Part 2 of my interview with storyboard artist Steve Werblun

FB: Back to "Because of Winn-Dixie," the opening page of the novel is when Opal meets
Winn-Dixie in the grocery store.  This scene, though, does not appear at the beginning
of the film..it appears a few minutes in, after the audience sees the opening credits and 
is introduced to Opal. Can you walk me through your thought process as you read the
screenplay for this scene? What were you thinking? What kinds of questions did you
have for the director?

SW:  Most screenplays differ greatly from their source material, whether it be a novel or a short story.
If the film is a book being adapted into a feature length film, then many changes must occur, most of
them edits. You see, a screenplay of 112 pages translates to 112 minutes of screen time. So, let's say
you have a novel that is 350 pages (an average length...). If your screenplay was 350 pages long, then
your film would run close to 6 hours. So, many elements, scenes and even characters must be either
eliminated from the story completely...or combined together as to streamline it and make it
(unless you're Peter Jackson...) a 2 hour movie.
 

   However, if you have a short story, like "Brokeback Mountain", then the screenwriter will most likely
have to add and embellish events and characters as to lengthen the material, stretching what may've
been a 40 page short story into a 130 minute movie (or a 130 page script...). Just remember this equation:
One page of any screenplay is equivalent to one minute of film (or screen time...).

 

   In the case of "Because Of Winn-Dixie," I dealt only with the finished screenplay, where the scene in the
supermarket occurs a few minutes into the film, after the opening credits. Having never read the book, I personally
don't know how that reads. But as a filmmaker, it is just not relevant. The only thing to focus on is what's written in the script.


Director Wayne Wang and AnnaSophia Robb
on the set of 20th Century Fox's Because of Winn-Dixie - 2005

 

   To begin with (on BWD...), I read the script. Then, I sat down with Director, Wayne Wang, and he talked me through
the 4 scenes that he wanted storyboarded for that film. He simply described what he wanted to see without being totally
specific. Then, I did a series of rough thumbnails to get his approval. However, in making this particular film, there was very
little time. And because my thumbnails were so detailed (I have a tendency to get carried away...), we decided to simply
enlarge them...and we used those as the finished storyboards. But, I designed the scene, shot for shot.
Wayne loved it...and that's what's in the film."
 

 

FB: What would you want teachers (and students) to know about the process of storyboarding? 
Many use blank storyboard forms: could you elaborate on the strengths and/or weaknesses of that approach?

SW:  The use of blank templates is fine, but one should never be prohibited by the use of them. In other words, imagine your
eyes are the camera...now, draw not just what you are seeing, but how the camera will move on it. It's a similar process to
aligning a group of photographs on a page as to see a panoramic effect. Except you don't have to move just left, right or up and
down. You can move in and out, the camera can encircle something or someone, it can move diagonally. The truth is, depending
on how much freedom is given to the Storyboard Artist, we can devise entire scenes, shot for shot, and never repeat the
same camera move twice.

FB: Thanks so much Steve. I look forward to hearing about your future projects. Thanks for helping educators
better understand the process of movie making and storyboarding.