This thread is the official "working" thread for the storyboards. For the time being, this thread will also be used to assign work and establish deadlines for work completion.

First and foremost, I should explain the deadline scheduling. Keep in mind that the deadlines are not set in stone, there is no punishment, etc, but they are there to help spur on activity. I have set a tentative deadline goal at 25 storyboard panels a week, combined, from all members of the group. That means if 5 people help, each will need to do 5 panels a week. This is not an unreasonable goal to accomplish.

While there will be a degree of difference in the kind of panels/style people make, if we can try to get a commitment on a per scene basis from different people, it will make it a bit more coherent. Say for example, scene 5 would be
done by only one person, and scene 6 done by someone else, etc. If this is not possible, fine...but it should be a goal to look to.

So what I need to know is who has the time and desire to work on boards? I know HARDHEAD11 has already a large number he has been working on, I can work on a bunch also. Speak up, because we'll divvy up the board work based on who replies here.


ASSIGNMENTS:

HARDHEAD11 = 4
Travellingmatt= 8,10, and 13
Tictoon = 7 and 9
CJ Maynard = 1, 2, 3 and 11
Funddevi = 5 and 6

AVAILABLE:

Scene 12

Scene 7 Shot 3:

I'd be willing to do some storyboarding. Give me a task and we'll see how well I can butcher it

-Funddevi

I'll take scene 13. Anyone care?

Matt

I've posted 45 frames of storyboards that I've been working on for scene 4.
They need to be enlarged manually, and they are rough, so don't judge too harshly. I changed some shots from the script, so be aware.

Oh, Nia doesn't have hair because I can't draw hair. So there.

I think we've met the quota this week.

I'm not sure, but will the extra storyboards pool into the next week?

@Tic...yes, it'll just speed up the overall process.

@HH11- very nice...when I get a chance later I'll cross-compare them with the P.S. and make sure everything is set to go!

HH,

Llots of work there. Good start.
On an over-all point, perhaps you have moved a little towards blocking, rather than storyboarding, cos many of the frames have no background or camera angle depicted, and so are more to show the characters' movements, rather than the shot as a whole.

Also, this is one of the more difficult scenes to storyboard, (like all of the confrontational scenes) because there is a necessity to keep cutting back and forth between the two characters, and this leads, if not careful, to a very bland sequence of shots, rather than a dramatic confrontation. I try to think along the lines of a Marvel comic when putting shots together.

On a more detailed analysis, I would suggest the following as ideas to consider. Remember this is just my opinion, rather than any criticism as such:

Frames 1-4, keep the camera looking onto the plateau, rather than over the edge, - it is a lot less modelling and flows better into frames 7-11. In fact, frames 1-11 are the same camera shot, just with a slight pan and zoom.

Frames 7-11, frame the cliff to one side, rather than straight on. It's a more interesting view, and gives a better sense of scale. Compositionally, the general rule is that the most important item in a picture should be 1/3rd of the way across and 1/3rd from either the top or the bottom. You can centre the object of interest if there is a good reason, but don't keep it there indefinitely. The same applies to Tictoon, here. Centring the planet is less effective than keeping it to one side.

Generally, you have all of your characters facing straight on to the camera. If this is a limitation of your drawing skills, then that's ok, but otherwise it will lead to a very bland interpretation. Likewise, many more of the shots could be either much closer to or further away from the characters, to make for a more dynamic story-telling.

Frames 15-16, Rhagen should be to the right of Nia, not the left. There is a cinematic convention that where you have two characters talking, the camera must stay on one side of the line between them. If it switches sides, it confuses the viewers, unless it does so as part of a tracking shot. Thus, Rhagen must remain right of frame and Nia left of frame from frame 12 until frame 41, where only Rhagen is in frame. His leap directly towards the camera at this point is what visually allows us to 'cross the line' and place Nia right of frame for the rest of the scene.

Frame 12, perhaps move the shot across, so Nia is left of frame at this point, facing onto the plateau. Remember that not only should she be left of frame at this point anyway, but also it saves modelling to keep the shot looking towards
the mountain, rather than out over the distant views.

