STORYBOARDS:

Some early examples of film animation are Felix the Cat (1914) by Felix Messmer, Winsor McKay's Gertie the Dinosaur (1915) and the Ub Iwerks films (1929); these artists established planning methods that are still used today. The most creative and demanding aspect of project development, storyboards were first used as a CROSS-MEDIA DESIGN TOOL by Disney Studios in 1936, during the making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

These storyboards were drawn and used to plan the camera shots for live-action footage of dancers. Later, animators would 'Rotoscope' the dancers into cartoon characters, combining them with traditional cel-animation techniques. This enhanced the realistic movement of Snow White and her Prince Charming as they interacted with Grumpy, Dopey, et al.

Storyboarding is what writers, artists and designers do before the animators, programmers or camera crews begin to work. Extending from the work done in scriptwriting, the storyboard can be used to help determine the internal logic of all the elements of a film before production begins. With this method of multimedia scripting, the development team can plan activities for characters, computer users and production teams, designing and testing the appearance and effectiveness of the complete product.

Storyboarding is a complex form of collage, a 'scrapbook' that is organised into a linear 'story-telling' form, a way of representing moments in time and space that deliver dramatic meaning. There are distinct differences between designing film storyboards, web-page storyboards and those for gaming environments, due to the kinds of movement involved, but they all look similar hanging on the wall.

More broadly, storyboards can be a compilation of any visual material (drawings, sculptures, products, photographs, directional pointers) and text (activity descriptions, dialogue, copy or script notes, character and camera directions). For multimedia applications, each frame should include detailed notes about the different interactive elements, navigation methods and transitions involved.

Through a series of images and labels, the storyboard frames show all the key moments of the presentation, describing the content and sequence of each scene, moment to moment, capturing the first impression of the presentation’s visual impact.

They must include written details about subject and composition, movements, illumination, lenses, sounds and transitions, the pace of scenes and any other elements of dramatic timing and interaction. The scale or length of storyboards is dependent on the type of presentation it describes; in multimedia they include navigation methods, the interactivity available and any other elements involved.

For 3D GAMING ENVIRONMENTS, artists should indicate moving TRANSITIONS in their sketches, showing how much background is seen in each frame as we move through the 360˚ world. If the user/character is offered a choice of any kind, a NARRATIVE PLOT-POINT or TRANSTIONAL INTERSECTION occurs, causing a branching in the storyboard, creating an optional activity.

The PLOT-POINTS and INTERSECTIONS found in multimedia and 3D gaming flowcharts are reflected in the very complex, lateral tangents that appear as the storyboards develop. Interactive elements need to be properly sequenced to create a smooth, unified application. This is recorded in the script and/or flowcharts first, then we see it all MOVING in the storyboards.

When storyboarding these plot-points or intersections, the 'travelling' transitions can become a convoluted maze of scenes and sequences, so very detailed descriptions need to be kept in the corresponding LABELS. In gaming design, these labeling systems become extremely complicated, requiring reference manuals of their own, but these details are very important to programmers; they should all be noted in the flowcharts before storyboard work starts.

VISUAL STYLE has little to do with the effectiveness of a visually told story. When images are in the context of a convincing, compelling and dynamic story, the audience will be drawn in.

The violent world of Scarface (1983) is directed by Brian De Palma for maximum realism. In contrast, the Baz Luhrmann musical Moulin Rouge (2001) uses a delirious camera, jump cuts and a bizarre colour palette to create a totally different kind of atmosphere. Yet the world of Scarface is no more convincing than the fantasy of Moulin Rouge. In both, extreme style only serves the story.

Just like film and comic books, digital media are two-dimensional forms attempting to convey the illusion of three dimensions. To create this feeling of depth, the designers and artists should use changes in the DEPTH OF FIELD to highlight the differential between foreground (FGD), middle ground (MGD) and background space (BGD).

The concept of DEPTH OF FIELD (DOF) answers the question of where we want the camera lens to focus in any of the three planes, where the focal sharpness will fall - and this can be very difficult to represent in storyboards. DOF Sharpness can be increased or decreased based on the amount of light falling on the subject and the type of lens used to focus on it.

Moving through soft focus to sharp focus naturally gives the image a sense of depth. It can also be done by using changes in scale, lighting, texture, rendering density, detail and colour. If there is a dark object in the FGD, making the BGD light will create a sense of depth, and vice-versa.

Storyboards are a means to an end, not an end in itself. It doesn't matter how 'artistic' they are - storyboards need to make clear what happens in every situation the audience may encounter.