Screen Writers / Storyboard Artists

Screen Writers

Screen Writers are involved in the creation and/or development of all types of creative writing for video, film, TV and radio. Creative writing covers a number of wide and varied forms, from comedy scripts to drama or documentaries for advertising and/or indie films.

Typical work activities and skills required are likely to include some or all of the following:

• select subject matter based on personal or public interest: Writers must be aware of the cultural zeitgeist

• utilize application and discipline to write and rewrite continuously, and maintain originality

• develop the technical skills of writing and methods for creative and imaginative thought

• researching stories and character

• conduct research to obtain factual information and authentic detail, utilizing sources such as newspaper accounts, diaries, and interviews

• review, submit for approval, and revise written material to meet personal standards and satisfy needs of client, publisher, director, or producer

• select subject or theme for writing project based on personal interest and writing specialty, or assignment from publisher, client, producer, or director

• work to tight deadlines, especially for theater, screen and radio

• develop factors, such as theme, plot, characterization, psychological analysis, historical environment, action, and dialogue, to create material

• use literary skills to develop themes and storylines, while making characters and plots believable

• write humorous material for publication or performance, such as comedy routines, gags, comedy shows, or scripts for entertainers

• write fiction or nonfiction prose work, such as short story, novel, biography, article, descriptive or critical analysis, or essay

• adapt a play or script for moving pictures or television, based on original ideas or adapted from fictional, historical, or narrative sources

• organize material for project, plan arrangement or outline, and write synopsis
   

Storyboard Artist

Storyboard Artists translate screenplays, or sequences from screenplays, into a series of illustrations in comic book form. These illustrations have two functions: to help directors clarify exactly what they want to achieve, and to illustrate to all other heads of department exactly what is required, e.g., prosthetics for makeup, computer generated Images (CGI) for visual effects, props for the art department, etc.

In many ways comic books are the art form that most closely resembles cinema — they both tell stories in a primarily visual form, involving discrete, framed images linked sequentially to convey information. Although comic book images are static, it is often useful to employ the comic book form to develop complex sequences in films that require careful planning, and that cannot or should not be left to on-set improvisation. Helping the director to conceptualize these sequences is the specialized task of Storyboard Artists. They work on a freelance basis.

What is the job?
Storyboards are mainly required on films containing large amounts of action and/or CGI, where complex chase, fight or battle scenes need to be visualized and carefully planned. It is now becoming commonplace for many big budget feature films to be storyboarded before shooting begins. Although it may be argued that this stifles the creative process of directing a film, it is a sensible way of avoiding overshooting and spiraling budgets.

Depending on individual directors and their requirements, Storyboard Artists usually start work early in the production process. After reading the screenplay, they meet with the director to discuss the mood and atmosphere of any scenes to be storyboarded. During this process Storyboard Artists must analyze the director's requirements, and visualize the scene from the camera's point of view, working out the characters' positions, who or what else is in the frame, and from what angles they are seen, and imagining their feelings. After Storyboard Artists have delivered the first few illustrations, directors usually allow them to suggest their own ideas for the following scenes, although some directors are more prescriptive about what they want, using storyboards as a reminder rather than as a template. On big budget films, two or three Storyboard Artists may be employed full time, usually in art department offices at film studios, where they are able to examine any models of the sets and photographs of various locations, and refer questions to the production designer.

Although most Storyboard Artists still prefer to use pencil and paper rather than draw on a computer screen, as they have more control over the movement and flow of a pencil line, they use computer software packages such as Photoshop to collate and change work easily. Because of advances in computer games and in animation techniques, many storyboard software packages are available, e.g., Storyboard Lite, Frameforge 3D Studio and Storyboard Artists & Storyboard Quick.