storyboard pitches from the previous activity. All groups will pitch their storyboards (in a digital format) to the class on Friday, November 17 in class.
1. Folder organization:
- Use your WSD google Drive
- One student create a "Colour Script" folder,
- invite group members with edit & view rights
- create Beat folders inside Colour Script folder
- create scene (minor Beat) folders inside Beat folders
- Create a DOP sheet folder
- Embed a view only link to your folder on Behance
2. Individual Notes & Work:
- Students are to take notes on colour in film in their sketchbook
- Students are to upload to their individual StoryTelling Unit Behance Project,
- Students are to upload a slideshow of their individual 20 colour boards (once completed)
3. Director of Photography (DOP) Sheet:
- As a group use an X-sheet to colour code emotions
- Assign at least 20 boards per student
- Each student must complete at least 20 boards and a maximum of 25 boards
- List 4-8 reference movies (colour approach). Screenshot them. Upload screenshots into Adobe Colour. Record Hex codes.
- Assign story colour swatch (include HEX codes & colour samples). Use Adobe Colour as tool https://color.adobe.com
- Digitally capture all your DOP sheet. Upload in a slideshow to your group colour script project
4. Colourboards Requirements:
- 16 : 9 ratio box with room outside the box (1080p = 1920 x 1080 - is usually known as FHD or “Full HD” resolution)
- open the provided template in Adobe Photoshop,
- Each student must create a minimum of 20 boards and a maximum of 25 boards (feel free to add more boards)
- Name each file as: StoryName_Beat#_Scene#_board#.psd and StoryName_Beat#_Scene#_board#.jpg
- No lines of action and camera movement,
- No notes or text on colour boards,
- Minimal stroke to be used, mostly coloured
5. Creating video presentation of colour script boards using Adobe Premiere:
- Sequence size: 1080p = 1920 x 1080
- create new folders in your layer panel for each storyboard. Name each one by the number of your storyboard.
- layer a score to reinforce the emotional use of colour
- critique, review and revise,
- post colour script video
- present video to class
Free Audio:
Hey students! Always credit URLs!
Sound Effects and Soundbeds
Soundtracks
Part 1:
- Create a new Group Colour Script Story project to the name of your story and group name (group project) project
- Upload all your work to your new Colour Script Story Unit Behance Project
- Format your text styles appropriately
Part 2:
- Upload your work to your StoryTelling Unit Behance Project.
- Document your individual work process and through out this activity. Each student must upload 2 photos a day of your work in progress and document your portion of the group work.
- Format your text styles appropriately
An animatic is an animated storyboard. Boards are brought into an editing program and are cut together with the correct timing and pace of the film. They include basic sound effects, dialogue recordings and scratch soundtrack
Task:
Students may return to their original groups, or students may be switched up. As a group students will work on a colour script for one of the Hero's Journey storyboard pitches from the previous activity. All groups will pitch their storyboards (in a digital format) to the class on Friday, November 24th in class.
Animatic Requirements:
- 16 : 9 ratio box with room outside the box
- Number all scenes,
- Use lines of action and movement in your storyboards (camera and action),
- Add notes and instructions under the key image,
- No colour
Creating your animatic using Adobe Photoshop, Flash or After Effects:
- create new folders in your layer panel for each storyboard. Name each one by the number of your storyboard.
- print all storyboards,
- pin them up on boards,
- critique, review and revise,
- create a digital pitch
- pitch your story
Part 1:
- Create a group "A Hero's Journey" (group project) project,
- Upload all your work to your group Hero's Journey Unit Behance Project
- Format your text styles appropriately
Part 2:
- Upload your work to your StoryTelling Unit Behance Project.
- Document your individual work process and through out this activity. Each student must upload 2 photos a day of your work in progress and document your portion of the group work.
- Format your text styles appropriately
