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Storyboards

Lesson 8 from: Beauty + Fashion

Matthew Jordan Smith

Storyboards

Lesson 8 from: Beauty + Fashion

Matthew Jordan Smith

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Lesson Info

8. Storyboards

Next Lesson: Storyboards Q&A

Lesson Info

Storyboards

So guys we're going back into the storyboards and going through it so we'll show you guys some of my old storyboards and the process so I encourage you to ask tons of questions ask tons of questions so this is a story boy but we're doing the next two days the first day is about beauty the first day is all about beauty so that's our only means you're working for in terms of story board and they would take that and run with it so different concepts but starting right here and everything is based right here face and the theme for this is skin I'm taking the hair out of the equation so I've instructed the hair and makeup to come with raps I had not even been a brain but we'll find out tomorrow we're taking hair out of the equation and focusing on just the face because I don't want to have that distraction of what's the hero the hair or the makeup the hair the makeup I'm making it clear here just the face it's a lot miami's where it's just about face you see the hair pulled straight back at...

this famous shot of tyra where her hair is pulled back is just her face and for years you have kept me like hey to the shot of me like this is just her face just her face hair is pulled back it's just like that and that's a vision for tomorrow all about beauty and then on sunday we're down here all about the fashion so it starts here in the storyboarding so let's go through that but before I move on are there any questions about tomorrow or sunday storyboards years always in black and white because obviously with fashion a lot about color it is that's a very good question all my story boys always in black and white uh there's I love going through movies and funny inspiration and there's a shell like a year ago in los angeles about uh a cura caress our who did seven samurai and they showed all his storyboards for his movies and they're in pencil in black and white like I like that and mine are always the same way and I don't add the color equation that comes in reality but I start here I start here this is before I meet with the stylist and all that it's just me getting the ideas out of my head and then going from there on in we collaborate to add the other elements because the purse could be here I have her first is but it could be anything any problem gnashing my stylist like, oh yeah, well, this is in fashion right now well that's in fashion in this this look this garment so it was always tweaked a bit but starts here with an idea have you ever had trouble finding your hero won both the makeup and the hair was so outstanding that it was hard for you to say well hair's the hero or the and beauty has to be one and I do have that fight sometimes we had the team you have all these creatives and see in it together working you have a hair person and I make it person they all want do their thing but one has to be the hero so they would be on the same page about that either we're doing ah hair story or beauty story and that has to be clear that's a very good question it has to be very clear to the team what you're doing the storyboards help with that if you just go in there and wing it and say ok let's do your hair did your make up? I think if you give you their best hair let's make it because I'm trying to shine but then you have conflict happened here when what's the hero you need a clear vision what's the hero that's a great question and thank you for that now you have a different number of storyboards for you only have one for beauty but you have four for the fashion is that how does that work and how many d typically do for beauty and only do like one, maybe two storyboards if it's like the butterfly story I'm putting more together usually but for this tomorrow because we're doing a mock cover of a magazine I put one so when you're shooting a magazine cover it's very different than shooting a beauty story so I'll go into a meeting sometimes with the editors you will talk about the cover of the magazine because when people buy a magazine what pulls them in is the cover of the magazine competing against all the overcoat other covers out there on the newsstand so they want compelling image so we have meetings talking about what makes one cover sail over another as photographer that I hear all that stuff is well it's like I know how to shoot it they want the eye contact yes they want space for cover lines yes so I shoot I keep that in mind making sure who I'm shooting for is the cover line going behind the head going above and give extra space for the cover line all those things are part of doing the cover and doing beauty but tomorrow we're doing a mock cover so I'm gonna shoot it that way will play around and when I should cover for magazine I'm shooting variation means the world seems one image I might shoot three images with the variations and then I have always great shots but only one shot goes out there that picture of tire that shot years ago there's that one image of the world sees but there are hundreds of other great shots that no one's ever seen besides myself in my assistance that's it and one day after I'm out there, but right now, my fault, the fascist story this is our guide line, we might shoot eight shots, but I had this is a guy the guy who helps you, it gives you direction helps the team have direction, so we're clear on what the hero is for the day. Clear what the hero is here clear on what it is here, a question on the brake do you have that question that you asked me about the being scared about the business? Uh, yeah, can you ask that question to see if I could hear that there was a great question? You guys have questions? Don't be scared to ask, so the question was, um, uh, well, basically is more like a statement question uh, that I'm scared to even get a job right now because I don't understand the business and I don't really understand what's expected of me as a photographer being scared, being apprehensive about getting started, that's the process you're supposed to be scared, your knees should be shaking that's when you on the right path that's when you're on the right path, you can't get the fruit and to go out on a limb get out there when you're scared that's the right thing that's how you grow by taking chances one of one of my mentors was gordon parks and he inspired minster major way and I met him years later but as a kid I read his books and it was reading his books that let me know I can take for target from being a hobby to being a career it was at that moment reading his books we're hit me before then in my mind is a kid like this is this is a hobby my parents told me photography is a hobby I never thought I'd dreamed about it being a career until I read gordon parks book and so this man who looked like me making a living as a photographer like why can't you make a living like this? This could be a career I'm in count me in that was my epiphany that was my moment where things like with a light bulb was turned on at that point gordon parks who changed my life that's the power of books you should be scared so gordon parks his first job he did was for this fashion boutique where he walked in a talk himself he talked the client to give this job to shoot a fashion story and he messed it up he exposed the entire roll of film back then spy like the forties fifties forties he supposed entire roll of film on one frame so he miss it the job but he went and explain what happened in the m a second chance he had no idea what he's doing so good in parks was a photographer he was a composer he's a real renaissance man and he was always scared so years later I got to photograph ill and interview him so he's my first book cp dreams so I'm seeing them with my childhood idol and ask him all these questions