Why are Storyboards so important?

Why is storyboarding an essential part of the film making process?

A storyboard is used in all types of video media, such as tv music and film. In short it is a visual representation of camera shots in a sequence that join together to build a narrative flow. This particularly useful as if provides everyone from the director to actors exactly whats going on in the shot. Below the pictures a short captions detailing specifics such as action, camera angle and directions as well as lighting. One key reason why storyboarding is essential is because it allows the director to see whether his ideas are going to work on screen and another is so that he can decide the sequences of all shots. Most importantly the storyboard illustrates how the narrative will flow from shot to shot.


What is happening in the opening sequence?
In the opening sequence of the film, we are introduced to the 'psycho' character. The opening shot is a Wide shot of a boys toilet, It is unclear where exactly it is set at this point but I would speculate it something like a hospital or a school or another public building with hard floors. Shot 3 is off blood being washed of the characters hands and falling down the plug. This informs us that the character has ‘blood on his hands’. We are led to believe he is in fact the culprit as we have not seen his face yet, suggesting he has something to hide. So far we have gathered that one character is washing away his guilt, a boy then enters the room however the psycho remains unaware of this. He seems to hear a sound and we tilt up from his bandaged hand to a close up of the man. He turns his head quick and we cut a an extreme close-up of the man glaring at the camera/boy. The sequence fades to black and the line ‘bad move kid’ accompanied by two gunshots is heard.


How is the narrative flow established?
The narrative flow of the opening sequence is established through two main ways. The first way the is the captions and annotations below each shot describing the shot and the angles used. The arrows linking the shots together not only tell the reader where to go next but it also shows the transition of each shot e.g. ‘cut’ or ‘mix to’.


If I was directing this sequence, how would I change it?
One thing i would defiantly change is the transitions, seeing as the genre is thriller to build tension I would replace the fades and mixes with cuts and these make the sequence more tense for example the last shot should cut rather than fade to emphasise the gunshots. Two things I might change: expand the first shot to a VLS so that we can be more certain on the location of the sequence.