ParaNorman Storyboards

Since I already own 'The Art and Making of ParaNorman' by Jed Alger, I thought it would be obvious to insert the storyboards from the actual book, here.

                       

I absolutely LOVE the style of these storyboards, especially this scene where there is a two shot of Norman and his grandma watching the television. I am more so satisfied with the fact that the designer coloured everything in this blue/dark grey tone to highlight the fact even through a storyboard, that this film is a child's horror.

"You make a stop-motion film twice... First in story, with drawings. Then you make it for real" - Chris Butler, Director of ParaNorman.

I love this quote by Chris Butler and I think it really embodies how much of an importance storyboarding really is. You can't just go into a entire film without a strategy and I find that is what this pre-production really is. Once you have a script or an idea, storyboarding helps you have a visual, a first glimpse of what could possibly come to life. Especially in terms of puppet stop motion animation where the film is not going to be a sort of upgrade from the storyboard, but more of a complete visual difference. I also like how the designer adds speech bubbles to his storyboard, as I have not yet seen this being done before as I thought it wasn't supposed to happen.

Within the book there are also several digitalised storyboards in larger scales, however I am extremely in love with this particular one. I know it is very anticlimactic when I say I really love colour, but I absolutely have this thing where if there is something which has beautiful colour combinations or just visually looks so enticing because of its specific colour palette, I will literally fall head over heels. I love bright, rich colours and that is perhaps why I love this digitalised frame. The contrast of the deep red to the watery blue creates this paradox of creating a warm but simultaneously chilling setting. It makes the story eerie, and I love it.

Here are further examples of beautifully combined colour palettes in the digitalised storyboard version of 'ParaNorman'. What I also think is very clever is that there are loads of camera shots which include the horizon, as if to always remind the audience of how small the characters are in comparison. Not only that, but it makes the setting of the film feel even more realistic. Unlike 'The Hand' by Jiri Trnka (which we looked at in our Context of Practice seminar), where the camera is always in the house making the film feel claustrophobic and voyeuristic, 'ParaNorman' has this open space, to help the audience feel like they could be in there with the characters, and also room to appreciate the stunning settings.

Overall I appreciate these storyboards so much. Even the rough sketches are lovely to look at, but it is the digitalised versions which I am more in love with. I think these storyboards bring the film to life before the film has even begun and as a fan of Laika, the creators of 'ParaNorman', it is so nice to just appreciate all the hard work and effort they have done to make this film.