From Word to Image: Storyboarding and the Filmmaking Process [Paperback]

Marcie Begleiter (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0941188280 | ISBN-13: 978-0941188289 | Publication Date: November 2001 | Edition: 1

Directors from Eisenstein to Spielberg have used storyboards to visualize their stories before production.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An essential read and guidebook for aspiring filmmakers or wannabe storyboard artists. -- Brntwd Magazine, April, 2002

An exciting aspect of (this) book is the way Begleiter helps film/videomakers change the way they think and express themselves... -- Today's Librarian, August, 2001

Begleiter has given the subject its own place in the sun through this groundbreaking paractical guide and historic companion. -- DGA Magazine, March, 2002

The book teaches the importance of putting vision on paper...regardless of budget or artistic ability. -- Indie Slate September, 2001

From the Author

In 1990 I was invited to teach a seminar at the American Film Institute on storyboarding. I created a weekend workshop based on my experiences of working with first-time directors. These men and women often came to directing through writing and were much less comfortable communicating about the visual aspects of the medium than they were about the narrative. I set out to make visual communication accessible to those filmmakers who felt they had no ‘talent’ for it.

From the beginning, the workshop achieved a popularity neither I nor AFI had anticipated. I added private workshops held each month at a local hotel and was eventually asked to join the film faculty at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. There I have been able to work with student filmmakers and develop a curriculum that encompasses many forms of pre-visualization for film including color theory, composition, storyboarding and narrative structure as it applies to constructing the frame.

This book is an extension of the work that has come out of these classes as well as those given at the Director’s Guild of America, USC and the Filmschule in Cologne, Germany. It has brought me great joy to introduce and expand upon the aesthetic as well as the technical aspects of visualization for film. It is my intention that the information contained in this volume will be of some use to you in your projects, whether they be for the classic media of film, television or the new media that takes us beyond linear structure.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions; 1 edition (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941188280
• ISBN-13: 978-0941188289
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

An inter-disciplinary designer and educator, Ms. Begleiter specializes in teaching innovative visualization and writing techniques to filmmakers, designers and artists. Highlights of 18 years in higher education include being Founding Director of the Integrated Learning Program, an interdisciplinary design curriculum, at Otis College of Art and Design and serving as Supervisor of Visual Studies for the Undergraduate Film Department of Art Center College developing a sequence of pre-visualization classes and also is one of the founding faculty of the International FilmSchule in Cologne, Germany. She is author of From Word to Image: Storyboarding and Filmmaking Process, a bestselling title on the subject, was published in 2001 (2nd edition was released in Jan., 2010) by Michael Wiese Publications and is available in German, Korean and French. Principal of Filmboards which produces pre-viz for film and television as well as film seminars and whose client list includes Paramount, Tristar, New Line, and ABC. Ms. Begleiter is also a playwright and a member of the Actor's Studio Playwright/Directors unit.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best book on storyboarding, July 19, 2002

By 

Harry Mott (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Word to Image: Storyboarding and the Filmmaking Process (Paperback)

From word to image
Marcie Begleiter

Storyboarding and the filmmaking process

This is the best book to have on storyboarding. As Chair of the Digital Media dept. at Otis College of Art and Design, I read and review tons of books to see if they would be of use for our undergrads and graduates. Though there are several books that cover storyboarding, none are as effective nor as useful. This goes beyond a mere lesson in the formatting of a storyboard. There is a deep understanding of the subject because Marcie is a long-time professional feature film storyboard artist. The book does cover the feel and look of a storyboard, yet it goes beyond that by providing examples from the grand history of film. Just one of the nice features of the book is the excellent list of DVDs that contain storyboard examples and visualization documents. Marcie tells you what a storyboard is for, how to make one, how to make them effective and then even how to get a gig as a storyboard artist. It is all here for you.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interested in learning storyboarding? START HERE!, January 17, 2002

By 

CHRISTIAN (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Word to Image: Storyboarding and the Filmmaking Process (Paperback)

I am teaching an advanced motion graphics course at a California University, and for my students I needed a good book on storyboarding. I looked at about half a dozen of them (in-print and out-of-print). This book is by far the best. It is systematic, it is clearly and concisely written, and it uses reproductions of real storyboards of real films. It is adequate for the beginner and useful for moderately experienced graphic artists and illustrators looking to repurpose their skills for the field of storyboarding.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not much here, June 11, 2007

By 

p. n. avakian (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: From Word to Image: Storyboarding and the Filmmaking Process (Paperback)

All of what this book says could have been said in 5 or 6 pages. There are a few basic concepts the book covers that are worthwhile, but I found it to be heavily padded and very basic. A much better book is Profores' Film Directing Fundamentals, which comes at storyboarding and other visualization tools from a director's viewpoint, rather than an illustrator's.