Thumbnailing is the technique in concept design of drawing images quickly to present a range of designs or ideas – it is used for character designs and concept art, where the artist can sketch out several designs quickly to express several ideas. A thumbnail sketch may be further developed into a piece of concept art or storyboards etc.

Using the C.A.S.E acronym, it is important to consider the following things when creating storyboards:

Cast and camera

Considering who is in the frame and how they should appear in-shot. This is being aware of the character’s size and shape in relation to the other characters they share scenes with, and how that might change the camera shot type and composition.

Action

In a storyboard, the action should be simplified – all the action in one shot should happen in one storyboard, using lines to indicate movement and noting down important sound effects.

Space

When creating storyboards, drawing with perspective can be used to show where the character is in the setting of the scene. Drawing certain props and background objects can also be used to show where the character is in the space of the scene. An unclear storyboard may lead to unclear storytelling or several interpretations of an unclear storyboard in creating the final shot.

Economy

During pre-production, the cost of the production will be considered. In animation, the most cost-effective way to produce an animated film is by creating the least amount of backgrounds and character assets as possible. Often, objects in a scene of animation will be part of the background unless they are being animated – for example, all of the books on a shelf will be drawn in the background except from the book that the character picks up in this example scene. This saves money.

C.A.S.E example analysis

This task was to use the C.A.S.E acronym to analyse a storyboard. Here are some storyboards for scenes from the movie No Country for Old Men:

Cast and Camera: In these storyboards, the camera focuses on one character, and frames them in the shot according to what is being presented in the scene. In the second storyboard “PULLING CHIGURH TO CAR”, the character is in the center of the shot – showing that the focus is on him. In other storyboards, only the character’s legs are in the shot, in order to focus on a particular location or object that the character is moving towards. The shot type is sometimes noted in the caption for the storyboards, as well as the wide arrows at the bottom of each storyboard show how the camera will move in the scene.

Action: In these storyboards, the action in the scene is shown using arrows to note the characters’ movement and sound is noted using text like a comic book – ‘BLAM’ shows a gunshot.

Space: These storyboards make use of perspective to show where the character is in relation to their surroundings. In the first storyboard, it is clear that perspective drawing has been used to show that the character’s legs are closer to the camera, and the cars are further away and that the character is walking towards the cars.

Economy: There are only a certain number of cars in this scene, one gun, and two actors with two costumes on one location. The budget for this scene does not need to be particularly high, related to other studio-released films – there are no extreme effects or set pieces that need creating for the scene.]

Thumbnail sketches I created

Here are some thumbnail sketches I created for my project, using the CASE acronym to help me consider what I needed to include.

It shows the middle section of my story, where the character is falling down into an endless pit and sees many strange and bizarre things.

Conclusion

Practising thumbnail sketches has helped me to practise drawing out ideas for animations so that I could experiment with several ideas before developing any of them further. Using the CASE acronym to consider what makes a good storyboard has helped me consider what I will need to include in my own storyboards.