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A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
208
Acting with Pencil: The Process of Storyboarding a
Stage Multimedia Drama Production in Nigeria.
I. E. Kadimo Oqua Department of Theatre and Media Studies
University of Calabar, Calabar.
Kadimo.Oqua@yahoo,com ; [email protected]
Abstract
It is obvious that Nigerian movies have widely won accolades for
creating jobs and boosting the Nigerian entertainment industry‟s
economy and popularity. It is obvious too that no Nigerian movie has
won any Africa Film award, talk less of an Oscar. This may be because
the production techniques with which these movies are churned out are
faulty. There are few reasons for this. It is because the pre and post
productions procedures are most of the time, rushed for economic
reasons. For instance, in the pre-production, certain techniques like the
storyboard are not harnessed. This study attempts to show directors
that with storyboard, the director of a movie or stage multimedia
production can effectively execute the project and earn the desired
results. This is due to the fact that storyboard serves two basic
purposes. First, it acts as a process tool. This means that the process of
creating a storyboard helps the movie or stage director to visualize the
final project before it happens. It allows the director to work out
visually the camera angles, how shots are framed in a video, or in the
layout of element in multimedia production. This article uses two
research methods for this work. The survey surveyed and
experimentation with the use of storyboard to visualise and realize the
filmic excerpts of Arnold Udoka‟s Long Walk To A Dream .In this, the
play excerpts were storyboarded, shot, edited and screened as an
integral part of the stage production. The storyboard aided in final
visualization of the stage presentation of the play at the University of
Calabar Arts Theatre. The study therefore envisages that if storyboard
is employed by movie directors and stage drama directors in this
digital era, the mode of their presentation will change. In stage drama
directed in multimedia, it may give the director a new vision and
further change the face of stage play directing in Nigeria. The study
recommends that old and upcoming movie and stage directors should
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
209
use storyboard as a notable aesthetic and practical element in the
production of movies or stage multimedia drama. This will go a long
way to projecting Nigerian theatre in the 21st century and beyond.
Key Words: Storyboard, multimedia, screenplay.
Introduction The staging of elaborate scenes and techniques of the pageant
managers, also known as actor-managers, flourished from the Medieval
period till the Renaissance. However, after World War II, the actor-
manager slowly disappeared, and directing became a full-fledged
artistic activity within the theatre profession. According to Russel
Brown, “the management of large numbers of „extras‟ and complex
stagecraft matters necessitated an individual to take on the role of
overall coordinator” (Brown 334). This gave rise to the role of the
director in modern theatre. The director, originating artistic vision and
concept, and realizing the staging of a production became a norm rather
than exception. However, the title „director‟ of the modern day theatre
director can be said to have originated from the staging of elaborate
spectacles of the Menninger Company (large scale theatre productions)
usually staged by George II, the Prince and Duke of Saxe-Meiningen.
(Wilson 118). After Duke II, great forces in the emancipation of theatre
directing as a profession around the world became common. From then
on, notable 20th century theatre directors like Constantine Stanislavski
(Russia), Bertolt Brecht (Germany) and Antoine Artaud (France)
emerged. Others in different parts of the world include Peter Brook,
Peter Hall (Britain), Giorgio Strehler (Italy) and David Balesco
(America).
In Nigeria, the introduction of theatre and the popularization
of the theatre director was also highlighted. Hubert Ogunde was the
one of the foremost theatre directors in Nigeria. From Ogunde‟s time,
live theatre “was” a communicating, thrilling and a rewarding
experience to theatre lovers and enthusiasts until the introduction of
digital technology which gave protestation to the use of multimedia in
theatre directing. Causey Matthews (182) explains that the
implementation of multimedia capabilities in computers is the latest
episode in a long series after cave paintings, hand-crafted manuscripts,
the printing press, radio and television. Therefore, stage play directors
in Nigeria must also enhance their performances as a whole via
technology. According to Tay Vaughan, (56) the theatre has evolved
through several phases and these phases have occurred at different
times in different cultures. As society develops, man‟s ideas,
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
210
technology and communication also evolve. The new media concept
called multimedia, has emerged in the 21st century theatre phase.
