Visual Storytelling and Storyboards

To create my motion graphic, I will need to learn how to storyboard and study the art of storytelling. 

In a book about visual storytelling, it is stated that there are four major components which shape the way a master storyteller spins out a tale and which together determine how successful the storyteller has been at achieving the ultimate goal, the audiences total immersion in the story. (Caputo, 2003) These components are:

Clarity:

The quality of being clear, in particular:

·         the quality of being coherent and intelligible:

·         the quality of being easy to see or hear; sharpness of image or sound:

·         the quality of being certain or definite:

·         the quality of transparency or purity:

Realism

1. The attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly:

2. The quality or fact of representing a person or thing in a way that is accurate and true to life:

Dynamism

1.   The quality of being characterized by vigorous activity and progress:

the dynamism and strength of the economy

Continuity

1.     The unbroken and consistent existence or operation of something over time:

o    a state of stability and the absence of disruption

o    a connection or line of development with no sharp breaks

2.     The maintenance of continuous action and self-consistent detail in the various scenes of a film or broadcast:

Clarity

For the audience to get caught up in the story, be immersed in it, and be unaware of the way the story is being told, they must be able to follow the visual story. This will be very important in my motion graphic, I will ensure my motion graphic makes sense to others by asking friends and family to look over my storyboards and research what is clear to them and, if anything is unclear, what, and how do I need to change it.
It is also important to establish the scene, characters and mood, to give the audience, after one brief glance at the shot, enough information to know where they are, and where they are about to travel. My establishing shot will probably show the 16th century rural village, but needs to show the Wailing Wood also, so perhaps the establishing shot could start with the woods and then pan across to show the neighbouring village. My next shot will show the two children and their parents, this shot will need to show they are happy and loving, possibly shown in a family portrait style. I can research family portraits to look at how photographers link and make the eye flow through the image also.

taken from: http://davidfrankphotography.com/2.0/family/

Clarity of Action Flow: The panels of any comic strip or animation must lead and point the viewers eyes in the correct direction, this is easier. This means I will need to carefully think about positioning and flow of animations for my storyboards. These are all things I will check when creating the storyboards.
180-Degree Rule: The 180-degree rule, this is when the views of the images are only ever seen from one side, not over 180 degrees. For example, if two people are talking, one on the left and one on the right, it is easy to establish the characters by their positioning  however, if we view these same characters from the opposite side, the characters will be on different sides, which can make it confusing for the viewer to differentiate between the two. This goes for any objects in the scene, no matter how far away, should always stay on the same side of any scene.
Set-up and Payoff: Caputo states that any items that are to be a focus of attention later in a story should be set up in an early scene. For example, if a woman in a story is going to use a torch from her bedside table as weapon against a prowler at some point in the story, make sure that the torch is seen on the table when the stage is first set. At this point in my story, I do not think there are any important items that will appear later, but I will keep this in mind when creating the storyboards.

Realism
In this context, Caputo is not referring to photorealism, but rather, a realism that means everything makes logical sense in that world 

Bibliography

Caputo, Tony C. (2003) Visual Storytelling: The Art and Technique 1st ed. New York, Watson-Guptill Publications.

Ellison, Harlan. (2003) With the Eyes of a Demon: Seeing the Fantastic as a video image. In: Caputo, Tony C. (2003) Visual Storytelling: The Art and Technique 1st ed. New York, Watson-Guptill Publications.pp 6-21

Steranko, Jim. (2003) Harnessing Mythology: Reflections on Narrative Theory. In: Caputo, Tony C. (2003) Visual Storytelling: The Art and Technique 1st ed. New York, Watson-Guptill Publications. Pp 172-189

Oxford University Press, 2012. Available from: <http://oxforddictionaries.com/> [Accessed 5 Nov 2012]