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Storyboard animation lesson plan

By B on November 12, 2009 9:15 PM
Storyboarding has become a very important, if not key, part of any sort of visual experience. Anything that has a story can include a storyboard. The concept is simple. In pre-production, the story in its entirety is visualized through panels of stills from the story. This technique allows the creator to view the scene, but in a less costly way. This also opens up the chance to change anything before production starts, making any project more efficient. Disney is credited with first "coining" the storyboard idea in the 1930's (There is also debate that it occurred in the 1920's with the production of Steam Boat Willy). With this explanation, I have a video that can provide visual images to what I'm explaining for a better understanding. 

 


So now that the idea of a storyboard is understood, we can start to create a lesson plan to incorporate the storyboarding technique into an animation lesson. A general idea for a story is needed first, which can be one you create, one you create with your students, or a pre-existing story you'd like to use. After the story is chosen, break the plot of the story down, so you will can get a better picture of each scene. From here you will need

  • 3x5 notecards (preferably blank)
  • any writing utensil (pencils/pens/colored pencils or markers if you wish to add color)
  • a surface to tack or tape the storyboard cards to
From here, break the story up into sections, and then into scenes. The idea is to break the idea down to close to, but not quite, a frame by frame series of images. Once sections/scenes are assigned, all that remains is illustrating. With all the images complete, tack/tape the cards to the wall to create a linear model of the story. Here is where contemplation can be allowed to make any changes deemed worthy for the story.

The lesson is simple and provides a new insight towards the way one looks at visual narratives. It can be ideal for almost any age group, only image rendering skills are required for production. It is also a quick introduction to a larger production or project, offering a clearer image of what the students aim to create.

Storyboard animation and Animatic

By B on November 12, 2009 9:04 PM
Here is the video from the Storyboard presentation (finally). We had the class create the story board about a fictional character named Guy. We provided the character models and setting/plot and assigned sections of the story to the class. Although the story wasn't their own, they were given the opportunity to create the visual portion of the story. This project could be easily done with kids since it requires more imagination and creative thinking processes rather than technological equipment. I'll include a lesson plan in the next post.
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