In this post, I will be discussing the storyline for the commercial with what path it will take and constructing a storyboard also.
To begin, before creating my storyboard, I thought I’d make a rough script to show the storyline that it will take. This will be beneficial in my opinion for later on as it will help guide my project in development, being able to refer back to it when filming and editing the effects.
Script –
(Bedroom Scene, Energy Drink placed within the foreground on Desk)
*Camera Focus on the Drink, Background Blurred*
Enters the character, taking the seat at the desk
*Camera switches*
Energy Drink in hand, slowly rising arm
(VFX Sparks, Electricity starts to form round drink)
*Camera Turns Back*
Character opens drink
(VFX liquid particles rise from Can)
*Camera zooms, then turns black*
(Sipping Noise)
*Camera focuses on one eye*
Eye opens
(VFX Sparks, Electricity starts from pupil glowing stronger)
*Camera Shakes, Switches back to bedroom view*
The character runs out of room
(VFX Smoke particles)
*Camera switches to the new scene*
(Out Door Scene, the main running part of the story)
*Camera flys through the gardens gate in a flash*
(VFX directional blur and smoke)
*Camera turns to aerial view*
Characters run through the roadside and traffic
*Camera appears closer*
The character runs past the camera leaving a trail of lightning
*Camera rolls to the left, transitioning into another scene*
The character carries on running and increases his speed going faster than before
*Runs into the camera*
(VFX flashing with lightning)
Streak runs through the streets
*Causes camera shakes*
The character runs into a building and darts straight back out in seconds
*Camera switches to slow-mo*
Streak runs and jumps over a person on a bench then zooms through a tunnel
*Camera switches scene, using rotation to make a fast movement effect*
The character begins to circle one area, running faster and faster, creating high winds
(VFX Rainfall and smoke to make effects on the environment)
*Camera rotates to the running direction, appearing within the vortex*
More energy is suddenly felt, he feels he can go even faster, the character pushes further
(VFX Rainfall and lightning)
*Camera zooms with a flash of light*
(Scenery suddenly changes, open field)
(VFX Flashes)
*Camera Shake*
(VFX Lightning and dust)
The character appears out of nowhere creating smoke with bits of static in his hair, realising this he zooms back in the other direction
(VFX Smoke and Dust)
*Camera Shake*
(Switches back to the beginning scene, Bedroom)
*Camera Shake*
Character is thrown back into the room at high speed
(VFX Smoke and electricity)
*Camera switches to the desk with background blur*
Energy drink gets placed on the desk
*Title of the drink and slogan then fades in*
Storyboard –
Here is my storyboard for the commercial, it’s been converted from my sketchbook onto Illustrator to be ordered and neatly presented. There are additions such as arrows and numbers to the storyboard, this is a way to help guide the reader showing them the direction the stories going and how things will move. I found from making the script, it has helped me visualize the image quite a bit, it has influenced my sketches greatly with accuracy to the story.
After constructing my storyboard, I decided to bring the imagery to life and create an Animatic for the project to get a greater understanding of the story with moving visuals. I made this within the software After Effects using shapes and the pen tool to build the assets, using my original storyboard as a reference.
Result –
Overall, I happy with this Animatic outcome, it shows how the story will progress clearly with the different types of VFX that I will be using. The only thing that doesn’t make this clear, is that it could use possibly sound effects to guide a few scenes, for example at the beginning of the eye scene I want to add a drinking noise, maybe a slurp to show that the characters consumed some energy.
In the next post, I shall be experimenting with camera angles for my project. Taking different types of shots and editing them within After Effects to generates perspectives.