Nearly everything in this world comes with a manual, from DVD
players to lawnmowers. Pity my brain didn’t. I’m still trying to figure out how
that works.
I say that because you’d think that scriptwriting is just
about sitting down with a pen, a notebook and a head full of ideas. Well in the
first instance that is the case but I have recently discovered a new way of
combining writing and storyboarding which forces me to think about all of the
intricate details of a script that I don’t initially think about when scrawling
an idea down on paper.
My method involves opening up a timeline in an editing
package and inserting nothing but many different text objects, one for each
camera shot. This forces me to think through every move the performers will
make, how the camera will behave and what types of shots will and won’t work.
This method of translating my story from paper onto a
timeline just using words makes me approach my script not from a writer’s
perspective but from that of a film-maker.
This method works for me at any rate.
A screenshot of this 'digital storyboard' method
While we’re on the subject of scripts, the script for the
tests of my Mk2 performance capture setup is ready to take to the stage and
what is more I’ve found a camera that is light enough to take on the job of
capturing the facial expressions that the performers will give.
The 808 key fob camera is only 12 grams and the actual camera
unit itself, once removed from the circuit board, is about 2/3 grams. Plus at
only about £30 - £40 each they will be good for experimenting with as a pose to
a £200 camera.
All this means that my performance capture project is back
on track. More news on that to come as and when it develops.
