Filmmaking / Directing : How To Storyboard A Short Film by Dicky Chalmers

Dicky Chalmers

How To Storyboard A Short Film

I'm the writer-director of ANGEL, one of the winners of Stage 32's short film contest. I wanted to share a bit about my experience making the short, specifically: storyboarding.

I love storyboarding, but I suck at drawing, and there wasn't the budget on this project to employ a storyboard artist. So I used an awesome piece of software -- Cine Tracer -- to help me plan every single shot. I wrote this article about the process, I hope you find it useful:

https://medium.com/@dickychalmers/how-to-storyboard-a-short-film-6307675...

Karen "Kay" Ross

Wow, this is an excellent article! I love the side-by-side comparisons! SHARING!

Dicky Chalmers

Thank you!

Simon Hartwell

Hi, Dicky. Cine Tracer looks amazing. Could you, in theory, shoot your short within Cine Tracer or does it only produce Stills? Also, how easy was it to build your scenes?

MB Stevens

Awesome, Dicky! Thanks for sharing the ride. Onward and upward.

Dicky Chalmers

Simon Hartwell

In theory, it's possible, but would not be easy. While Cine Tracer can take snapshots of frames, it does not currently have the function to record video sequences. However, this limitation can be solved by using screen-recording software. One just has to operate the camera each time, since camera movements cannot be keyframed. As regards actor blocking, some of the stand-ins can be posed, and can be keyframed to hit marks, however, this functionality is still its infancy. The forthcoming iteration of Cine Tracer being teased suggests that this system will be overhauled, and will be much better in the future.

Building scenes was surprisingly easy, once I had got my head round the software's idiosyncrasies. I recommend watching Matt Workman's tutorial videos first, and then jumping into the software.

Dicky Chalmers

MB Stevens

Appreciate it, thank you!

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