Evaluation: Storyboard Animatic Vs. Final Opening

Over the course of production on a film, there will of course be a number of changes, which occur for a number of reasons. During our day of shooting we discovered a number of things that could work differently or had to be changed due to any problems we may have encountered. In this post, I will be detailing the changes from the early stages of pre-production on our film opening, for instance the the storyboard animatic, with the final product, accompanied with some still images to show the visual similarities and differences.

Using the following screenshots from the storyboard animatic and from the final opening sequence, I will be comparing the similarities and differences in the visuals and storyline.

This shot of the train emerging from the darkness of the underground tunnel was something we envisioned from the beginning...

...and is a shot that appears in the final opening. We think it was extremely effective as the very first shot of the film.

Again, this was a shot we had planned from the start. Originally, Davidson and Stretzel were in the same shot...

...however in the final version, Davidson drops into frame shortly after Stretzel has dissapeared. We were also faced with the problem of the ceiling grate facing a different direction, thus we filmed this shot from the opposite end of the station.

Again, with this shot we discovered that our expectations of the station were wrong...

...so we shot it from the other end. Suprisingly, the grate allowed full vision of Stretzel rather than just the feet, making him more easily identifiable.

This shot was one of our favourites from its initial inception...

...thus it was almost completely maintained as planned, with Davidson's legs in a remarkably similar position.

Very much like the shot preceding this one...

...it was filmed almost exactly the same way in the final product.

While Davidson appears much closer in the storyboard and the bus is headed to the left of the frame...

...we discovered the road was much wider and ran in the opposite direction so the shot had to be adjusted appropriately.

The shot was planned so the audience would be able to see both Yung and Stretzel...

...however the distance made this difficult and we ended up with a simple but more striking shot of Yung that also establishes the location.

The intention of this shot was to depict Yung overlooking Stretzel from his vantage point...

...whilst this kept, a difference was that in the end we decided to go for a briefcase with a strap which looked more stylish.

This is another example of the final product matching the art of the storyboard...

...however Zubasu is closer so he is more visible and the burger and sunglasses were dropped due to practicality.

Whilst the earpiece being dropped into the coffee was certainly a rather dramatic image...

...we discovered that it was more intense and exciting if Yung were to crush the earpiece under his foot.

I would liked to have shot Yung through the railings of the National Gallery, the positioning making for a rather evocative image pertaining to his characters fate...

...it was simply more practical and made him more visible with the final camerawork.

It would have a brilliant shot to feature all three major characters during this intense sequence...

...but with the large distances between them it would be hard to choreograph, and thus we simply filmed Davidson on his own.

The storyboard depicted Zubasu about to strike with the memorial in sight...

...however the shot worked better without the distraction of the memorial and as a continuation of the previous shot.

Much like in the storyboard where Yung falls into the fountain with the statue in the foreground...

...in the final opening a similar shot is achieved, however from the angle of Nelson's Column.

As discussed previously, we had planned for a while to have the fight sequence in the elevator...

...but events that transpired on the day meant the relocation of the fight to the nearby steps.

Originally, the thug was to perish in a much more gruesome manner with Davidson wiping his hands clean of blood...

but practicality meant he would die a more humane death and his body would create the striking image of a gun, fitting with the film's themes.