Almost Storyboarding a Still Photo and Video Mix Idea

I am no professional when it comes to storyboarding. There is an inspirational starting line, huh? Better to say it now before you read the whole post and either believe I know what I am talking about or (knowing better) find out I am full of hot air. So, with that self-deprecating disclosure, shall we talk about storyboarding?

I complained yesterday about not having many chances to tell a story. Then, I came to the conclusion that stories are all around us, and I just have to recognize them and decide to record and retell them (using whatever medium I think best…though that is usually in  photos for me). Today, a great story opportunity hit, and I am going to take it on. I am trying to think through what I want to do with the story: how to tell it, what medium, what will I need to prepare, and so on. See…I told you I barely know what I am doing. I am very much shooting from the hip.

I found out my Thai visa runs out tomorrow. Our plan when the visa ran out was for me to head north to the Burma (or Myanmar, if you so prefer) border, walk across the bridge, walk back, and get a new Thai visa on re-entry…though the hole in that grand scheme, obviously, is that we forgot WHEN I needed to do so. Minor detail.

Anyway, when all those facts ran through my head, especially having just written a photoblog entry about not having story topics, I realized I had the perfect topic right in front of me. First, I have a really good relationship with the subject: I trust me pretty well. Second, since I will be traveling alone and not dragging the family to the border and back (they all have Thai passports, lucky dogs), I have no other commitments, at least for the duration of the trip. So, I have the “in” and I have the time. Let’s rock and roll!

I do not want to just shoot a card full of photos, then throw then all together in a slideshow, and tack on some nifty cultural music. I want to stretch my creative boundaries. I have long had the idea of mixing photos and video, but never really put it into practice. This day-long visa run is a perfect opportunity to play with the idea a bit so I can get used to it: find the difficulties, explore creative possibilities, map out the barriers to a different medium.

I know I need to storyboard a little, and though I am not always able to storyboard since I often have no idea where the story is going to take me, tomorrow is fairly predictable. I have thought through some kinds of video shots I want. I have also thought through (a little) how I want to combine the photos and video, but honestly have not thought much further than that.

I have to admit, I usually hit the scene, see what story unfolds, shoot it, and then go back and let the story tell itself. This one, I ought to think through a little more…though, I have this nasty feeling I will end up coming up with ideas as the day progresses.

As for transitions and other video effects, one thing I do know is that I am not going to spend a lot of time making this a blockbuster or even a well executed documentary. I basically will want to paste the videos together, almost back to back. I will clip the ends a little, but I think I might even build my transitions in manually by sliding something black up in front of the camera or some such. Corny, but this cannot turn into a time waster (it would simply never get done, if so). This is just a creative experiment.

I will be using my trusy SLR camera, and our family compact (point-and-shoot) camera. I might even try out a fun idea I had last week for the QingMing Festival, but did not have the opportunity to use: filming with the compact camera while shooting with my SLR. If I hold them together, as in, physically touching, the film records the sound of the SLR shutter. That could be a great sound effect, built right into the video, where I could freeze the film and insert the photo taken. We will see how it works.

This will be fun. And yes, I will definitely post the video when I finish it up, but more than likely, you will hear more about it before it is done anyway. I will be posting to @CooperStrange on Twitter throughout tomorrow if you are interested in keeping up while I am out on the move. Woohoo. I get to tell a story and let flow some creative juices!