Research and Planning Section:
The Purpose of Storyboarding
Before picking up a camera, one of the most important steps in any production is sitting down and mapping out exactly what you want each shot to look like before you ever step on set. Storyboarding is the process of visually pre-planning your film shot by shot, giving you a reference to work from on the day of filming so that no time is wasted figuring things out on the spot. It bridges the gap between a written script and what actually ends up on screen. For a project like this, where every second counts and we are working within a tight runtime, having that visual guide is essential.
Learning How to Storyboard
Going into this I wanted to make sure I was doing it properly, so I did some research on how professional storyboards are structured before putting mine together. I found that good storyboards do not need to be polished artwork — what they need to do is clearly communicate the shot type, camera movement, and what is happening in the frame. I used the shot breakdown document I had already created as my primary reference, pulling directly from the editing techniques, camera angles, and sound design notes I had already laid out for each scene. That made the process significantly smoother since the thinking had already been done — the storyboards were just giving that thinking a visual form.
Production for the Two Scenes to be Filmed on the First Day:
Scene 1 — The Garage
The first storyboard covers Scene 1 of the script, which takes place in the garage at night. I mapped out shots 1 through 4, covering the opening ECU of Derek writing on the blueprint, the MCU of the bulletin board, the OTS shot with the body bag in the background, and the medium shot of Derek standing and exiting. The diegetic sounds noted on the board include the pen scratching on paper, paper folding, and footsteps, while the non-diegetic underscore — a sustained strings or drone pad — begins low and carries underneath the entire scene as a sound bridge into the next action. This storyboard sets the tone for the whole opening and was the most important one to get right visually.
Scene 2 — The Kitchen
The second storyboard covers all of the kitchen scenes, mapping out shots 5 through 7. This board captures the tracking shot following Derek into the kitchen, the fridge POV shot during the phone call, and the slow zoom toward the window where the killer becomes visible in the background. The diegetic sounds include footsteps, subtle house ambience, and the quiet hum of the refrigerator, while Lisa's voice is noted as filtered through telephone audio processing. The score drops out entirely during the phone call, and the non-diegetic single low stinger is marked to hit at the moment the killer becomes visible in the background — one of the most important sound cues in the whole opening.
Reflection and What's Next
Getting the storyboards done feels like the last major planning step before we actually get to work. Having everything mapped out — from the shot breakdown to the storyboards — means that when we show up to film, everyone knows what we are going for and we can move efficiently. If anything, this process also gave me one more opportunity to look at the scenes critically and make sure everything we planned is actually executable on the day. From here, the next and final step before editing is filming itself, which is set to take place in about a week. That is the moment everything we have been building toward finally becomes real, and I am genuinely excited to see it all come together.
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