Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation

by Francis Glebas

Francis Glebas, a top Disney storyboard artist, shows how to reach the ultimate goal of animation and moviemaking by showing how to provide audiences with an emotionally satisfying experience. Directing the Story offers a structural approach to clearly and dramatically presenting visual stories. With Francis' help you'll discover the professional storytelling techniques which have swept away generations of movie goers and kept them coming back for more. You'll also learn to spot potential problems before they cost you time or money and offers creative solutions to solve them.Best of all, it practices what it preaches, using a graphic novel format to demonstrate the professional visual storytelling techniques you need to know.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Film, Drawing, Writing, Design, Reference

359 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

The full title is Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding techniques for Live Action and Animation. Note that it's directing the story, not directing the movie, and the emphasis is on the story.

The goal of this book is to help you get your audience "lost in the story" of your movie. It details a lot of professional directing techniques and principles to help aid storytelling. The writing is clear and Francis Glebas even storyboarded a whole short story to serve as an example, in addition to the many examples already provided.

Using storyboards as a primary tool, he goes through the various storytelling techniques used in films , like ways to pace/cut scenes, introducing themes and story structure subtly, directing the audience's eyes, creating characters people can related to, etc. Francis Glebas then breaks down these high level concepts into many smaller easy-to-understand points to focus in depth.

One particular point to note is the version of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (wikipedia.com) Francis Glebas has storyboarded to provided as an example throughout the book. All the techniques he teaches are used in the storyboard for that story. It ends with cliffhangers in every chapter. The story is absorbing even though it's done in sketches. Goes to show that story is still king.

This book is for anyone who wants to direct professional stories. It should be made compulsory reading in film schools. Two enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

For more reading, I would recommend Ideas for the Animated Short, which goes even further in depth with storytelling techniques. Bad stories shouldn't have excuses.

[Michelle Cornish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've ever read on storytelling! It was a textbook for a course I took on storyboarding and it is amazing! Francis Glebas really knows his stuff, and as a former Disney story artist, he should. Not just for animators (which I'm not) - for illustrators and writers too. I can't recommend it enough!

[Andrea Dvořáková · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Directing the story je průvodcem pro všechny, kdo chtějí vyprávět silné a poutavé vizuální příběhy. Autor sdílí své poznatky o tom, jak efektivně vést divákovu pozornost, budovat emoce a zlepšit vizuální vyprávění. Kniha obsahuje také mnoho ilustrací i příkladů, které pomáhají lépe pochopit principy filmové režie a storytellingu.

[coolwind · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good book. It uses pictures to tell us the techniques from end to end. I learned quite many things from drawing, twisting, mood, camera angle, video making, to story telling. Suit for both beginners and experts.

[Bryce Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book quite good as a beginner to the storyboarding process. I would have liked a little more on the practical side but maybe there isn't and it really is all a bit of a stumble when you're first starting out(?)

[thuys]

Not much of storyboarding techniques in this book as I expected, but hit many points in storytelling. It cant give you a structural layout of, say, Robert Bresson's movies, but definitely of many Hollywood's movies. Good read anyway.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book on story and story-telling. It's aimed at storyboard artists, but I think it would be an interesting read for anyone who likes story and/or film.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read

I have read quite a few books about storyboarding but this one put them all to shame. Amazing. A must read.

[Nightary · Rating 4 out of 5]

aghhhh yes.

[Mads]

A Textbook that I actually Read!

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

[D.J. Desmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never complained about the shape of a book, but here we are. This thing was an awkward rectangle.

Content wise, the examples didn’t do much for me, but the information was a good basics course

[k · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s really good. Very informative. It was fun, it was never boring.

[Monse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has everything you need. The best art book I have ever read. You will learn all the principles of composition, gestalt, design, story, framework… it’s just beautiful.

[Michel Ortega · Rating 5 out of 5]

Francis Glebas really outdid himself! I learned so much from his unique experience, method, and perspective. It was like getting a masterclass in storytelling and storyboarding.

[David Pfeiffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!!!

This book really did not just open my eyes in ways of telling a story with pictures, but also storytelling overall. The story told in the book kept me coming for more. One of the few books in my life that I could not stop thinking about. If your looking to get into the film or tv world this is a must read!
I will be rereading this book again and again!

[Greg Tatum · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mediocre book that does its job, but is a little bit annoying. I definitely feel more comfortable with storyboarding after reading it. Oh and if I recall there is a lot of namedropping which I abhor.

[Sarah Schanze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very educational and interesting, with a smattering of concepts from all over the world of storytelling and art. The use of a story to help show examples of the concepts talked about is a huge help too.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glebas not only shows how to approach storytelling through storyboarding, but also discusses many other aspects of writing and directing. While the approach is quite traditional (very Disney), I found it to still be useful for my own work.

[Niniane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Describes how to tell a story visually by zooming in on what is interesting in the shot. Demonstrates the principles via an engrossing storyboard of 1001 Arabian Nights. Visually explains how to set up character, dramatic irony, etc.

[Mario Russo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is, as Animator survival kit, a book that I wish I had read earlier.
Francis wraps up theory and practice in a gorgeous package that leaves no margin for confusion.
It is really a great book.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The way he "lived like he preached" through the 101 nights reference story was nice. Few books actually do that. Although I prefer a more direct approach in his text. I experienced it was a bit too much Disney over it all. Lots of double-talk and very little actual and rewarding facts.

[Laurel]

There are some formatting problems with the Kindle version, so I think the paperback version might be better. Particularly for viewing the storyboards (in color) and the information tables.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

really valuable! told a story to explain how stories work, and where it can go wrong. also brings real experience to the table. whether for the advanced or the beginner, totally worth it.

[Yonisalmon · Rating 3 out of 5]

didnt capture my interest. seems like it is too much of a guide and less inspiration.

[Therearenobadbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I wanted to write and draw my graphic novel I found all the help I needed in this volume. Recommended it to all my students.

[Yasser Azmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

مكتوب بسلاسه فشخ وسهل المتابعه
ومكمل لباقي كتب ديزني التيكنيكال
loved it

[Alyssa Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in animating or writing comics. Or just storytelling in general.

[Fiki Firmansyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's eye-opening for story teller, I agreed with him (hitchcook) about 90% film happened in storyboarding.