Multimedia, the combination of drama and film on the live stage, is one
of such presentation techniques that can be used to create theatrical
experience that neither live action nor film alone can achieve.
Conceptual Clarification
What is multimedia one may ask? From common knowledge, the word
„Multi‟ means many and „Media‟ is the plural of medium. However,
Rosemary Klich on her part in an online article opines that:
Multimedia includes performance where media
technologies are brought into the theatrical frame as a
feature of the mise-en-scène, and secondly to refer to
the area of new media performance, where a live
performer may not be present but a high degree of
performativity and liveness are achieved. (167)
A storyboard is thought of as a visual script which may act as a
blueprint for the “look” of the complete project; what the director will
see on the television screen, computer or the projector screen and hear
the sound of the stage multimedia production. A storyboard shows not
only the individual shots or screens but the sequence of the play as they
appear. On one hand, according to an online article by Herrell and
Fowler, a storyboard can come in many shapes and sizes depending on
the project requirements, the director and the storyboard artist (Pg. 7).
On the other hand, Andrian Mallon postulates a storyboard can be
defined as a sequence of visualized shots that contains key visualization
points and audio information (440). Mallon explains in an internet
article that the storyboard expresses, in one way or another, everything
that can be seen or heard or experienced by the end-user of the
multimedia program. Defining it, Mallon agrees that a storyboard can
also be an expression of everything that will be contained in the
program -- what menu screens will look like, what pictures (still and
moving) will be seen - when and for how long? Storyboard also
contains what audio and text will accompany the images, either
synchronously or hyperlinked. Summarily, storyboard is a shot-by-shot
plan of how the film or end product would look and sound in real time.
Method of Data Collection
The method of data collection used in this research include the
theatrical modes of play production combined with the approved film
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
211
procedures. These play production making procedures include choosing
a script, getting a venue for rehearsals and production, call for audition,
casting, the rehearsal process and final production. On the film
medium, sections of the chosen play script were converted into
screenplay. One section of the screenplay was storyboarded for shoot.
After the shoot, the storyboard effectively helped the editor of the
movie in the post production processes. The plays used for this research
include Arnold Udoka‟s Long Walk to A Dream (2012).
Moving From Script to Screen
For a multimedia production, sections of the script must be put into a
movie. So the director needs to know how to translate the words of the
play script into effective picture and sound. According to Zettle, this
translation process is called visualization – seeing the script in picture
and hearing the accompanying sound (Zettle,431). Zettle agrees that
there is no sure-fire formula for this translation. It only requires the
creative imagination and artistic sensitivity of the director and a lot of
practice. Zettle opines that the best way to practice visualization is for
the director to keenly observe his environment and the events around
him e.g. how people behave in a certain situation and places. The
director must mentally note what makes one event different from the
other. This will help the director with this visualization process – the
translation from script to screen (picture and sound) and sequences.
The director of Arnold Udoka‟s Long Walk To A Dream carried out
visualization and translated some scenes of the play into screenplay,
picture and sound in the bid to realize the stage multimedia style of
presentation. The multimedia production was presented in the
University of Calabar Arts Theatre on November 22 to 24, 2012 and
directed by the author of this piece. Next is the screenplay as visualized
by the director. This screenplay led to the storyboarding of the
production.
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
212
MOVEMENT FOUR
SCENE 5
LOCATION: Church Premises
TIME: Early Morning
CAMERA SHOTS: Ext/Int
CHARACTERS: Reverend, Senator Ibinabo, Miene,
Senator‟s Driver, Senator‟s Orderly, A
Mystery Lady and the Church Congregation.
1 Camera establishes the exterior of the church as a praise
song is heard. CUT to Church Interior.
LOCATION: Church Int
2. REV. EKAIKAW: Amen? Our reading today is taken from
the book of Isaiah chapter 42, verses 1 to 4.
The Reverend repeats the Bible verse then starts reading.
“Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul
delights; I have put my Spirit…
3. AS HE READS, CAMERA PICKS SENATOR IBINABO
HURRYING INTO THE CHURCH. THE JOURNALIST,
MIEN. FOLLOWS CLOSELY. THE SENATOR AND
MIEN SIT SIDE BY SIDE.
