One fast way to create an alpha channel for an image is to use
Photoshop CS2’s Extract tool, which you’ll find under the Filters
pull-down menu. You just outline the area that you want to separate,
then fill it in. Keep in mind it may take a bit of work to create clean
cutout edges in complex images.

When completed, your image with alpha channel should have a transparent
checkered background. This image also has a lens flare on top of the
lamp post, as well as a few lighting filters to change the original
daytime photo into a night time image. Also, when you save off your
files, be sure your images are larger than your animatic screen size.
This way you can use a background or character image in both a wide
shot or close-up.

To simulate depth of field within the animatic, create blurred copies
of your images. You can also use the Lens Blur filter, but I tend to
like the results you get with the basic Gaussian Blur filter in
Photoshop CS2.

Once you’ve collected and cleaned up your images, you need to open
Keynote and set your Theme, which is an overall template that applies
to each new slide. Just select your choice from the Theme pull-down
menu. For best results, I’d avoid the Storyboard theme and use the
plain Black theme, which will give you more flexibility in how you set
up your animatic show.

Once you’ve selected your Theme, you should pick a page style from the
Masters pull-down menu. You’ll get the most flexibility by choosing the
Blank page style. Don’t worry about adding onscreen text- you can add
script notes in the Notes field later if desired.

To add your image into Keynote, just click and drag the image onto the
Keynote Canvas window. Keynote can handle a variety of image formats,
but to keep your alpha channel intact, only import Photoshop PSD
or.TIFF files.

Once all your images are on the Keynote Canvas area, resize your image
to fit the scene by clicking on the image and then dragging to fit. You
can also change size by clicking on the Metric tab in the Inspector
palette and typing in a new pixel size. To keep your images
proportional when using click and drag, make sure you hold down the
Shift key while dragging your image to a new size.

Once you have all your images in Keynote, you’ll need to place the
elements in the proper order. Generally you’ll just need to move your
background to the back, your Foreground element (seen here as the
blurred light post) to the front and your character sandwiched in
between the two. To do this, select an image, and then select a layer
direction from the Front, Forward, Back or Backward options.

Finally you can adjust the transition type, timing and order for each
element in your slide. To do this, select an element, and then click on
the Build tab in the Inspector palette. Click on "Build In" to add a
transition at the beginning, and "Build Out" to select an outgoing
transition. Here the Vicki character moves into the scene from the left
to right with (Build In 1), while at the same time the lamp blur (Build
In 2) and lower background (Build In 3) move in from the right to left.
To make all three Build In events happen at once, select an event in
the build order, and then select Automatically with build. I moved
Vicki out of frame with a Build Out transition.

To print out multiple images of your storyboards, select Print, and
then select Keynote from the Print options dialog box. Here you’ll be
able to set the number of images per page, as well as how your notes
are displayed. If you want to show every single animated move in your
storyboard, then click on the option that says "Print Each Stage of
Builds."

Erik Holsinger
President/Executive Producer
Media Alchemy

Erik is president and executive producer of Media Alchemy, Inc., an
award-winning media production company based in Seattle that creates
both broadcast documentaries and custom media for special venues. Media
Alchemy created everything from multi-screen HD movies to interactive
theme-park rides.

Erik is also a journalist, with four published books and dozens of
articles on media production for Film & Video,
PC World, Wired,
CNET, and others, including his favorite,
Studio/monthly.

Erik Says Keep In Mind…

Adding some motion to your storyboard can make a huge difference when
planning a shoot and working out script issues. While there are some
very expensive storyboarding tools on the market, I prefer to work with
what’s on hand. I often use photos of actors or simply create
characters with E-Frontier’s Poser 6, and then either use location or
stock photos as backgrounds. To create different lighting "looks," I
like to adjust images in Photoshop CS2, and then bring everything
together in Apple’s Keynote 3 presentation program. The great thing
about Keynote is that it keeps alpha channels intact, so you can move
characters behind images, or create transitions on separate elements to
simulate everything from camera moves to rack-focus effects.

Ultimately, a storyboard is just a tool for communicating your ideas to
your creative team, as well as a reference point for when you are in
the midst of shooting. Don’t worry about creating great "art"- all you
need is just create enough imagery to get your points across.

Media Alchemy, Inc.
www.media-alchemy.com
1617 8th Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
ph. 206.783.5669
erik@media-alchemy.com