Scene 4: Storyboard & Animatic

This scene is probably one of the most important. After introducing the characters, the setting, and the plot, this scene really serves by driving the narrative. This is the scene where the witch is gathering the ingredients for her apparent magic potion. I want to remind the audience of the book she was looking through in the second scene to make it more understandable for them that she is searching and gathering the correct plants. I'm also aware of the time I have left so I want the animation to be as simple and easy to execute as possible.

1

This will be introduced as a book page, instead of all the different plants and flowers being presented randomly on the page. It will be easier for the audience to understand that she's looking for these 4 plants specifically. I wanted to include a mushroom as well to perhaps foreshadow the fact that she's just following a recipe. I added the runes again to make it seem magical and I've decided that the flower on the end will be the one that she grows herself. I think that it will look quite striking, instead of the little sprout that I had in my animation tests.

2

This is the first plant. I want to stick with the symmetry theme so that it matches with the aesthetic of the rest of the film. The animation here will be very minimal, possibly just light rays and dusty bits. The background will be dark.

3

I'll then animate her marking the plant as gathered. I don't think I'll need to animate her writing it, the cross animating itself will probably be understandable enough.

4

As the shot with the previous plant, the animation will be minimal. Light and dust.

5

She again marks the plant as gathered.

6

The last ingredient to gather. More light and dust animation. Very simple yet striking.

7

She marks the plant as gathered.

8

It is obvious from this shot that the plant she's looking for isn't there. I think I will have light rays and dusty bits in order to avoid just a blank screen.

9

She underlines the ingredient to signify that it's missing and she needs to gather it.

By watching this animatic back, I've realised that it may not be as understandable as I first thought. However, there's only one way to know if it works or not. It may look very different with all of the colours and the actual animation involved. I'm going to keep my options open, of course. I feel like this scene will have a lot of changes/experimentation.