4. REV. EKAIKAW SLAPS A MOSQUITO ON HIS FACE.
5. CAMERA PICKS A YOUNG LADY WALK INTO THE
CHURCH. SHE WEARS A FLOWING GOWN. HER
FACE IS HARDLY EXPOSED. A BIG HEADTIE IS
WRAPPED FROM HER HEAD ROUND HER NECK. SHE
CARRIES A WEATHER BEATEN HANDBAG WHICH
SHE DROPS AS SHE TAKES HER SEAT TO THE FAR
LEFT OF THE SENATOR.
6. And that is how life, beauty and joy are snuffed out of our
lives. But one day, our light shall shine again.
7. CONGREGATION: Amen!
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
213
8. CONGREGATION: (Sings.)“ Jesus conquered the world and
gave us victory”.
9. AT THE SECOND STANZA OF THE SONG, THE
MYSTERY YOUNG LADY IS SEEN LEAVING THE
CHURCH. SHE LEAVES WITHOUT HER HANDBAG.
CUT TO
Location: Church Exterior
Camera Shots: Ext
10 CAMERA ESTABLISHES THE SENATOR‟S STANDBY
VEHICLE. WE SEE HER DRIVER AND ORDERLY
INSIDE. FROM THE ORDERLY‟S P.O.V. WE SEE THE
YOUNG LADY LEAVING THE CHURCH ALMOST IN A
HURRY. THIS ATTRACTED THE ORDERLY‟S
ATTENTION WHO FOLLOWS HER WITH HIS EYES
UNTIL SHE MAKES A SMALL TURN OUT AT A
NEARBY CORNER OUT OF HIS P.O.V. THE PASTOR‟S
VOICE IS STILL HEARD FROM THE CHURCH.
CUT TO
Church Int.
11 REV. EKAIKAW: Justice is on your side. Equity is all you
are asking for. Honesty is all…
CUT TO
Church Ext.
21. BOMB, GUNSHOTS AND HEAVY ARTILLERY ARE
HEARD. THE SOUND JERKS THE ORDERLY WHO
JUMPS OUT OF THE VEHICLE ALMOST
IMMEDIATELY AND RUNS TOWARDS THE CHURCH.
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
214
CUT TO
Church Interior
22. IN A SLOW MOTION, WE SEE THE REVEREND
KNOCKED DOWN BY THE FORCE OF THE SBOMB. AS
THE SENATOR RECOVERS FROM THE SHOCK AND
ATTEMPTS TO GO AND HELP HIM, THE REVEREND
ULTIMATELY STRUGGLED TO HIS FEET AND RUNS
OUT THROUGH THE BACK.
CUT TO
Church Exterior
23. SCREAMS AND STAMPEDE AS PEOPLE RUN OUT OF
THE CHURCH. THE ORDERLY TRIES TO ENTER THE
CHURCH BUT HIS ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO A
YOUNG LADY EMERGING FROM THE CORNER THE
OTHER LADY ENTERED. THIS YOUNG LADY IS
WEARING A TIGHT FITTING TOP AND A SKIRT THAT
REVEALS HER CONTOUR BUT HER SHOE GIVES HER
AWAY. SHE FLINGS AND ADJUSTS HER ENORMOUS
HAIR AS SHE HURRIES DOWN THE ROAD TO THE
OPPOSITE DIRECTION.
CUT TO
24. THE ORDERLY QUICKLY RUNS BACK TO THE
CORNER THE LADY HAD EMERGED FROM. HE
FINDS THE COSTUME WORN BY THE ‟MYSTERY
LADY‟ ON THE GROUND. HE RUNS OUT ON TIME TO
SEE THE YOUNG LADY ENTER A STANDBY CAR AND
DRIVE OFF. THE ORDERLY RUNS TO TOWARDS THE
SENATOR‟S DRIVER, MOTIONS SOMETHING, JUMPS
INTO THE SENATOR‟S VEHICLE AND THEY CHASE
THE SUSPECTED CAR.
