How to Write a Script & Storyboard for Animation — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00In this video, we'll learn how to use a
2. 0:01script and storyboard to plan out your
3. 0:03animations. And I've got a free
4. 0:05storyboard template for download. So,
5. 0:06let's do it.
6. 0:14Tip Tut.
7. 0:15Hello everybody and welcome back to Tip
8. 0:17Tut. Today, we are covering two things.
9. 0:19First, how to put together your script
10. 0:21for your animation in a way that will
11. 0:23make sure you've got everything you need
12. 0:25to move forward. Then, second, how to
13. 0:27turn that script into a storyboard that
14. 0:29gives your animators, whether that's
15. 0:30somebody else or just you later on,
16. 0:33everything you need to put together the
17. 0:34animation you envision. Before I begin,
18. 0:37I'm not saying these techniques are the
19. 0:38be-all and end-all of scripting and
20. 0:40storyboarding, nor am I saying that
21. 0:42they're the industry standard. Far from
22. 0:44it. I just know that they work because
23. 0:46I've been using them for personal and
24. 0:48professional projects for years. So,
25. 0:50without any further ado, let's just jump
26. 0:51right in.
27. 0:55A good script will cover a number of
28. 0:57things. Setting, characters, props,
29. 1:01action, and dialogue. I like to start
30. 1:03with the name and general overview of
31. 1:05the project. In this case, it's
32. 1:07hilariously short. And then follow with
33. 1:09a scene-by-scene breakdown. Exterior,
34. 1:12English countryside, house, day. The
35. 1:15clouds slowly drift above a tranquil
36. 1:17English cottage home. A female voice,
37. 1:20Mom, calls out from offscreen. Mom,
38. 1:22offscreen, "Okay, Timmy, enjoy your
39. 1:25bath. Don't splash around too much."
40. 1:27Interior, bathroom, day. Timmy, a young
41. 1:30boy with wide eyes, is sitting in a
42. 1:32bath. The bath is overflowing with
43. 1:35bubbles. Timmy is holding a dinosaur toy
44. 1:37in a box. Timmy, Oh, you're a dino
45. 1:40friend. Just add water. Timmy lets the
46. 1:43dino fall slightly as he looks into the
47. 1:45distance in wonder. Timmy, His name will
48. 1:47be Mr. Snuggles. Timmy starts tearing
49. 1:50wildly at the dinosaur toy with his
50. 1:52teeth. It flings open and flies into the
51. 1:54bath water. Timmy sinks underneath the
52. 1:56water, too. After a brief pause, Timmy
53. 1:59peeks his head out of the water just
54. 2:01before the dinosaur explodes in size
55. 2:03very violently. Exterior, English
56. 2:05countryside house, day. The dinosaur's
57. 2:08head and shoulders burst through the
58. 2:10roof as it grows in size. Timmy clings
59. 2:12to its rapidly growing neck. Timmy,
60. 2:14"Whee!"
61. 2:17The dinosaur stops growing suddenly and
62. 2:19Timmy bounces to a stop. Timmy, "Mommy,
63. 2:23uh I'm finished with my bath." End. In
64. 2:26this short script, we're introduced to
65. 2:28the setting through a quick description,
66. 2:30as well as immediately understanding the
67. 2:32characters and their relationship
68. 2:34through a single line of dialogue. The
69. 2:36action is focused around two scenes,
70. 2:38which will cut down on animation time,
71. 2:40as I only have to draw two backgrounds
72. 2:42and one character. Additionally, the
73. 2:44action here will help inform the
74. 2:46dialogue and sound effects needed when
75. 2:48we move on to the next steps. You can
76. 2:50see how having a script for even
77. 2:52something as simple as this animation
78. 2:54helps you to line up what you'll be
79. 2:55needing later down the line. Now, let's
80. 2:58turn this script into a storyboard.
81. 3:03It's not the script writer's job to
82. 3:05choose how their story plays out
83. 3:07visually. Although, in this and most
84. 3:09cases at our kind of level, the script
85. 3:11writer and storyboard artist are often
86. 3:13the same person. The storyboarder cares
87. 3:16about translating the script's writing
88. 3:19to a visual format. To that end, working
89. 3:21on a template that everyone understands
90. 3:23is very helpful. This template, which
91. 3:25I've been using for years, includes
92. 3:27global information like name of project,
93. 3:30page number, and version number, and
94. 3:33shot-specific information like the scene
95. 3:35and shot number,
96. 3:37camera movement, layered visuals,
97. 3:40visual description, and audio
98. 3:42description. I tend to find that that's
99. 3:44enough information to be getting on
100. 3:46with. So, let's take a short section of
101. 3:48this script and storyboard it in real
102. 3:49time. The most important thing is
103. 3:52thinking about the best way to portray
104. 3:54each piece of information visually. For
105. 3:56example, let's take the first scene. We
106. 3:58need to convey that it's outside,
107. 4:00English countryside, and showing a
108. 4:02house. So, to me, an establishing shot
109. 4:05of the house in full view does multiple
110. 4:07things. Establishes setting, timing, and
111. 4:09style all in one. Once we move inside,
112. 4:12we need to determine location,
113. 4:14character, props, and action.
114. 4:17A long shot of the bath does all of this
115. 4:20in one go before moving closer to the
116. 4:22action in later shots. For example, when
117. 4:25saying the dialogue about growing your
118. 4:26own dinosaur, it makes sense to use a
119. 4:29close-up of the dinosaur toy to focus
120. 4:31the audience's attention and better
121. 4:33convey the information of the scene.
122. 4:34But, we also want to show Timmy's
123. 4:36relationship to the toy. So, an
124. 4:38over-the-shoulder shot brings Timmy into
125. 4:40the scene emotionally and physically.
126. 4:43When Timmy is naming the dinosaur, the
127. 4:45script mentions wonder. So, an extreme
128. 4:48close-up with a low angle viewpoint
129. 4:50gives us plenty of room to show emotion.
130. 4:52Spend some time thinking about how to
131. 4:54inject emotion, comedy, drama, etc. into
132. 4:57your scene, and don't be afraid to redo
133. 5:00shots, move them around, add shots in,
134. 5:02or remove them as you gain a better
135. 5:04understanding of the story you want to
136. 5:06tell. It should be an iterative process.
137. 5:09At the end, read through your storyboard
138. 5:11to get a sense for the timing. I like to
139. 5:13put each shot on a slide and do a little
140. 5:15pseudo-animatic, like this. Okay, Timmy,
141. 5:18enjoy your bath. Don't splash around too
142. 5:20much. Splish, splash, splish, splash.
143. 5:24Great, your own dinofriend.
144. 5:27I'm going to name him Mr. Slunky.
145. 5:33Woah! Oh!
146. 5:49Woah!
147. 5:51Mommy, I'm done with my bath. Do te do
148. 5:55te do te credits music. Do te do te do
149. 5:57te I'm a big I'm not voice acting or
150. 6:00recording at this point. I'm just
151. 6:01running through, but this immediately
152. 6:03makes it clear if anything is missing.
153. 6:05Once you've made those amendments,
154. 6:07you're done with your script and
155. 6:08storyboard and can move on to the next
156. 6:10or simultaneous stage, character design
157. 6:13and turnaround. Make sure you subscribe
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160. 6:18see you next time on Tip Top. Massive
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