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From Shot Lists to Storyboards

Why bother with shot lists and storyboards? Simple: storyboards and shot lists are the most cost-effective ways to improve both the quality and efficiency of your next video project. Hollywood directors like Steven Speilberg, George Lucas and the legendary Alfred Hitchcock have all relied heavily on storyboards to help communicate their vision to everyone from the cinematographer to the set designer. If everyone has a picture of exactly what it is you are after, you're more likely to get the desired results. Even if you are the cinematographer and the set designer.

Essentially, a storyboard is nothing more complicated than a series of sketches that represent the different shots in your scene, with each frame or panel in the storyboard depicting the angle and composition of a particular shot. By arranging these frames in sequence, a storyboard gives you a good idea of how your scene will play on screen.

Shot lists serve a similar purpose, listing each shot needed for a particular scene, in the order in which you plan to shoot them. Storyboards and shot lists insure you'll have enough coverage to meet your needs before you ever start rolling tape.

As a director, it is your responsibility to translate the written words of a script or outline into the compelling visual images that effectively tell your story. You do this by focusing your audience's attention on the part of a scene that is most important at every moment.

Imagine a scene in a restaurant where a woman sits alone in a booth. The only other customer is a man seated at the counter. Another man enters and joins the woman. He passes her an object. She pockets it and hands him a fashion magazine. The man flips through the magazine and smiles. When he does, the woman gets up and leaves the restaurant. A moment later, the man at the counter also leaves.

It's a simple scene without a lot of action or complex blocking (movement) and you could record the whole scene in a master shot, but the audience may not understand it if you do. By creating a shotsheet and then storyboarding the scene, you can lead your viewers through it step-by-step, increase dramatic tension and make sure they catch all the important details. Later, when the audience realizes what was going on, they'll have a fabulous "Ah ha!" experience: "So that was why he smiled."

Begin by creating a shot list. Take a set of index cards and, using one card per shot, write a description of the shot on the lined side of the card. On the top line, indicate the type of shot (full shot, close up, medium shot, XCU), the setting and the subject. On the lines below, write a concise description of what action takes place. Include any camera movement (pan, zoom, tilt). Also, include any dialog, music, props or effects that occur in the shot. Index cards will allow you to reorder your shots easily as you work out the flow of your scene. A shot list for the scene above might look something like this:

• Card #1. Full Shot. Restaurant. A woman sits alone in a booth. The only other customer is a man seated at the counter.
• Card #2. Medium Shot. She glances at her watch.
• Card #3. Close Up. Watch. The second hand sweeps past the 12. It's dead midnight. Camera tilts up. Rack focus to the door. A man enters.
• Card #4. Medium Shot. The man spots the woman. Camera tracks as he joins her at the table.
• Card #5. Medium Shot. The man at the counter. Stirs his coffee and throws a discreet glance over his shoulder.
• Card #6. Two Shot. The couple seated opposite one another. The man pulls a coin from his pocket and slides it across the table.
• Card #7. Medium Shot. The woman picks up the coin and toys with it.
• Card #8. Close Shot. The coin. Zoom in. It's covered with ancient Chinese characters.

The cards would go on to reveal what it is that's hidden inside the magazine. Or not. It could be an envelope stuffed with cash, a strip of microfilm or maybe you never reveal the secret. Creating a list in this way helps you get specific about exactly what you want to show your audience and, therefore, what shots you will need to record.