[...] this cake is important. Tunisian Orange Cake: Close [...]

[...] We find ourselves at the Extreme Close-Up. You can guess what this shot looks like. It’s a Close-Up. [...]

[...] is important.” Which is a Close-Up of Wall-E. We see his eyes adjust and him stare off-screen. We get the sense something is [...]

Again, this one might be hard to explain here because there really is no set ‘system’ or ‘formula’ for it. I can always explore it further in new posts.

But you have to depend on your storytelling instincts in a way.

What does the audience need to see at that moment?

Is it an intense moment? And important moment? If we went wider would we miss something? A facial expression?

If you answer yes to any of these questions then it’s probably a good place for a close-up.

Choice is the tricky part in storyboarding. And why you make those choices. The good news is, the more you do it, the faster those choices come to you.
K

Thanks
Cheeks

I’ll have to give your story a read when I have more time (busy as heck right now!). But the forum folks really seem to be enjoying it. Bravo.

Glad to have you here.
K

In fact, Eve is probably about the same age — her designed almost certainly is.

These characters are so very far from human in some respects, and yet Pixar’s work — including the storyboarding that you are ably analyzing — has distilled humanity down to a bare essence, and filled these two with it.

When the story ended — and I hope you are able to comment on the ending credits of the movie! — I was left with wondering what life would be like back on Earth for these folks. There would be a rather severe transition shock, but nine years later things have turned a corner. And then there’s a complication, or so I’d imagined. That story is here, if you’re interested:
http://walleforum.com/index.php?topic=1583.0

I look forward to more of your blog, and I’ve been enjoying the archives and your Go-To guests and perspectives on the field.

Best wishes.

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Happy to hear my posts are helpful for your writing. I’d like to work with screenwriters too with story consulting in the future too. It’s ‘story’ that I love.

That’s a lot to write in such a short time. You must have had the story quite clear in your head that you wanted to tell. Very cool.
K

On dating robots — there’s the whole age thing; Wall•E is something like 700 years old. And, of course, still very youthful in outlook; maybe it’s okay.

Your descriptions of scenes and focus are quite insightful; I’m finding myself thinking in those terms now with regard to [i]written[/i] scenes as well. I was trying to frame scenes that way, but did not have good terminology for it — and it seems that a number of aspects of camerawork that you’re describing for storyboards applies as well to the written word. It’s at least a useful series of metaphors.

I’m aware of NaNoWriMo, but this story came later; it was written in December (more than half on one intense weekend just before Christmas). My goal was to treat the characters and science in a deadly serious fashion, while trying to preserve the depth of relationship between the pair.

Science is good, but heart is crucial. Your detailed dissections of the shots in the movie are helping to illuminate how Pixar achieved something that is so much more than mere science fiction — or “kids’ movie”.

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