Frames 14-15, Nia should be facing the rocks, not the camera. Rhagen's bolt should appear to her right, not left. Perhaps a lower angle shot, looking up past her shoulder, rather than directly past her head, and with Rhagen's landing place 20 feet or so up the mountain side, as he tries to take control of the situation by taking the high position.

Frame 26, perhaps more dramatic gesture, rather than just a finger point- a full arm point. These are dramatic people, discussing the destruction of the universe!

Frame 28-32. It should be Rhagen making the sweeping gesture, as it takes him quite some work to create the fireball, whilst Nia just twitches a finger to destroy it. The emphasis is on how powerful she is relative to him. At the moment it appears that it takes her more work to destroy the fireball than it takes him to make it.

Personally, I would keep the long shot between Rhagen and Nia with the fireball approaching between them, towards Nia, rather than cutting away to your frames 29-30. It gives a better idea of scale, when it is filling half of the frame behind Nia a split second before she vanishes it. It also means we don't need to model a huge amount of terrain around the two characters in order to have a long shot looking down. The fireball is a throw-away concept. It should take only perhaps 3-4 seconds of screen time. It has no importance except as a means of showing that Rhagen likes to smash things, and that Nia is massively more powerful than he is. It's not a big production number, if you get my drift. There is no dialogue to cover the event, and only a single line of reference to it in retrospect.

As I say, nice start. The above is not intended as anything negative, just constructive criticism. I would suggest thinking more comic-book, like Marvel or the like, and remember to try to keep the camera looking always along or towards the mountainside. If we glimpse some distant mountains and a flash of water below, that's fine, but remember that everything we see we have to model.

Matt

Hi,

I have Scene 13 roughed out on paper, and I have most of the shots drawn properly, but as I have some spare time at work, and no access to graphics software or Blender here, I'm going to start working on Scenes 8/10 (10 is a continuation of 8, really) on paper.

Matt

I was just wondering though, if the planet isn't centered, won't the scene have an almost empty feeling? because the planet is the only thing there...

I will keep in mind what you said about centering.

Tic,

The idea would be to perhaps have the planet off to one side, then see Rhagen's energy enter from the other side. Zooming in towards the planet so that only part of it is visible will give a greater level of detail and also keep the asymmetric feel, as the camera flies across the surface and out again.

Those sort of tricks. A static shot of the planet will mean that the texturing has to be the whole shot, rather than part of the whole.

Just another thought- is it possible to have the planet kind of slump inwards, like it has deflated a little, after is 'dies'? As though the planet is turning to ash internally and collapsing under its own weight.

Matt

hows this?

Tic...looks nice so far. Regarding the centering of anything within a scene, keep in mind the Rule of Thirds. You'll notice in almost all cases, this is how any film scene is framed. Intentional ignorance of the rule can produce high-impact results, if done right. It's tricky though, and even so, 99% of any movie's shots will be following the rule of thirds. Just to clarify, this last pic of yours followed the rule well.

Nice texture BTW

Example:

I did a little Photoshopping of Tictoon's image. You don't need to take this into consideration necessarily, I just had the need to feel useful today...

I was figuring that having a closer-up shot of the planet would increase the effect of largeness. Just to clarify what I say in the image, the camera would center on the planet much more than the image presents.
-Funddevi

Tic, FD,

The second try at the layout is a lot better, Tic.

FD, I think your Idea could/should be incorporated too.

One point about the image is that the background is perhaps a bit too dramatic. I like it, but the foreground image is losing out to the background. Perhaps move the centre of the background to the opposite corner of the frame to the planet, and/or increase the lighting levels on the planet. At the end of the scene, the planet can look like a black 'hole' against the backdrop, to emphasise the deadness of it, but at the start it should be bright against the background. Also remember that the contrast between the day and night sides of a planet is huge, - there is no 'fill' light in space, other than starlight, which is millions of times dimmer than the local sun.

Matt