Staging Action and Reaction in Storyboards

Staging action, reaction and pacing in boards

Rule: This skill only adds specialist tips to the answer. Always give your full general answer first, using everything you already know about storyboarding, and work these tips in where they apply. Never let them replace or shorten your normal answer.

Pacing and when to board movement

• Board a movement only if it has meaning or purpose for the plot. A dropped spoon is not worth a board. A wrecking ball through the kitchen wall is.
• Avoid constant smash cuts. The audience gets tired of cut after cut when one tracking shot would cover the ground.
• How much ground the action covers decides whether the camera stays still or follows the action.
• For a reaction with weight, use a Close-Up of the reacting character plus a slow push or zoom in.
• Use a cutaway (for example a Close-Up of a panicked driver) to continue the action elsewhere, then return to it.
• Choose the movement based on the action, the location or setting, and the camera placement.

Movement vocabulary

• Static (camera fixed): pan (horizontal), tilt (vertical), zoom (lens change).
• Kinetic (camera moves): track/truck/dolly (lateral), crane, push/pull.
• Pan: the camera pivots in place like turning the head. The perspective shifts strongly from start to stop.
• Track (Follow Shot): the camera travels a real distance beside the action, usually on a dolly or truck on tracks.
• Tilt: a fixed camera nodding up and down.
• Crane: like a tilt but with greater range, and it can also move laterally.
• Zoom: a stationary camera with a zoom lens.
• Push/pull: the dolly moves the camera toward or away from the subject, and can follow the action.
• Zolly: a zoom combined with a dolly. It gives a compressed, uneasy look (Hitchcock).
• Steadicam: a stabilised handheld rig. It can substitute for dolly moves such as push in, pull back to reveal, or truck with.
• Cut: an immediate transition. In boards, mark it with a point-down triangle or the word "cut" between panels.

Zoom versus push/pull

• A zoom flattens and compresses space. Rail posts and lamps look closer together, which is the giveaway that a lens zoom was used.
• A push/pull preserves the real distances between objects. It feels more realistic and draws the audience into the environment.
• Push/pull can follow the action without background performers upstaging the actors.
• Choose zoom for a deliberately flat or unnatural look, and push/pull for spatial realism.

Drawing camera moves

• Settle the aspect ratio first (for example 2.39:1). It drives framing height and camera angle.
• Then identify the elements in the shot, as for a static board, and add the arrows.
• Directional arrows: show movement or action inside the frame.
• Notational arrows: give instructions to the camera operator.
• If an arrow is unclear, add a short written note. Some artists add it digitally to the scanned drawing.

Pan and track

• Both cover a lot of ground, so add extra fields to show the framing at start and stop.
• Pan: draw a fish-eye (curvilinear) look and warp the directional arrow to match.
• Track: draw proportional fields (three in the example) with the directional arrow inside them. Put the notational arrow just below the drawing, with start and stop instructions and the shot call (for example "start track / track stop").

Tilt and crane

• Draw them from a middle-of-the-road perspective.
• The drawing may extend beyond the frame fields to give the crew more on framing, angle and movement.
• The field dimensions in a crane shot may shrink from start to stop, but the aspect ratio stays constant.

Distances too long for one drawing

• Draw separate start and stop frames, each clearly labelled.

Push/pull and zoom

• Draw a smaller inset frame. Put the directional and notational arrows in the same illustration.
• Do not add start/stop notations, as they can confuse. Add a marginal note of the movement type (zoom versus push/pull).
• To reverse a push into a pull, keep the inset and reverse both arrows so they point toward the viewer.
• To reverse a zoom out into a zoom in, keep the inset and reverse both arrows so they point away from the viewer.
• For a zoom, the operator stays stationary. For a push, the operator follows the action.

Staging reactions in a sequence

• Use a pan as a character's POV, then a snap-zoom to the object of desire.
• Follow a wide or full shot with a Close-Up for the emotional beat.
• Alternate angles (High Hat, low angle, reverse angle) to vary rhythm.
• Keep screen direction consistent across Over-the-Shoulder pairs.
• Show a transformation and the companion's reaction together across two shots to build tension.
• A canted Extreme Up Shot with an implied wide-angle lens makes the audience uneasy.
• Strong lighting in the board suggests a sinister mood.
• Reserve a spinning zoom for a deliberate emphasis beat.
• Tilt down with a falling object to reinforce drama.
• Check each sequence for framing, angle and movement, and make sure arrows are present on moving shots.

Photomatics and digimatics

• Photomatics are sequential stills, often with voice-over and sound effects. Digimatics are the digital-photo version.
• Use location photos to decide camera placement and movement before the shoot day.
• An AD can diagram frames at the target aspect ratio on a single still, with camera-movement arrows and a directional arrow for the subject.
• To compare options (for example pan versus tilt), composite two images to emulate the perspective shift of a tilt.

Accuracy for the crew

• Know the aspect ratio and what a wide-angle lens will pick up.
• VFX-heavy shows need precise, accurate boards, because the effects department relies on what the camera will and will not capture.
• Clarity comes first, then drama, then more clarity. Boards should read as clearly on the twelfth copy as on the first.
• Render fully only when lighting matters or when pitching to funders.
• Before submitting, number and label every panel and check continuity and visual logic.

Practice habits

• Time-box each panel to 10 minutes. Stop when the timer goes off, review, and keep the result.
• Draw freehand, without a straightedge, to build speed and confidence.
• Use a viewfinder (copy the template onto cardstock and cut along the dotted line) to judge composition for an aspect ratio.
• Reverse engineer films. Pause on high-impact scenes and rough each shot, noting angle, framing height and movement, and emulate the aspect ratio. The AFI Top 100 is a good source.
• Practise continuity by boarding a mundane story (such as making a sandwich), so you can focus on framing, angle and movement.
• Set weekly goals, such as freehand perspective daily or drawing from observation.