Storyboarding

First up we shall take this excerpt from the written draft by Azure...

THE SCRIPT

ETAIN:- OH! OH! (WAILS) How did this happen? I’m sure I must have got turned around!
(She jumps up and turns around just as Mimir does the same. The children each blink
in surprise and look at the other curiously. Mimir points quite openly and Etain frowns.)

MIMIR & ETAIN:- Who are you!?

MIMIR:- Oh! I'm Mimir....

ETAIN:- (pompously)I am known as Etain daughter of Branwen, wife of the Lord of the West Bank.

(Etain puts her hands on her hips in a childish imitation of anger.)

MIMIR:- What a funny way to introduce yourself!

ETAIN:- It\'s not funny at it\'s only proper to name your mother and your ties..

MIMIR:- I didn\'t mean to cause offence. I..I\'m Mimir son of Rune of ....of Wellside cottage!

(Etain relaxes at this and peers at Mimir curiously) .

ETAIN:- Did you say Wellside cottage? Can you come closer?

(Mimir looks confused then shrugs).

MIMIR:- I\'m not allowed off the path!!
ETAIN:- That\'s funny I\'m not allowed on it!

copyright 2003-4 R McCarthy & Andrew Marc


With this the work can begin... Of the things I needed to consider when laying out the scenes visually are the following:-

PACING:HOW MANY SHOTS REQUIRED FOR DIALOGUE TO FLOW plus .... HOW TO KEEP THEM TO A MINIMUM (Being just me and a extremely low budget project)....

CHARACTER RELATION AND TO EACH OTHER (Where are they looking...emotional status etc)....

LOCATION & CONDITION OF LOCATION (Day,Night etc)....

With these things to consider in the transition from text to visuals there may be moments that require changes....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE BOARDS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In this scene Mimir is on a path in the knowledge of where he was going whereas Etain is Completely lost on a small hillside. As Azure described the meeting between Mimir & Etain as a surprise....I had Etain walk backwards and Mimir looking the other way confused as to what the sound was... Its a little cliche but does the job for this brief moment... Because of etains pompous attitude...I felt it would benefit that Mimir somewhat rudely points at Etain before introducing himself...thus annoying Etain a little! The hillside is benificial for Etains character as she can look down at Mimir (As Azure & I agreed its like the childrens game "King of the castle\")

If you notice I have been economic when dealing with shots...many of the passes between the two characters are infact the same shots...this way I can use the boards not only as a way to see what needs to be animated but also how it could be edited. Its essential that I keep the workload down but not sacrifice plot & Character development. I love Etains reaction here.....It just seemed so right to put this in....When I sit down & draw I tend to put myself in the Characters point of view and think \"If I was Etain how would I react to Mimir copying me!\" The best way to deal with animation is not treat it as such...You dont have to be limited to where you want to put the camera...so I use a few of P.O.V (point of view) shots and try to find new ways of dealing the scene within budget constraints. Thats all for now folks please check back regularly to see more development. Thankyou for your interest!^^