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
215
CUT TO
Church Interior
25. FROM THE SENATOR‟S P.O.V, WE SEE WOUNDED
BODIES OF WOMEN AND MEN ON THE FLOOR AND
THE EFFECT OF THE BLAST. AS SHE TURNS, SHE
SEES A LITTLE GIRL OF ABOUT 10 YEARS OLD
TRYING TO SIT UP. THE GIRL LIKE THE SENATOR, IS
COUGHING. LOOKING ROUND, SHE SEES THE DEAD
BODY OF THE GIRL‟S MOTHER ON THE FLOOR. THE
GIRL BEGINS TO CRY FOR HELP.
CUT TO
Church Exterior
26. SENATOR IBINABO IS SEEN RUNNING OUT OF THE
CHURCH TO WHERE HER CAR WAS PARKED BUT
FINDS IT IS GONE. SHE SAUNTERS TO THE
NEAREST BUSH.
FADE
Storyboarding the Production. After writing the screenplay, the next is storyboarding through
visualization. According to Zettl, visualization will lead to
storyboarding. A storyboard may demand the services of a storyboard
artist or a computer. How does one start up a storyboard layout you
may ask? By sketching of course. The director can begin the sketch on
an A4 binder that can be photocopied or the storyboard artist should be
superintended by him. If the director of the production is a fine artist
(like the director of Long Walk to A Dream), he/she can storyboard.
However, if not doing it alone, the director should insist that the
storyboard be drawn with a pencil first, probably a 2B pencil. This is so
that the sketch can easily be erased and modified if need be. In this
computer era, computer can also be used to create a storyboard too.
Herrel and Joel, confirm that “even today, a lot of storyboarding is still
done by hand, simply with pencil and paper”(Pg. 8). They argue that
quick sketching is often easier than computer. Nevertheless, the
computer offers some advantages that a pencil does not. For instance,
with computer, the storyboard artist can
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
216
Scan in the drawing, modify and add colour in a Graphic
Application
Create a background once, and then replicate it if the shot
is in the same location.
Easily arrange the sequence using a standard software
such as Apple Works Presentation or Microsoft
PowerPoint
Or the storyboard artist can use a dedicated storyboarding
application like Storyboard Quick, which contains
libraries of figures in different positions for variety.
Whichever format is used, the storyboard should not be bogged with
too many details, especially in the beginning. The essential details on
each scene should be focused on. In the initial drawings, one may begin
with one shot or screen per page. To save cost, one scene can be
storyboarded in like 16 to 30 screens on a page like in the case of
Movement Four, Scene Five of Udoka‟s Long Walk to A Dream.
Types of storyboard
There are many templates for storyboard. One of such are templates
with “Direction Box” and the other with “Text Box”. The Direction
Box is used for information such as the length of the shot, camera
movements like Pan, Tilt etc. Also in a storyboard, the shots are
labelled by type like Long Shot (LS), Medium Shot (MS) or Close Up
(CU). In the Direction Box type, special transitions can be added and
described such as Fade In, Fade Out or Dissolve between two shots.
The “Text” box can be used for actual dialogue, voice over narration,
soundtrack or sound effect. In the storyboard on discourse, the Text
Box template was used.
No matter how one chooses to do the storyboard, there are certain
information a storyboard should carry. Storyboard must carry a sketch
or drawing of the screen, size of the graphics; what position it is placed
and the time each shot will last on screen. Each screen must carry the
actual text, soundtrack, dialogue or sound effect if any. If the
storyboard is to be used for advertisement, the colour, size and font
type must be included. Other information may include animation and
narration, video and audio if any.
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
217
Shooting the Excerpts of Long Walk to a Dream from the
Storyboard.
After series of stage rehearsals; after finishing the translation of the
play from script to screen play, the storyboard was produced by the
director. The next item on the production agenda was the shoot of the
storyboarded excerpts. Since multimedia is a combination of stage and
film, some film crew titles like the „director of photography‟ (DOP)
and „location manager‟ were adopted and added to the stage crew of
this production. While rehearsals for the production was on going in
earnest, the location manager found befitting locations for the shoot of
the two filmic scenes. However, only one scene, scene five, the church
bomb scene was storyboarded. Three locations were used for the shoot
viz: a beach, a bush area and a church. Two weeks to production and
after wrapping up the rehearsals for the stage part, the cast members of
the screenplay - the POGWA boys who made up the congregation, the
Senator, Mien the reporter, the church pastor and the film crew were
moved to the church location of the shoot.
