Storyboard: Further study on film conventions

2D & 3D SCREEN DIRECTION

X-axis:

The eye moves comfortably from left to right as this mimics reading. The eye is less experienced to move the opposite direction and is therefore less comfortable.

Y-axis:

Moving an object down the screen appears easy as it is aided by our sense of gravity. Moving an object up the screen will appear diffificult because it is assumed it will be resisted by gravity.

Z-axis:

When an object moves along the Z-axis the object appears to move in 3-D space moving from front-to-back or back-to-front. Image size will change depending on where the object appears on the trajectory and which lens has been used.

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Film Element: X-Axis (Horizontal)

Left-to-Right:

As Westerners we read left-to-right. If you rented fififty studio-made movies, there’s a good chance that the “good guy” will enter screen left every time. When the “good guy” moves left-to-right our eyes move comfortably. Subconsciously, we begin to make positive inferences.

Right-to-Left

Conversely, the antagonist usually enters from the right. Since our eyes aren’t used to moving from right-to-left, the antagonist’s entrance makes us uncomfortable. The screenwriter exploits this by transferring our learned discomfort to the character. The subtle irritant directs audiences to see the character negatively. In the same way we code a black hat as a negative symbol, we can also code screen direction negatively.

Conflict:

When these two forces are aimed at each other, we naturally anticipate some kind of collision.

Dramatic Value:

By using screen direction to graphically suggest a pending collision, the fifilm has set up conflflict and character, and peaked our fears — all in under sixty seconds.

Script Note

Director Alfred Hitchcock lengthened the scene written by Czensi Ormonde and Raymond Chandler by extending the intercutting.

Other Films

Kill Bill (direction of footsteps)

Dances with Wolves (protagonist rides in the opposite direction of the soldiers)

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Film Element: XY-Axes (Diagonals)

In addition to the X, Y, and Z axes, a frame also contains four diagonals.

Descending Diagonals

Gravity aids the motion of descending diagonals. The descent seems easy, possibly inevitable. Once the motion starts, it’s hard to stop. The left-to-right is an easier descent as it moves in the direction of the reading eye.

Ascending Diagonals

Gravity works against the ascending diagonals. It is easier to fall downwards, then move upwards. The right-left ascent is the most diffificult of all screen directions: It goes against the reading eye and works against gravity as well.