4. Storyboard Preparation by Producer/Videographer
If you’ve never looked at the bonus features that come along with DVD movies these days, it’s time to start. Keep a sharp eye out for features that include director’s storyboards. While we are not trying to do Hollywood-level productions, it doesn’t hurt to see how the big dogs do it. The storyboards we use are relatively simple. The beautiful part of creating them is that they only have to be understandable to you if you are both producer and videographer. You can be as sloppy as you like and even if you can only draw stick figures, that’s all you need as long as you know what they mean when it comes time to shoot.
The two forms of storyboard most commonly used are comic book style and image/text/description style. I prefer the comic book style with notes in the margins. The whole idea is to imagine what you plan to shoot in advance of the shoot. The clearer the picture is in your head, the easier it will be to actually create it on videotape.
(Examples of the two styles will appear here eventually.)
The ability to create what you imagine is at the crux of all artistic endeavors and don’t be mistaken, the creation of quality videos is an artistic endeavor. It’s fun to think that it can start with horrible stick figure drawings. If you can’t even draw stick figures, do it with descriptions. As long as you can picture what you will shoot, it will all turn out the same in the end.
Before you draw your storyboard, read the script looking for grammatical errors and incorrect information. Then read it again. Then read it again, carefully considering what segments can and should be represented by still images or b-roll that already exist or that can be easily shot. Whatever is left should be considered as shots in which the ranger might be present. Keep in mind that, while the ranger should usually be present for the introduction and conclusion, there is nothing wrong with breaking those rules. In a two-minute video, the ranger should not appear more than three times.
The worst thing you can do is head out on a shoot without having a clear picture of what you are going to shoot. Of course, you frequently cannot be precise if you plan to have wildlife visible over the shoulder of the ranger as they deliver their lines. However, a videographer who has an ideal picture in their head, will come a lot closer to perfection than a videographer who does not.
While most instructors would hesitate to be dogmatic about filming procedures, I have the luxury of telling you exactly how I did it, and if you want to create similar videos, exactly how you should do it. So here are a couple basics.
Whenever the ranger is on camera, make them big. In fact, make them very big. Remember that your finished product will be viewed by many at the very small size of 320X240 pixels. A small ranger in the corner of a beautiful scene will be pretty much invisible. If you want your online visitors to feel as if they are being talked to by the ranger, be sure the ranger takes up 1/3 of the frame.
If you draw your storyboards with big rangers, you will be sure to film them with big rangers. Be sure to look for more advice regarding shooting video with the ranger present in Chapter 6, Record the Ranger Segments.
Back to Chapter 3 | Chapter Index | On to Chapter 5
Tom Cawley
Online Roving Ranger Video Production
tom@rovingranger.com
© 2007 Tom Cawley