about getting started and he told me that he was scared but he never liked fear stifle him from going out making things happen you should be scared that's the process don't let it keep you from doing what you should be doing though we'll keep from going out there and moving ahead fear is part of it accepted and go ahead so now moving on to our storyboards so because I go to japan a lot and in japan carrie ok is very big the second very seriously so I did a similar are this seminar uh floor this seminar a year and a half ago in kyoto and uh there's a lot of funds we go to kyoto in the spring and kyoto in the springs amazing we have a seminar in kyoto and I'm there with you from all over the world and we're talking about photography will learn photography that night we go out, we have karaoke. So I had a great time with these people around the world doing karaoke. You there. So I come back from a trip like that was so much fun every night. So I want to do a story using karaoke, so he sketched it out so I won't have images of models having fun doing karaoke stitches out based on what was happening when I was in japan, in kyoto doing it. So all this stuff here happened in kyoto, we having a great, great time. So I take my life and put it in pictures, take your life and put it in pictures. This happened in my real life in kyoto, so I come back and turn it into a gene story. So many things about the morals and gene where having fun being silly, it comes from your life. It comes from your life. So here we are. And where is my producer here? And we're going over my storyboards now we sketched them out. I have no notes with each one of my storyboards. I'm looking at some time to figure out where I want things to be. My producers, give me her input on what we should do shouldn't do change around who should bring in casting the models, all this discussing the sketch is now the storyboard before the shoot and trying to figure out what we should shoot and shouldn't shoot so I have a lot of sketches here and as you see I had them done in springs left page right pace left page right page on and on and this one I did a lot of sketches I wanted this whole story based on a famous movie so here we have the entire storyboard so we're going over it looking at it and figure out what we'll shoot work on what won't work my plan is to shoot all of it and then if I have it shot then I can then edit out what I want or don't want but my plan is to shoot all of it so if I go out with the idea of shooting all of this in one day without storyboard it's very hard to do almost impossible to do but the storyboard as I shoot it I can say okay this one's done this one's done this was done if I get off base I go back to my story board make sure I have it this is a lot of pages is a lot of shooting to do in one day and state on track the storyboard keeps you on track you shoot one next one next one helps everybody around helps the models helps the hair helps the makeup, helps me helps my assistance on everybody staying on track this changes the game because you have a clear direction now and I just going out and wing it you have intent you have your vision and it's clear and everybody around you can see it so here's knows only now sketching out when the sketch is um turning the idea from my head I'm trying to show her I'm giving her my sketches and she's redoing them, tweaking them, make them perfect and then we go out and we shoot our version sketch reality sketch reality and when you're sketching things out you know you have a elements there you don't have the sand, the wind, this sunlight you're sketching from your mind so you had these ideas in your mind and then, you know, in reality you have all the other elements, but with the sketch I can figure out whom okay, what lens? Why use for this time they don't wanna shoot how should like feel no that's for the sketch that's for me to work out the kinks, same here, how the light? When should I shoot this? Because when I'm putting the storyboards together, I'm not sure about the time of day for all of this and I may not shoot it in order like this I might shoot the first shot last or vice versa, some shooting it out of order I'm not going to shoot this shoot this shoot this it happens depending on the lighting out of order the shoot movies the same way the same thing I'm sure it based on the time of day the lighting so the storyboard helps you alive so why do I storyboard sometimes location I'll have three or four different sets that print out one for me one for the hair make up one for my assistance and an extra one case one gets lost something always happens it's the idea yes your idea so there's no wrong or right way to do this it's based off of you there's no wrong way or right way to do this it's whatever works for you it could be in color amy stick figures it could be cut outs be anything you want to be it's just for you just for you just for you so we first gets us out I had the idea of having sunglasses on the model here and on the model here but in when I start shooting it we shot that way didn't like it so I took them off and shut them without those things on because it makes sense the sketch to me it made sense but on location like hold it that doesn't make sense so we took it off the sketch get huge in the ballpark then you play around and do it your way so in the sketch there going this direction that first shot it that way we didn't like it's we reversed it and he's on the show I did of just the beach on a different day to throw in from here eternity taken from the movie from the nineteen fifty three movie from here to eternity. So I'm back another day when the ocean was going crazy to get this shot as my opening shot for the story because this day it was I said, calm somewhat and beautiful but that image tells the energy of what I felt that movie was giving and this day it was not a calm day on the ocean but beautiful. Now that let's go deeper up, just take this all the storyboards I show it was on that one I'll go back to carrie ok again because that is taken from life. So all this stuff happens when you are out there enjoying life and when you having a great time enjoying yourself and your friend having a great time or your kid's having a great time? Well, you observe somebody having a great time take a moment and think that I could turn that moment into a story what could be the opposite people having a bad time like like thea oil spill in the gulf last year or like right now the occupy wall street when I first saw that went as a new york for four so a week and a half ago and I went down to see occupy wall street, and the first thing I thought about was wow, that will make a great fashion story I can see tons of people protesting with signs, but some of them have on great fashion so a by the crowd has one great clothes gray and black there's one girl in a gown that's beautiful and colorful of high heels she's the hero she's the hero you do an entire story based around that imagine that so you have all this energy happening, people screaming, shouting and totally unaware the camera, but you're the director doing this story based off of occupy wall street is in some downtown area anywhere that could be in any city, any city and you do that with anything and everything stuff always happen. Stay aware of current events and what's happening is you see it every day things happening arwa was changing that fast. Figure out how you can shoot it and turn it into a story people love seeing current events or famous events turned to story no you history give it a spin look at old magazines from the sixty's, go to the library looking old fashion magazines and give that old story a new spin. Change it around get her flip looking magazines from other countries it changes for everybody what's normal here in america is not known. One. Japan is not normal in india is not normal and ice. Everyone has their own version of normal, the only of seeing the world. How do you see the world? How do you see the world?

