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Movie Storyboards: The Art of Visualizing Screenplays
This comprehensive and enlightening collection—the first of its kind—features storyboard art from the last 100 years, covering more than 50 classic, cult, and popular films. Much of the artwork included here has never been published, including early drawings from such great artists as William Cameron Menzies (Gone With the Wind), Mentor Huebner (North by Northwest, Ben-Hur), Salvador Dali (Spellbound), and Saul Bass (Psycho, Spartacus), plus work from contemporary artists such as Jane Clark (the Harry Potter series). Augmented throughout with insights from the designers, directors, and artists who share some of their secrets and tips from behind the scenes, Movie Storyboards is an essential collection for any film student or true fan.
- GenresFilmArtNonfiction
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 7, 2014
A good visual presentation of the storyboard craft, with for once, a surprisingly decent selection covering nearly 100 years of history.
That said, where the book benefits from great 20/20 hindsight on the last century, it predictably waffles when it comes to assessing more recent storyboard work which appears in the last section; indeed, the pertinence of the art chosen to depict this final decade just doesn't rise-up to the level of all the previous ones, and feels more like obligatory "filler" aimed at forcing a contemporary nod at all cost. It lacks perspective; the modern films chosen often seem dismal and irrelevant, and the art selected to depict recent work samples, and digital media experiments, clearly doesn't belong in the same pantheon as the art rendered for classics such as The Magnificent Ambersons, or Psycho, Apocalypse Now, and all the rest of the drawings seen in the first few sections of the book.
This could have easily been circumvented by seeking-out the input of contemporary artists in the making of this book, who would better know and recognize some of the best storyboard work being done presently - that input is conspicuously missing! (Think modern storyboard artists such as Rodolfo Damaggio, Robbie Consing, or Michael Anthony Jackson; why ignore the better practitioners of the craft only to favor the less able?)
Admittedly, most storyboard artists of the classic era are dead but it would have been nice to have had more pointed explanations of the of the works and the process, which to this day remains grossly misunderstood by the public at large, and even by some film makers.
It is commendable still, that the author refrained from doing film-frame/side by side comparisons. This sort of exercise further contaminates the popular understanding about storyboards, namely by inciting belief that it is their function to impose compositional templates onto the film maker. (Nothing could be further from the truth.)
A book of this quality should really take the opportunity to better discuss the subtle relationship between the storyboard artist and the director, as well as the fine line that exists between director's sketches, Art Director's storyboards, and how they specifically relate to Set Design, initial visualizing for action breakdown, and finally to applying all the preparedness to the new context of the reality of a film set.
I would imagine that anyone who wishes to buy a specialized book such as this one would be equally interested in reading a little paragraph or two, between illustration sections, exploring the true functions of the storyboarding process, written in an actual informative style...
Considering that until now, there has not really been a definitive coffee table book about storyboard art showing a wide selection of films, this one is a good effort. It's an imperfect book, but one that assembles one of the best bunch to date. It can equally be argued that some of the most important and sought-after storyboard artists, from the view point of great directors, were not given as great a platform as they should have received: notably Mentor Huebner, Sherman Labby, who for years, in Hollywood, were the only two significant references, and also the most knowledgeable artists in the craft.
It is important to note that even from the point of view of working movie directors, all artists are not created equal, and all too often, directors themselves lament that the scarcity of sophisticated storyboard artists limits their use of the process. You would NEVER know this by looking at the disparate side by side alignment of the work presented here (one might well think we are just looking at an exciting variety of styles, which is one way to spin it, I guess).
When a book like this one positions itself, willingly or not as the definitive statement on the matter, it invariably bears a responsibility of describing the standards, for years to come, in the minds of casual consumers of movie paraphernalia. For that reason, a little more pointed guidance would have seemed like a good thing.
Still, it's a pretty good book.
That said, where the book benefits from great 20/20 hindsight on the last century, it predictably waffles when it comes to assessing more recent storyboard work which appears in the last section; indeed, the pertinence of the art chosen to depict this final decade just doesn't rise-up to the level of all the previous ones, and feels more like obligatory "filler" aimed at forcing a contemporary nod at all cost. It lacks perspective; the modern films chosen often seem dismal and irrelevant, and the art selected to depict recent work samples, and digital media experiments, clearly doesn't belong in the same pantheon as the art rendered for classics such as The Magnificent Ambersons, or Psycho, Apocalypse Now, and all the rest of the drawings seen in the first few sections of the book.
This could have easily been circumvented by seeking-out the input of contemporary artists in the making of this book, who would better know and recognize some of the best storyboard work being done presently - that input is conspicuously missing! (Think modern storyboard artists such as Rodolfo Damaggio, Robbie Consing, or Michael Anthony Jackson; why ignore the better practitioners of the craft only to favor the less able?)
Admittedly, most storyboard artists of the classic era are dead but it would have been nice to have had more pointed explanations of the of the works and the process, which to this day remains grossly misunderstood by the public at large, and even by some film makers.
It is commendable still, that the author refrained from doing film-frame/side by side comparisons. This sort of exercise further contaminates the popular understanding about storyboards, namely by inciting belief that it is their function to impose compositional templates onto the film maker. (Nothing could be further from the truth.)
A book of this quality should really take the opportunity to better discuss the subtle relationship between the storyboard artist and the director, as well as the fine line that exists between director's sketches, Art Director's storyboards, and how they specifically relate to Set Design, initial visualizing for action breakdown, and finally to applying all the preparedness to the new context of the reality of a film set.
I would imagine that anyone who wishes to buy a specialized book such as this one would be equally interested in reading a little paragraph or two, between illustration sections, exploring the true functions of the storyboarding process, written in an actual informative style...
Considering that until now, there has not really been a definitive coffee table book about storyboard art showing a wide selection of films, this one is a good effort. It's an imperfect book, but one that assembles one of the best bunch to date. It can equally be argued that some of the most important and sought-after storyboard artists, from the view point of great directors, were not given as great a platform as they should have received: notably Mentor Huebner, Sherman Labby, who for years, in Hollywood, were the only two significant references, and also the most knowledgeable artists in the craft.
It is important to note that even from the point of view of working movie directors, all artists are not created equal, and all too often, directors themselves lament that the scarcity of sophisticated storyboard artists limits their use of the process. You would NEVER know this by looking at the disparate side by side alignment of the work presented here (one might well think we are just looking at an exciting variety of styles, which is one way to spin it, I guess).
When a book like this one positions itself, willingly or not as the definitive statement on the matter, it invariably bears a responsibility of describing the standards, for years to come, in the minds of casual consumers of movie paraphernalia. For that reason, a little more pointed guidance would have seemed like a good thing.
Still, it's a pretty good book.
August 12, 2019
This is exactly the book if you’re looking for how types of storyboards are made in all the different movies. Shows which presentation, color techniques, raw ideas, panels distribution and so on they used.
March 9, 2015
Interesting view into the storyboarding process from everything from The Birds to Star Wars to Amelie.
August 9, 2015
This is a very visual book that shows many of the original storyboards done for famous movies when they were being planned. Fascinating!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews