Even though there is no standard on how to draw the camera movements on a storyboard, this is a comprehensive guide of what i have seen used, and of what i use to draw the camera movements on a storyboard, above all, the most important thing is to be clear, that´s why if you don´t remember how to draw an specific camera movement, just write down what the camera does below the drawing, here is the guide:
Panning to the left
Panning to the right
Tilt up
Tilt down
Dolly / Travelling in
Dolly / Travelling back
Dolly / travelling left
Dolly / travelling right
Crane down
Crane up
Zoom in
Zoom back
More complex camera movements can be drawn in the following way:
is a floor plan of the scene that indicates what the camera does, in this example is a travelling around a dancing character.
- the arrows indicates in which direction the camera travels, and where to stop
- the round line indicates the path of the camera (the line can be changed to any desired shape, indicating different camera movements)
- the triangle indicates where the camera is shooting
- the beautifully drawn character indicates where the actor is
- there can be other elements of the scene as needed, such as a couch, a tree, a dog, another character etc..
if it is a too complex movement it can be drawn using an entire frame of a storyboard (as the example above), or if is clear enough, you can draw it below the frame, as this:
Here is a link to storyboard blank templates.
Greetings!
