Door Scene: Take 2

Last week my Digital Media Production and Storytelling class returned to the door scene that we had filmed the week before. Instead of filming off the cuff, we spent the week individually storyboarding the scenes we wanted to shoot and shared them with our group (my group members were kind enough not to laugh at my terrible drawings). Excited to reshoot our door scene, we were surprised to find out there was a twist: we were going to be switching storyboards with another group and shooting their scene. It was interesting to see a scene from another group's perspective and the direction they planned to take the project. We were not allowed to make any alterations and we had to shoot exactly what we saw on the paper. The challenge that my group had was knowing specifically what to shoot and how to shoot it. In the end, I think we created an excellent video that was better than our first one.

Image by dsevilla

The experience of shooting that scene taught me the importance of storyboarding. Storyboards need to be clear and specific enough that someone else could take it and see the same vision that I had in my head. What was also great about having a storyboard is that it gave our group direction when filming because we could shoot one scene at a time and we weren't confused about what to shoot next. I originally struggled with pre-production planning but I am starting to see its value more and more. The main reason I had so much trouble with pre-planning was because I thought that it robbed stories of its creativity and emotional drive out of a story. But I'm learning that that's not necessarily the case. Storyboarding can ensure that the elements that create that emotional pull in a story are included. The process of making one can make you think about what angles, sounds and movement would convey the most meaning. It forces you to take the emotions and power of the story and make it concrete so you can make it real to your audience. Most importantly, pre-planning makes sure that you never lose sight of the story you're planning because you can see it in black and white.