Preproduction: Style and Story Development

Due 9/16

This stage will be dedicated to the story and style development of your story.  You will look at other places for aesthetic inspiration (other projects, books, cartoons, live action films, paintings, even more abstract elements like fabrics, textures, vegetation, etc. are all acceptable) and create 1-2 Moodboards to help set the style and establish any important elements (like your character or your environment).

Next, choose 1 or 2 important moments in your story and create Beat Board(s) for them, in the style that you intend to use for your story.  The image should be fully colored and be aesthetically similar to the style you plan to use in your final project, as a way of testing it to see how long it takes, see how well you can pull it off and if you anticipate any problems if you move forward with that style.

Below are examples of both Mood Boards and Beat Boards.


Moodboards

Using any image you can find, put together 1-2 Moodboard to represent the style of your story, each main character and any important locations (if and where applicable).

The images can be acquired from anywhere, and can be of anything.  The important matter is making sure they all work together stylistically as a cohesive whole.

Examples:

Beat Boards

Create 1-3 Beat boards for your project.

Beat Boards are typically finished illustrations meant to represent what a screen shot of your project could look like.  The events in the beat boards should represent pivotal moments in your story and typically are used as goal posts when story boarding the project (think of noting the landmarks on a map you intend to use during your drive).

Beat Boards can also be considered like children's book illustrations, where each page may have a paragraph with multiple things happening but the illustration focuses on the most important points.

Keep track of how long it takes for you to complete each beat board.  If they're taking too long, see if there is a way you can simplify the process or if there's anything that can be cut out while still maintaining the visuals.  This step is to help test for the practicality of the style you want to use.

Examples: