Moving Images, Understanding Media

28 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Media

Th roughout this text, you will explore foundations and methods of

storytelling and of media communication. In this chapter, you will use

provided scripts and generate simple story ideas in collaborative teams.

Your primary task is to translate these simple scenes into motion pictures.

Th ere are two common initial steps taken by fi lmmakers to prepare to

shoot footage.

Oft en, the fi rst step directors take to devise a plan for recording moving

images is to prepare a shot list. Th is is a list of the shots that they plan to record

from the information in the script or story, compiled in the order they will run

in the fi nished motion picture. With completed scripts, scenes are numbered

starting with 1, so a shot list will use letters for the shots. Th us, scene 1 will

include shots 1a, 1b, 1c, and so on, and scene 2 will proceed with 2a, 2b, and

so on. Shots are described briefl y using framing descriptions (MCU, Close

Two Shot, and so forth) and other pertinent information such as camera

movement or other shot descriptions (such as point of view).

Storyboards are one of the most familiar tools used by fi lmmakers. In fact,

one of their earliest uses was by the Walt Disney Studios, which employed

them in early animated productions to plan their stories. Story developers

and illustrators would break up into teams to prepare sequences of the motion

picture, and then they would present completed scenes to the production

team (headed by Walt Disney sitting in an armchair front and center in the

screening room). Th e story developers would explain the narrative that was

shown through the individual panels which were posted on large boards.

Later in feature fi lm productions, the use of storyboards was applied in the

Figure 1-37 Walt Disney

confers with songwriter

Johnny Mercer in front of

a storyboard sequence for

the fi lm Song of the South.

(Courtesy Getty Images).

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).