Techniques for getting your crew and yourself on the same page ahead of production.
Film is a visual language – and expressing yourself in that language is not just about what you say, but how you say it. Collecting references is a great way to articulate what you want to express – for you, and for the people you’re working with.
Mood Board
Examples can help to both nourish your vision and communicate that vision to your collaborators – not necessarily literal images from your story, but more general elements: colours, aesthetics, textures, props, costumes, lighting…
Stills and Scenes
Many of the best-known films steal from films before them. A great way to prepare is to collect stills and specific scenes from movies that have done things you want to do – or want to do differently:
Theme, Character, Tone
Ryan from Film Riot creates individual mood boards and notes for Theme, Character, and Tone. Being thoroughly detailed helps to answer the many, many questions that come up during any production:
- Theme – informs choices such as locations, production design and overall style
- Character – personality and past (“who”, outside the story) inform action, dialogue, performance, wardrobe and more (“why”, inside the story)
- Tone – a playlist to listen to, and a lookbook to look at, to help create a feeling during writing, which in turn informs the other two boards, Theme and Character
Documentary
This process isn’t only useful for narrative films – documentarian and cinematographer Mark Bone talks through his “three layers of pre-production” (words, images, audio), offers a look at pitch decks and treatments side-by-side with final films, and demonstrates the online resources he uses to create his mood boards:
Further Viewing
In Depth Cine offers A Cinematographer’s Guide To Pre-Production – which doubles as an overall guide to small- or no-crew, micro- or no-budget productions:
What’s the difference between taking inspiration from, stealing from, and adding to the conversation about other movies? We look at ways famous directors reference other films:
When your visuals are in service of a story, it helps to clarify the beats of the story by putting together a beat sheet:
Related Posts:
Film School: How to Make a Documentary (with Mark Bone) A behind-the-scenes look at making a documentary - and how to approach crafting your own.
Film School: Cinematography Prep A overview of pre-production work behind what the camera sees.
Film School: Goodbye Green Screen, Hello ‘The Volume’ A look at the virtual set used in The Mandalorian.
Film School: Colour in ‘Euphoria’ "Sometimes, in order to get to the deepest emotional depths of a character, capturing a feeling, rather than reality, is more important."
Film School: How to Make A Documentary (with In Depth Cine) Tips for your approach, from the overall vision to the nuts-and-bolts of realising it.
Film School: Camera Movement Handy guides to knowing how, when, and most importantly why, to move the camera.
Film School: Who’s Who of Cinema Lenses An introductory overview to the glass through which commercial feature films are captured.
Film School: Phantom Cinematographer The unusual and enlightening process of Paul Thomas Anderson's celebrated film.