Storyboarding London has been amazing.
A decent portion of the second act my WIP is set in modern-day urban London. The scenes are intimate, hardly a sweeping landscape of that amazing city. So, I kept the storyboards for it intimate as well. Interiors, rain, coffee, bits that create strong emotion.
They work well to establish and anchor the relationship that Kasey and Simon thought existed as well as the one that quickly evolves.
For me, it’s all about getting to know a location. Storyboarding London means I get to learn about architecture. I see prevailing designs. Maybe take in a museum or two. I often dig up maps or go to Google Street View for even more detail.
These boards, though, end up hanging on my walls. They serve as a sort of visual guide. I like reminders, cues to prompt me to keep details consistent.
It also helps me world build and not end up with a bunch of anachronistic junk that has to be edited out.
Storyboard London for Emotions
Another aspect of storyboard is to create a sense of place so that emotions can rise up.
Pictures of close moments and warm bits like the coffee and the ice skating are all about atmosphere and really digging into what the characters are sensing in the moment.
I love to create scenes based these details. Imagine the tense conversation over coffee when two characters with a sordid past meet for the first time in years. Do they forgive and re-connect? Do they argue? Is it just hey there and see you later? How is tension built through little gestures and body position. So much subtleness.
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