It allows the director to visualise his shots, which saves time and money on set or on location.
It is able to check for possible problems with shots, especially for sequences involving action, special effects or complex camera movements.
It allows the actors to see what they are suppose to be doing in the shot, which also saves time and money.
It depicts the mise-en-scene much more clearly than a script, which helps the film director and director of photography discuss the components of the shot (camera position, lighting, people and composition).
It visually shows the narrative flow of a film, which means that flaws in the plot can easily be seen.
It helps editors since the storyboard shows the order of shots in a sequence, aloowing them to see clearly where to cut each shot.
'P' is for 'Psycho'
1) What is happening in the opening sequence of the film?
The sequence opens with a WS with low key lighting and low angle to set the eery highly tense scene. This dim lighting will be present throughout the sequence to maintain the cautious atmosphere. The shot fades to a low angle MS of a person, which then slowly tilts upwards to reveal the identity of the character, a man. To keep the opening mysterious and open to questions, a high angle CU with a very slow pan gradually reveals all the objects on a table. The audience is then forced to question who this character is, what his profession is and what his motives are.
The shot cuts to a CU of plug hole with a stream of blood flowing down it. The deep crimson of the blood would stand out against the white sink, further adding questions about this character. This colour semiotic highlights themes of confusion, danger and death. We then see that this blood comes from an incision on the character's hand; this is also highlighted by the caption "bandage-wrapping". This CU is like a POV shot to allow the audience to be "in the shoes" of the main character. The shot then cuts to a mirrored shot of the bandaged hand, however, now it is clenched in fist, indicating rage and aggression. The shot tilts up to reveal the character's face, however this is only for a short moment since the character turns their head very quickly; this hightens the tension.
A boy enters the room behind the main character. We then see the man "tuck a gun into his belt". There is another cut to an ECU of the man's eyes. Shadows are created through low key lighting to make the man appear more sinister. In the caption there is dialogue, "BAD MOVE, KID..." The shot fades to black and there is a short pause. Then suddenly there is a loud "BANG! BANG!" the sound of a gunshot.
2) How is the narrative flow established?
The narritive flow has been established through a variation of cuts, tilts and mix transitions to control the pace and present the film with coherent and professional aesthetics. For example, a tilt has been used to connect the shots of the man's lower body and his upper body to slow the pace of revealling the character. This adds tension and a certain cautiousness making the read think, "do I really want to see this person?"
3) If you were directing this sequence, what aspects of the storyboard would you like to change?
If I was directing this storyboard, I would ensure that we don't see the man's face until the final moments of the sequence, i.e. I would remove or change shots revealling his face (such as shots 3, 8 and 10) to a silhouetted image of his facial features. This would further add to the tension since the identity of the "psycho" is open to question by the audience. I would, however keep the shot of the ECU of his face to leave a distorted image of the man's face in the mind of the audience, like in the psychological horror Paranormal Activity.
I would add to the caption of the first shot that the grading of the film is to be in black and white with a high exposure to pale colours to create a dreamlike quality to the film; this would add to the psychological nature of the film.
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