Part 2: Script & Storyboard

Script 👥

For your music video, you will need to write an AV script where you break down what is happening in each scene and how much of the song that particular scene is taking up. This is different to a short film script because the song has already been made so you are locked in to that particular length and also the rhythm and tone of the song will determine your visuals to a large extent. Here's the final AV script for Last Goodbye. Things to note and remember about this script:

It's written in the present tense (all scripts follow this convention).
Characters are written in all caps eg. GIRL. This makes it easier for the actors to see where their bits are.
There's enough detail for you to be able to clearly picture what is happening. This makes it much easier to storyboard and shoot later on. For example, if scene two had simply said, "the boy and girl have a date on the mountain" this would be nowhere near detailed enough. You would end up having to invent important character, story or visual design elements in storyboarding or, worse, on set. The script is the foundation for the whole production - do it well.
There's a new row every time the scene changes. A scene is action that occurs in one location and one time period, so in Waste, the first scene is the bedroom scene, the second scene the living room scene and so on.
There's no camera direction or notes on how the shots are to be edited. A little bit of this is ok, but at this stage we're mainly focussing on describing what is happening in the story. The next step, storyboarding, is when you figure out what shots and edits you are going to need to tell the story that is written in the script.

This script was written using the free online scriptwriting software, Celtx. Here's a tutorial on how to create an AV script once you've signed up to Celtx.

For a slightly less complicated option, you can also write your AV script in Google Sheets. The benefit of doing it this way is that your production team can all be looking at and working on the script at the same time. Use this template for this option (it's view only so just make a copy of it). The process and rationale behind using this format for your music video script is explained in this video.

Storyboard 👥

You need to fully storyboard your script up to at least 1 and a half minutes. If there are any exchanges that employ very similar camera-work you can just do one storyboard for that sequence (eg if it’s just four shots going between MCUs of characters in a conversation - just draw one storyboard and explain this).

Key points:

You should be doing around 20 storyboard shots (if they’re 3 seconds on average - with some faster paced editing and some slower paced).
Drawing your storyboards with a pencil is the easiest, quickest way - don’t try to do it electronically as it takes forever and is never that good. Don’t feel constrained to use the template below - there are heaps online, but pick one that is fairly basic. You can also just use a blank piece of paper folded in half 3 times to give you 8 panels.
Make sure the storyboards have a scene title so I can tell what scene you are storyboarding and are numbered so that you can refer to them in your production schedule.
You can split this task up between your group so you storyboard different sections (try to do at least 15 shots each). You may just storyboard key moments and leave out minor or easy to shoot scenes to keep this at a manageable length but remember to show variety in shots and angles, appropriate use of techniques to show the right effect, use of camera movement/angles, use of transitions, interesting composition etc. Refer to the links in Note 2 below for more help on how to storyboard.

For Merit and Excellence we will be looking for lots of descriptive detail of what’s happening in each shot (which can be shown through the drawing or the notes to accompany it or both) and a range of film techniques (eg use of angle, camera movement like tracking, match-cuts) at really effective moments.

Exemplar 1

Exemplar 2: WASTE

Note 1: Timing Average shots are about 3 seconds in films. So 1 minute of filming will have at least 20 thumbnail shots planned (more if there’s fast-paced editing).

Note 2: Thumbnails It can be useful to label who characters are in each shot (you could make yourself a code with characters’ initials and write them under each sketch). It should also be obvious where you are – if not, write it in the second column. Also label key props if necessary. Draw in arrows to indicate movement within the frame (eg characters walking across from left to right) and to indicate camera movement. This document will help you to understand the conventions of storyboarding, so will this video.

Page updated

Report abuse