• By Joy Davenport
• Published 08/26/2010
• Screenplay

Whether you’re planning a film, presentation, or animated short, you need to consider every scene – each one will have it own arc and its own “feel”. By mapping out your scene from start to finish, you can study the arc of the action, and streamline the effect of your script and action. This process is known as scene creation, and it begins with a phase known as previs (previsualization). During the previs phase, you must gather ideas and inspiration that you can use to flesh out your scenes and refine your ideas. Some aspiring directors, playwrights, animators, and even public speakers find the previz process a great creative tool – it allows them to play with different components of a scene (dialogue, locations, camera angles or “blocking”) to see what works best for each and every scene… Brainstorming with a team can be a great way to amp up the previs phase – however, if you’re working alone, it’s still possible to do great previsualization. Simply spend some time collecting your thoughts and writing them down. Consider every single aspect of the scene, and analyze the way you want things to look, feel, and sound…emotions, special effects, and close-up or long shots should be examined under a mental microscope. Then, you can use these notes to move on to the next part of the scene creation process – storyboarding.

Storyboarding is the best way to capture the ebb and flow of frame-by-frame action – however, it can be quite time-consuming to produce. Over the years, paper storyboards have become somewhat obsolete. Of course,

you can use any method that works for you – but what will get the best result? The answer is undoubtedly digital storyboard software. This high-tech, user-friendly software is intuitive, and meant to mesh with your own creative mindset. It allows you to avoid the hassle of employing a “live” artist – pre-loaded artwork, in the form of characters, backgrounds, and props, gives you to freedom to create storyboards independently – sometimes, in a matter of minutes! Speed, efficiency, and creative freedom are the key benefits of movie storyboarding software – it also allows for easy import and export of photos and other files. Playing with camera angles, adding or removing characters, and experimenting with special effects can be a great way to know what works and what doesn’t – before the cameras roll. Changing things is as easy as clicking a mouse, and you can save different versions to compare. With this software, you’ll also be able to share your polished, perfect storyboards on the web – your blog or website can become a great teaser for your project – it may draw the interest of investors, too. Many of the best directors in the biz rely on digital storyboards to pique the interest of producers and other “money” men and women.

Once your storyboards are complete, you should be able to plan out your shoot more efficiently. You won’t waste money experimenting – after all, your crew’s time costs you money! Through proper, detailed previs and storyboards, you can create an ideal template that makes your scenes flow smoothly and logically. Look for digital storyboard software demos online to find out more about previz and how it assists in the scene creation process.