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A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
219
Storyboard in Post Productions
Since this was a stage multimedia, the fusion of drama and film on the
live stage, some scenes of the play were shot as discussed. The next
step was editing the shoot. In the editing, the storyboard was also used.
So when a storyboard is produced for a stage drama or movie, it should
be duplicated. One part was left with the DOP for the shoot and the
other part with the editor for the post production of the video. In
editing, apart from the pictures, storyboard can assist in sound editing.
Since there was soundtrack, dialogue and or sound effect in the shot
movie, storyboard was very effective here to blend the three elements
together. In the play in discourse, the storyboard did help the video
editor to know the exact shot the bomb blast was to occur. The sound
was laid with the picture and the result was perfect.
The bomb blast shot and sound effect were timely used in combination
to give the real bomb effect to the church in the final video. In the
editing, storyboard enabled the church‟s roof to be blown off during the
bomb blast and some parts of the church building blocks was taken off.
This achieved the intended effect perfectly because of the storyboard.
Advantages of Storyboarding
Storyboarding has a lot of advantages for the director, cast and other
crew members of a particular production. The production of the
storyboard need not take the considerable time that some think it does.
It depends on how one goes about the production. Whether the
storyboard is hand drawn or in computer format, Mallon opines there
are significant advantages of storyboard to be considered. They are as
follows:
It helps catalyse feelings about the feasibility of the program
idea. If the storyboard looks wrong, the program will too.
Omissions may be spotted and one can say 'No, we've a
problem here'..
Storyboard provides a document which everyone can point to
as a common point of reference, enabling the design team
(cast and crew) to say, „Yes that is what I meant'.
The storyboard helps focus on the total content of the
program, both from the point of view of the overall size of the
program, and in discussing user interaction times.
Problems spotted from the storyboard could have proven
costlier to correct at a later stage.
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
220
A detailed storyboard can save time in writing a project
documentation.
Storyboard provides a template for the content-writer of a
project to work with.This speeds up the content-writing
process and makes the production of the storyboard itself so
much faster.
Storyboarding gives the film editor less work and also
disciplines the editor.
Measuring the true effectiveness of storyboarding is, of course,
problematic. But if storyboarding has a role to play in the design
process of any production, then studying how to go about it the right
way must influence the production design. Indeed, it would be arguable
that, for complex multimedia products and in large working teams,
detailed storyboarding is essential. Though storyboarding is a norm in
designed productions in developed countries, this phenomenon is not
common and may not have been practiced in any sector in Nigeria or
Nollywood. This is due, perhaps, to the laziness of directors, the need
to save money and the factor known as “the Nigerian style.”
Conclusion
There is a common misconception by Nigerian stage directors that
storyboards are not used in the theatre. As one can see, they are. Long
in the past, they were the special tools that directors and playwrights
frequently used to understand the layout in the scenes. In fact, Ubong
Nda opines the Great Russian and German directors and theatre
practitioners, Constantine Stanislavsky and Bertolt Brecht developed
detailed storyboards for their performances. Stanislavski developed
storyboard for Chekov‟s The Seagul and Brecht did it as part of his
dramaturgical method of „fables‟. With modern methods of directing,
like play script analysis in practise, storyboarding was jettisoned.
Within these theatre phases, the digital technology that allows stage
multimedia productions is in place. Therefore, this work summarises
that storyboard should be practised by Nigerian stage directors,
especially those in stage multimedia directing.
As one can see, storyboard has a lot of advantages. For movie directors,
stage multimedia directors and the teachers facilitating students‟
productions, storyboard is an important skill to learn. Nigerian movie
and stage directors should now employ the services of a storyboard
artist as a crew member. From the student angle, pre-production
A Journal of Theatre & Media Studies Vol. 1. No. 2, April, 2016
221
activities such as play scripting and storyboarding encourage students
and budding storyboard artists to focus on generating ideas and
polishing the storyboarding activity.Film and stage directors in Nigeria
should know that a lot of creative work and planning is done with
storyboard before the camera is handled.
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