Bory Stoard

  An article that was short sweet and to the point. I'd tell you what it's about but you already know, so here's the summary: avoid flat staging, cause it's boring. Lay out grids to have a sense of location. Use layers of backround to create depth. Logically group people and make sure you can tell who's who. D on't make everything parallel, that's about as interesting as armpit hair. Keep sizes consistent, and embrace some empty space. Over the shoulder shots help with dialogue? After seeing one of Geoff's links of interest, I'm not so sure about that. they shouldn't look directly at the viewer unless they eat people. Character heights are like camera angles, it aids viewer opinion apparently. Motivate your shots. If you don't you'll end up with Birdemic: Shock and Terror. These tips are useful, but I probably won't use to many of these at the moment. Considering these are tips for a feature-length film company, and we're making minute long shorts by ourselves, I think we're allowed to cut a few corners. That said these tips are really good for placement and more so staging. I guess it depends on if you want a selection of keyframes to animate without fuss, or a collection of rough sketches that are little more than a guide of action and plot. To each their own, what ever works works.