Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation [Paperback]

Francis Glebas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0240810767 | ISBN-13: 978-0240810768 | Edition: 1

Francis Glebas, a top Disney storyboard artist, teaches artists a structural approach to clearly and dramatically presenting visual stories. They will learn classic visual storytelling techniques such as conveying meaning with images and directing the viewer's eye. Glebas also teaches how to spot potential problems before they cost time and money, and he offers creative solutions on how to solve them.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Francis Glebas has put together a really comprehensive and thought-provoking look at the art and craft of film making, specifically directing. His approach, which is to ask a lot of seemingly innocent questions, has much the same effect as the good storytelling he is trying to teach us.it draws us in and makes us think. I can't imagine anyone, in or out of our business, who won't find any number of helpful ideas as they work their way through the filmmaking jungles!!
- Roy Disney, Director Emeritus and consultant for The Walt Disney Company

Francis Glebas was one of our most talented storyboard artists at Disney, and it was our great fortune to have him on the story team. He has a wealth of experience to share.
- Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO, Dreamworks Animation

About the Author

Francis Glebas worked as a story artist for Disney Feature Animation on Aladdin, Lion King, Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dinosaur, Treasure Planet and Hercules. He also directed Pomp and Circumstance starring Donald Duck in Fantasia 2000 and Piglet's BIG Movie. Francis is also an award-winning independent live action movie maker with almost 40 years' experience. He currently teaches storyboarding at Gnomon School of Visual Effects. Francis also works as a creative consultant, having worked with the Irish Government, Korean Government, General Motors, Los Alamos Labs, Walt Disney Imagineering and other film studios.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (October 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240810767
• ISBN-13: 978-0240810768
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.8 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Commercial > Illustration
  • #32 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Movies > Direction & Production

More About the Author

VISIT MY AUTHOR PAGE TO SEE A VIDEO BOOK TRAILER FOR THE ANIMATOR'S EYE!
I got into animation to work out traumas from watching Disney's Snow White at 4 years old. I made my first animated films at 13. I've always loved cartoons. And because both of my parents were teachers I also love teaching others all about the things I've learned. To learn more and see my work: http://francisglebas.blogspot.com

DISNEY DIRECTOR: Piglet's Big Movie, Fantasia 2000, Fox and Hound 2
DISNEY STORYBOARDING and VISUAL DEVELOPMENT: Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Hercules, Dinosaur, Treasure Planet, Fantasia 2000, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tinkerbell 1 & 2
STORYBOARDING: Space Chimps, Tom and Jerry Fast and Furrier, Curious George 2, The Wild Bunch
DREAMWOKS STORYBOARDING: How to train your Dragon
BLUE SKY STUDIOS: Rio, Ice Age 4, Leafmen, Rio 2
TEACHING: UCLA, Gnomon School Visual Effects, NYIT, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Disneytoon Studios
CONSULTING: Walt Disney Imagineering, General Motors Innovation Zone, Los Almos Labs, The Korean government, The Irish government, Animated Athletics, Z.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Two enthusiastic thumbs up May 2, 2009

By Parka TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Length: 0:22 Mins

Note the title is about directing the story, not directing the movie, and the emphasis is on the story.

The goal of this book is to help you get your audience "lost in the story" of your movie. It details a lot of professional directing techniques and principles to help aid storytelling. The writing is clear and Francis Glebas even storyboarded a whole short story to serve as an example, in addition to the many examples already provided.

Using storyboards as a primary tool, he goes through the various storytelling techniques used in films , like ways to pace/cut scenes, introducing themes and story structure subtly, directing the audience's eyes, creating characters people can related to, etc. Francis Glebas then breaks down these high level concepts into many smaller easy-to-understand points to focus in depth.

One particular point to note is the version of "One Thousand and One Arabian Nights" Francis Glebas has storyboarded to provided as an example throughout the book. All the techniques he teaches are used in the storyboard for that story. It ends with cliffhangers in every chapter. The story is absorbing even though it's done in sketches. Goes to show that story is still king.

This book is for anyone who wants to direct professional stories. It should be made compulsory reading in film schools. Two enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

For more reading, I would recommend Ideas for the Animated Short, which goes even further in depth with storytelling techniques. Bad stories shouldn't have excuses.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A top notch book on story May 26, 2009

By Grant Beaudette VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Disney story artist Francis Glebas has put together a great book on the process of cinematic storytelling.

Directing the Story touches on composition, pacing and many dramatic techniques designed to creating more emotional connections in stories.

This book goes well with Nancy Bieman's Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts for quality story instruction, but whereas her book also focuses on character design and other aspects of animation, Directing the Story looks solely at storytelling, and not necessarily for animation.

What really sets Glebas' book apart is that it includes a fully boarded out story (an adaptation of 1001 Arabian Nights) that incorporates the methods he's teaching.

There are a couple sticking points with me. One is the writing style. There are plenty of spots throughout the book where I found myself glossing over text because it was so dense. Also even though this book seems to focus on cinematic storytelling in general, animation is where this type of storytelling is most common and people interested in this book are most likely interested in animation. It would have been nice to see a bit more focus on animation and traditional storyboarding to really top things off.

But all things told, Directing the Story has a great look on storytelling. One that other books don't have.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book! January 24, 2011

By Daniel J. Lezama Lopez

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a great book for any Animator book collection. Good Image quality and easy to read. I also want to recommend these books, The Animators Survival Kit, The Illusion of Life, Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation and Drawn to Life.