Storyboarding Basics & Tips 2
Since I’ve written the first Storyboarding Basics & Tips, I’ve been studying more about cinematography (Cinematography: Theory and Practice: Image Making for Cinematographers and Directors, by Blain Brown) and realized there are some important camera shots that I’ve left out. These are mostly coverage shots which are essential to clarifying the narrative. In this blog, I will include:
A cutaway is any shot other than the main characters which haven’t been covered in the master or wide shots. It can emphasize an action, provide additional information, or be something that the character looks at or points to.
It should be related to the scene, or else it’s not a shot, it’s a different scene. It’s a safety shot for the editor, so if he/ she has a problem with editing, a cutaway to something else can be used to solve the problem. For editorial safety, remember to get some cutaways in every scene you shoot, even if it’s not called for in the script.
It’s a specific type of close up or medium shots of a character which shows the reaction of what happened or what’s said. Not only it’s editorial gold, it reveals to the audience the entire emotional content of the scene from the listener’s/ observer’s body language and facial expressions. So don’t leave them out!
This is an isolated, self-contained shot of a larger scene. To be an insert instead of a cutaway, it has to be something we saw in wider shots. Unlike cutaways, inserts are usually not helpful to editors, as its just a closer shot within a larger scene, and it has to match the overall continuity. There are several kinds of inserts:
1) Informational Inserts
For example: A shot of the clock, headlines of the newspaper. Any shot that provides essential information.
2) Emphasis Inserts
For example: Windows rattling in the wind. Any shot that emphasizes the main action.
3) Atmosphere Inserts
Shots which contributes to the mood, tone or pacing. They could have no connection to the scene either than some sort of visual symbolism. This is generally for stylized filmmaking, and should be used lightly, as it could be seen as conspicuous.
Usually Over-The-Shoulder or Wide angle shots of two people in the same space, whether they’re aware of each other or not. It’s important because doing all the POV’s or reaction shots would make the scenes seem fragmented .
It can be master or coverage where you start in the middle of the scene instead of the beginning. They’re shots that you realize you absolutely need to add during editing and you reshoot them in order to make a good edit. The days which you reshoot the scenes are also called Pickup Days.
These are not scenes themselves but they serve as connecting two scenes together. They don’t need to make a specific point, as long as they make a visual point of the end of one scene and the beginning of another. A generic example, a simple cutaway to a sunset after the first scene ends and before the second scene begins would suffice.
