STORY-BOARDING

Some complex movies, with a lot of special effects, require story-boarding. Certainly animation and certain movies that depend on precise presentation for their success, benefit tremendously by the Story-Boarding process. As a general rule, story-boarding is another example of directing on paper. Alfred Hitchcock loved to story-board his scripts. He claimed to be bored with the production process. I wish I'd known that at the time, I would've offered to direct them for him, since all I had to do was yell "Action and Cut!"

If you have a robust script and gung-ho actors, don't limit yourself, actors and crew with story-boarding. Give everyone the opportunity to collaborate. Feature film making is a collaborative art. There are exceptions, however. We'll take up some of them in subsequent chapters.


Table of Contents

Part I.
The Screenplay.
Story Construction.
Script Formats.
Story-Boarding.

Part II.
Pre-Production.
Script Breakdown.

Budgeting.
Financing.
Casting.
Crew Selection.
Production Manager.
Cinematographer.
Operator/ Focus Puller/Loader/Slate.
Sound Recordist.
Boom.
Continuity Person.
Art Director.
Costume Designer.
Gaffer.
Key Grip.
Prop Person.
Make-Up & Hair.
Production Assistant.
Editor.
Equipment.
Studio & Location Scouting.
Lab Procedures.
Catering.
Insurance.

Part III.
Production.
Producer.
Director.
Hierarchy of Command.
Setting Up the First Shot. 
Procedure for Shooting a Scene. 
Language of Film. 
Long Shot. 
Medium Shot. 
Close-up. 
Aesthetics. 
Coverage.
Sticking to Schedule. 
Sticking to Budget. 
Directing Actors. 
Controlling Technicals. 
Special Effects. 
Special Processes and Genres. 
Finishing Principle Photography. 
Pick-Ups. 

Part IV.
Post-Production. 
Editing. 

Dialogue Cutting. 
Cutting Action. 
Techniques. 
Artistic Considerations. 
Equipment. 
The Editor. 
Editing Music. 
Sound Effects Editing.
ADR & Dubbing. 
The Mix. 
Negative Cutting. 
Printing the Film. 
The Answer Print. 
Release Prints. 

Part V.
Distribution. 
Finding a Distributor. 
Majors' Distribution. 
Mini-Majors. 
Independent Distributors. 
Distributing Your Own Film. 
The Foreign Market. 
Domestic Distribution. 
Festivals. 
Four-Walling. 
Video, TV & Ancillary Markets. 
Building Your Library of Films. 
Business Options. 
Corporations. 
Limited Partnerships. 
Public Offerings. 
Conclusions.