Here’s a #toptip from our Senior Storyboard Revisionist, Darren Taylor, on why it’s good practice to study the work of other directors!

Darren: Studying other directors is a great way to ask yourself questions about why they may have chosen particular shots or sequences.

SC1: “Pure Cinematics. The assembly of film and how it can be changed to create a different idea.” - Hitchcock

Essentially what happens here is that the audience looks to find the association between shots. These can be predictive, with foreshadowing but as with Hitch's 'kindly-man' example, they can be retroactive.

SC2: The reveal of what a character is looking at or reacting to leads the audience to opine! Do they relate to or repel from a character?

Think about an advert. You are watching it but the product isn't obvious. You like the advert until you realise it's a political broadcast by a party you don't like. This revelation effects how you feel about everything that came before.

Better still is to hear it in their own words!

Here is Hitchcock explaining cutting: