Customer Reviews

The Storyboard Design Course: The Ultimate Guide for Artists, Directors, Producers and Scriptwriters

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Length:: 0:19 Mins

There seems to be two different versions of the book, The Storyboard Design Course: The Ultimate Guide for Artists, Directors, Producers and Scriptwriters (white cover paperback) and Storyboard Design Course: Principles, Practice, and Techniques (yellow cover paperback). The ISBN numbers are different but the number of pages are the same. The one I have is the white cover paperback or as it says, the ultimate guide.

Storyboards are essential tools used in the creation of media production. It is the best way to present a concept before sinking in manpower and money. If you take a look at the animation art books I have on site, you'll notice that storyboards are in almost every single one of them, e.g. All Pixar movies, Superman Returns, Wallace & Gromit etc.

This book is a guide to help the reader understand the purpose, function and techniques of storyboards. The author Giuseppe Cristiano has tremendous experience in the field and in this book talks about storyboards relating to films, advertising, music videos, games and animation.

There are eight chapters covering all the essentials of storyboards:

* Understanding storyboards and where they are used
* Skills required
* Going over basic drawing skills
* Looking at requirements for different types of storyboards
* Learning the techniques of storyboards such as placing camera angles, compositions, storytelling
* Working with scripts
* Things to look out while on the job
* Going professional

That pretty much covers everything. Lots of examples with actionable descriptions are provided.

I think it is important to note that this is not a step-by-step drawing tutorial book. People who already have basic drawing skills will gain a lot from this book if they want to learn how to storyboard. The focus of the book is on the storytelling aspect and how you can aid that with storyboards.

Just like the title suggests, this book is recommended for artists, directors, producers and scriptwriters.

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

If you are a novice artist approaching storyboarding for the first time, or a long-run professional, you will benefit greatly from this book.
Giuseppe's international experience and intuitions flow from this book to the reader with humor and elegance. I enjoyed very much reading this book, and my skills and knowledge of storyboarding increased. I also added an interesting point of view to my approach to film making.
I warmly reccomend this book to anybody who works in storyboarding, but also to film-makers and communication professionals.
thumbs up for Giuseppe

This book will be helpful primarily for those wishing to start a career as a storyboard artist. For those wanting to learn, clearly and concisely, how to draw good boards... Not so much.

I would recommend STORYBOARD DESIGN COURSE as a great first storyboarding book to anyone. People with a bit of experience or those looking to read much more on the concept and execution should take a look at FROM WORD TO IMAGE 2nd Edition by Begleiter.
The pages of this book are full of colors, illustrations and clear lists. It touches a little on different styles, different types of jobs and what is expected, basic skills, basic camera movement and framing, and some ideas on how to manage yourself as a freelance artist. It is all clear but without significant depth. What it DID do for me is give me a confident start that had me drawing almost immediately. The book, like most storyboarding books I'm sure, emphasizes the ability to draw QUICKLY and CLEARLY just as much as accurately. As artists we must find our own effective working methods and no two will be the same. This book gives you several points on which to develop yourself and can be absorbed inside a week of casual, intermittent reading.

This book is definitely ambitious and includes a section on preparing for the professional world of the storyboard artist. It does a thorough job of explaining the different components of the storyboard and even suggests drawing/illustration materials. The storyboard art seems to have been created for the publication, and I think it would have been useful to also include storyboards from film and animation to illustrate the variety of medium and illustration technique. A good reference nonetheless.

I bought about 6 storyboarding books and this one was the best, in my opinion. It starts with easy, beginner's storyboarding and goes through to what to do when you get the job, etc. I learned more from this book than any another book I have ever read - it was really interesting, and I highly recommend it.

'Storyboard design course' was a great read. Lots of excellent illustrations and practical industry advice. Its clear, concise, nice layout. I felt challenged and it made me really think seriously about it as a career option.
Get this one!