“Storyboarders Are the Unsung Heroes of Filmmaking”: A Look at the Behind-the-Scenes Art Form

A film crew hunched over a mess of papers strewn across a table or people crowded around a camera is the first thing that used to come to my mind when someone mentioned the ‘behind the scenes’ or process of making a film. ‘Storyboarding’ was never something I considered. And it wasn’t until I sat through the end credits of many movies that I realised, as the screen turned black, that they seemed to have ignored the importance of the storyboard and its artist as well.

Credit: Kishor Kawad

Many film enthusiasts may be accustomed to the term storyboarding, yet, at least in the case of the Indian film industry, the names of storyboard artists are barely known, despite playing a crucial role in filmmaking. Kishor Kawad, a storyboard and concept artist who has worked in the industry for about 16 years now, on films like Raid, Fan, Section 375 and Parmanu, as well as OTT shows like Bard of Blood, and many TV commercials, says that as far as the history of storyboarding is concerned, with regard to Bollywood, the practice is fairly old. From the time of Dada Saheb Phalke and Satyajit Ray, this format has been used in film production, “Zyada proof nahin rehta hai kyunki publish nahin karte hain, aur kyunki final output mein uska physical role nahin hai toh log bhool jate hain. (There isn’t much proof because they don't publish it and because it doesn’t play a physical role in the final output, people forget about it) ” In fact, he mentions that if someone is really curious, they might find some of Satyajit Ray’s storyboards (which Ray used to make himself). He confirms that there is no such archival of storyboards in Bollywood. “Jaise hum bhi reference karte hain kabhi kabhi, woh bahar ka hi hai. Shot by shot reference ho ya books, bahar ke hote hain. (Sometimes even we use references and those are not Indian. Be it a shot reference or a book, they're foreign examples)” On websites like Film Companion, screenplays are made available, but there is no such provision for storyboards.

SO WHAT IS A STORYBOARD AND WHEN AND WHY DID WE START USING IT?

A storyboard, in a way, is a simpler form of a comic strip that helps film directors, cinematographers, and even production designers plan the flow and requirements of a film. It could be made of black and white stick figures telling the story in the most basic manner or characters illustrated in vibrant colour and detail to the point of the storyboard almost mirroring real life.

Credit: Kishor Kawad

Chris Pallant and Steven Price, in their book Storyboarding: A Critical History, mentioned that the practice of storyboarding can be thought of as one that emerged from the advertising and animation industry. It is difficult to mark the exact date of when this practice began because storyboards were viewed as a disposable pre-production step. Once the film or advertisement was made, the storyboards were crumpled and thrown into the bin. It is only around the early 1900s that studios like Walt Disney and others in Hollywood began to archive the storyboards of their films. Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 was one of the first recognised uses of storyboarding in pre-production. That being said, these archives still have very few storyboards in comparison to the screenplays and scripts that have been preserved.

Pallant and Price’s book credits French actor and film director Georges Méliès as “the most prolific early adopter of pre-visualisation strategies,” and the precursor of the guides to storyboarding that exist today. However, he was not a storyboard artist. Although he made planned sketches to aid an efficient filming process, they were not quite storyboards.

HOW STORYBOARDS ARE USED

Kishor Kawad breaks down the uses and kinds of storyboards for us. He says that there are two major types – one for animation and one for live-action films. In the case of animation, the storyboard follows the direction of the film very closely. It’s crucial for the flow of the story. However, in the case of live-action films, storyboards are mainly used to plan particular shots like action and heavy drama sequences, or as a reference to plan the budget, costumes, and sets of the movie. They are rarely used to plan the whole flow of the film at once. They prove to play a pivotal role while planning scenes that require VFX as everything must be pre-visualised. The live-action storyboard is also used for TV commercials but in that case, they are called production boards. These are as detailed as possible to give the client a clear picture of what they can expect.

Credit: Kishor Kawad

THE PROCESS: FROM THE SCRIPT TO THE STORYBOARD TO THE FILM

It all begins with the screenplay, which is then transformed into the storyboard. From here, the process is dependent on what the director requires from the storyboard because films are not usually storyboarded completely from start to finish. If it is just the director who requires the storyboard, then it is designed completely from a directional point of view, to capture the director’s idea. He may need the board to be just frames of scribbles or may need the frames to be detailed and comprehensive. The style of the drawing in the storyboards may also vary from director-to-director. Some prefer charcoal sketches, while others prefer them to be drawn digitally. Generally, the director and the storyboard artist sit together and make the board. “Art directors bhi storyboards ko use karte hain set design ke liye. Toh kabhi kabhi woh bhi baithte hain storyboarder ke saath. Toh yeh sab ek saath baithte hain meeting mein (Art directors, too, use the storyboards to design sets. So sometimes, they sit with the storyboarder as well. They all sit together in the meeting),” Kishor Kawad adds. The storyboard is thought of as a blueprint and from here, the film is built according to it.

Credit: Kishor Kawad

Credit: Kishor Kawad

On the flip side, he says, after a slight pause and an almost questioning hesitation in his voice, that films can be made without storyboards, but that would make the process messier than it already is. With a storyboard, everything can be planned even till the point of editing, and the film crew can have a clear idea of the director’s vision. “For example, agar VFX ka zyada budget nahin hai, toh shot bhi utna hi plan karna chahiye jitna uska set hai. DOP aur art director ko phir margins bhi clear rahega ki kitna possible hai, kitna set banana hai, artist ko bhi pata hoga ki unka line of action kahan tak rahega, toh koi aise slip–up nahin hoga (For example, if VFX doesn’t have a big budget, then the shot will be planned accordingly. The DOP and art director, will also have a clear understanding of the margins and what is possible, how much of the set needs to be made, and the artist will be aware of his line of action, so there won't be any slip-ups.) ”

THE WORK-LIFE OF A STORYBOARD ARTIST

“Storyboarders are the unsung heroes of filmmaking,” Kawad says when asked about the recognition that storyboard artists receive in the industry. It is rare to see the title of a storyboard artist in the credits of a movie. They may sometimes be found under the art department’s credits or as the title of a ‘continuity artist’, but these come towards the far end of the credits and go unnoticed. “Credit dete hain kabhi kabhi. Kya hai na aise famous naam nahi hai par next time inn titles ko dhoondo shayad mil jaaye (They give us credit sometimes. The thing is that there aren’t any famous names as such, but next time try looking for these titles maybe you'll find it),” and it seems to be the case with OTT platforms as well so far, “Maine last 3 saal mein Netflix ke saath bohot kaam kiya hai lekin maine abhi tak dekha nahi (I have worked a lot with Netflix in the past three years, but I haven’t seen it yet).” However, Kawad says that Netflix has been one of the best platforms that he has worked with, in terms of the projects and how they treat their artists. Even big banner production houses like Dharma and Red Chillies Entertainment have held a good record of how they treat their storyboard artists.

To see the scribbles materialise to scenes on-screen that later get decoded and appreciated by the audience is always fulfilling, credit or no credit, but Kishor Kawad hopes that people who are interested enough will look beyond the actors and camera when they think of filmmaking.