Class Materials

bonus material

MJS Storyboard Concepts.pdf

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

Thanks Matthew for the super informative courses. I'm from Thailand and I'm very impress with the way you speak. It is super clear and very easy to understand. Your answers to each questions are extremely inspirational. I think you are the best teacher on photographing so far on Creative Live. Each of your answers and information are very motivational and very thoughtful. Thanks again for this great Live broadcast. You are a great teacher and a very nice warm person as well.

a Creativelive Student
 

Thanks Matthew this two days have been amazing, and I am looking forward for the last day,,in which you will be talking aobut the photography i would like to do, since is my dream to be a fashion photographer i have learn a lot from you, and this expirience has been amazing, if i only lived in L.A. and not mexico city, i would definitely write you a letter and try to be your assistant to learn as much as possible from such and amazing photogrpher and person; once angain thanks for everything. Thamks creativelive for bringing this amazing photographers, and letting us learn more and more about the amazing world of photogrphy.

a Creativelive Student
 

This course has been an awesome experience. I have learned so much about the process of beauty and fashion photography. Matthew takes the viewer through the preliminary thought process. He not only covers the technical aspects but also the importance of the photographic team itself--the stylist, makeup artist, model and photo assistants. The photographer plus the team equals magic. I do not use the term amazing lightly. This man is AMAZING and INSPIRING! Thanks to Matthew, I feel confident that I will find my own vision.

Student Work

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