Shot Design in prep

[jeff791107]

Hi Roger,

I am curious about your approach to framing shots and shortlisting in your works with Directors.

Now I am in the prep of a feature. I felt like it would take a huge amount of time on the storyboard of every frame and shot. However, it looks like we don’t have enough time for that.

How exactly does your working process look like? Do you do storyboarding with directors? Or is it more like the directors work in advance and then you come in to discuss the blocking and refine your shot? Do you only plan shots for some important scenes? Does the production hire storyboard artists?

I would like to hear your advice. Thank you.

Topic

[Stip]

“but a problem can arise when an actor comes in the next day with a different idea.”

Sooo, what happens if the idea is bad? How often does it happen that you have to change things for the worse because of an actor’s leverage?

[Roger Deakins]

Who is to say that an idea is better or worse? My ideas might be as bad as anyone else’s! A different idea may cause some change in the plan for the day but that all comes with the territory. It would be stultifying if we worked as if we were robots.

[Author]

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