Two Column Story Board

Today we have chosen the two-column format for our story board because it is specifically useful for our short production. The two columns are focused on description for example the video column and not so much the artistic vision. This is particularly useful because drawing the images often takes far longer than just describing the key shots. This works well in our small group of four as we already have a good vision of what we want our video to look like as we are the ones who came up with the idea. Thus we do not have to storyboard every sketch because we do not need to translate this image to a camera man who has no idea what our pitch is about, we are the ones shooting the video and we are already very clear on what we want it to look artistically. The columns will act as prompts to remind us when we are filming, and not to teach us what we want to film. However it is important to note that the format is subject to change regarding the complexity and length of a production. For example the storyboard of a feature film will be drastically longer, with very detailed sketches and notes that the camera man will need to learn from and then produce. A traditional storyboard with sketches will be more useful in that case as it is precise and clear for complex shots like an action sequence from James Bond. In our case we are very limited in regard to what we can include in our videos, we cannot for example, blow up a car or hire stunt men to jump off roofs. This is why our format of storyboarding is useful because we don't actually have such vital responsibilities in comparison to real producers.

Individually we tested a draft two-column story board that we created on our own, and showed other members of the class to see if they understood what the plot and the summary of what was going on. This was effective as it proved successful and we received feedbacks from our peers on what went well and how we could improve. As a trial run this was useful as I had forgotten to indicate the length of the shots which would be really useful when filming, but now I am aware of this and will make use of it in the filming stage.