Principles of Character Animation Unit-The Button Girl Storyboard

All the changes made from the initial story draft to the final story draft have been mentioned in the Beats Sheet’s Blog.

The Initial Storyboard

The Final Storyboard

During this part where the protagonist is walking in the line of the villagers, we discussed and decided to start with close-up shots of the protagonist’s face and the villagers’ faces, and the protagonist will slightly blink to show the difference between her and the villagers. Then the camera will move down to the protagonist’s hands, and then to their legs. In this section, viewers can see the main character and the villagers’ dolls being led by them, as well as the appearance of the dolls.

Then there are shots of the protagonist and the villagers going home separately. I suggest depicting them as wide shots from a low angle. It can show the route they took when returning home as well as the layout of the village.

The scene where the protagonist returns home and plays with the doll in front of the window is designed as a fixed shot by Wendy. When she changes the doll’s eyes, the shot cuts to a subjective perspective, but the scene remains the same; only the camera slightly moves downward. Then, as the protagonist raises the doll, the camera moves upward. At the same time, the villagers who are staring at the protagonist also appear.

The protagonist hides the doll behind him, and the shot of the villagers slowly gathering in front of the window is also designed by Wendy. In this part, there will be some subtle changes in the perspective of the window to show the confusion when the protagonist sees the scene outside.

The scene where the protagonist hides the doll behind him and the villagers slowly gather in front of the window is also designed by Wendy. In this section, the perspective of the window will have some minor changes to show the chaos when the protagonist sees the scene outside.

The full shot of the protagonist’s home with the villagers’ dolls entering from the gap and surrounding the protagonist from below, as well as the subsequent close-up shot of the protagonist being moved to the table, are proposed by me. This can show the layout of the protagonist’s home and the scene outside, as well as the trajectory of the doll’s movement, laying the groundwork for the subsequent plot where the protagonist is pushed back by the table and surrounded and devoured by the villagers’ dolls.

All the subsequent shots are designed by Wendy. The close-up shot of the doll being lifted and having its buttons and eyes removed after being pounced on by the protagonist can make the audience notice this crucial action. Immediately after that, an empty shot can smoothly transition to the subsequent plot where the protagonist pushes open the door and walks like the villagers’ formation. The part of the shot where the protagonist pushes open the door is mainly on the protagonist’s legs, because the protagonist has a movement of crushing the buttons, which can better make the audience notice this action.