Preparing For Takeoff

Chapter 19

Previsualization

FIGURE 19.1 A sample stick figure storyboard from my first film, Caleb’s Door.

Once you have your locations, and you have some idea of what camera you’re shooting on and who’s on your crew, you can create your previsualization (“previz”). I’m using this broad term to encompass several methods/tools – top-down diagrams, storyboards, “action-figure” mapping, special software, and straight-up shotlisting. This chapter isn’t going to get into a detailed analysis of composition and camera movement. What you really need to know is how previz can help your film. So we’ll focus on how to approach previz from different points ...