Similar to the last process, I handled the storyboarding myself in a living document, later filling it in with completed pieces as they arrived. SFX details were handled directly with our sound engineer, and at this stage, much of it was handled directly through team messaging rather than explicitly stated.
This process was largely for working with our animator and artist, as we were mapping scenes and dialog to specific images and providing that list to our artist to create the imagery and bring it to life. This time, in addition to splitting by storyboarding, we also indicated the art pieces needed through bookmarks at the bottom of the page.
Warmth was a strong element we played with in the art style here, which is why you will often see “Warm tone” or “Cool tone” as notes and qualifiers to the different art piece variations. As someone who hails from a rather cold place, We really wanted to evoke the temperature of the scene through variation on the warm and cold imagery.
The art list is also laid out by variation, building on my experience working on animatic art. This allowed us to communicate specific scenes to the artist and how we wanted them broken up and altered, so that we could easily hand these off to our animator in the end to bring to life.
You can find the storyboards for the finished work here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h8o1AQPoWujfCIxfAusl8aVOQBUQMwZKGPC7Wv5xRHM/edit?tab=t.0
Storyboards
| Scene# | Image/Scene/VFX | SFX | Script | Direction | Notes |
| 1 | Art piece 1 with only the eyes and blue/ice energy shown. (Spooky has the icy energy effect animated and layered and in the psd if that makes it easier) Everything else should be pitch black. | “Your hearts are so clouded by hatred, all you see is the monster. Your kind are such… simple minded creatures… but I, I was like you, once…” | Almost a sorrowful refrain. People have entered your lair yet again, a reminder of the warmth you’ve lost. | Animated blinking w/ blue/icy energy BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS PITCH BLACK (can’t see her hair/crown/bg/lips/etc) | |
| 2 | Art Piece 4, hazily brought in over the darkness, blurry at first then coming into focus. (4.3) | “I had a home. I had a life. I had warmth. I…. had a family.” | Sorrowful, remembering what she lost. | Maybe in a frame? | |
| 3 | Hard cut from Scene 2 Art Piece 2. Slow zoom in on the manor at the end of the mountain path. (2.1) | “Long, long ago, before this land fell into eternal slumber, I lived in a place full of beauty and warmth. With a home I had built for myself, far from the reaches of mankind.” | |||
| 4 | Art Piece 3 (3.1) | “I made potions and tinctures. I healed the sick and mended the wounded.” | |||
| 5 | Art Piece 3A (3.2) | I cast spells and used magic that controlled nature itself!” | |||
| 6 | Art Piece 3B (3.3) | “I’d grow all kinds of magical herbs and flowers in my garden. People would journey from far and wide to beseech my aid.” | |||
| 7 | Art Piece 3C (3.33) | “I concocted spells to cure the ill and salves to heal the hurt.” | |||
| 8 | Art Piece 3D (3.4) | “I used my power over the seasons to bless the bounties of the local farms and villages.” | |||
| 9 | Art Piece 3E (3.5) | “The people were kind, thankful. They knew I would always watch over them.” | |||
| 10 | Art Piece 5 (5.1) | “One day, a man found his way to my garden, injured from protecting a family who was attacked by bandits.” | |||
| 11 | Art Piece 5A (5.2) | “I cared for him, and nursed him back to health.” | |||
| 12 | Art Piece 5B (5.3) | “That man became my husband. A human who could truly love a creature like me was a rare thing indeed, and so I cherished him deeply” | |||
| 13 | Art Piece 4A (4.1) | “With every passing day, our love grew and bloomed like the beautiful roses in my garden.” | |||
| 14 | Art Piece 4B (4.2) | “We had two children together – a fierce and beautiful daughter” | Maybe get Ello to record a “Hi mom!” to play in the background when she appears | ||
| 15 | Art Piece 4C (4.3) | “And a kind and energetic son. For years, we had an idyllic little life.” | Maybe get Screm to record a “Mommy!” to play in the background here. | ||
| 16 | Art Piece 7 (7.1) | “They would help me tend to the garden, then Zolon and the kids would take my potions and cures to the village. We were happy. We were safe. Everything was… so warm.” | |||
| 17 | Art Piece 7 (7.2) | “But then it began, slowly at first. A cold here, an unexplained death there. Before anyone could stop it, a plague washed over the land.” | |||
| 18 | Art Piece 7A (7.2) | “The people grew sick, food grew scarce, commerce grinded to a halt. Worse yet, my medicines and cures had no effect. I could not cure you of this horrible disease. Then, when supplies dwindled, the loving, caring people of this land turned on each other.” | |||
| 19 | Art Piece 7B (7.3) | “You killed each other over scraps to survive. The festering corpses of those you lived littered the street, the dead offered no ceremony, no proper burial or send off. You fled your cities and brought your plague to the farms, and the countryside.” | |||
| 20 | Art Piece 8 (8.1) | “And yet I continued to try to help. I couldn’t merely sit back and watch you suffer. I wanted to find a way to aid you, to cure you of this horrible affliction. I wanted so badly to be the succor you all needed..” | |||
| 21 | Art Piece 8A (8.2) | “But no matter what I did, nothing seemed to help. I’d send Zolon to the village with cures, but you turned him back – attacked him, blamed him for your illness, for your suffering. You blamed me for your suffering. And yet, despite the hate we received, we did everything we could to save you, until…” | (Fade to black into scene 22) | ||
| 22 | Black Screen | “The worst happened. The plague followed him home. In our generosity, and no matter the precautions we took, my family all soon fell ill.” “All, but me..” | (Maybe over the black screen maybe ‘All, but me…’ text in an icy/sad/fancy font could slowly fade in as she says it and then it’ll fade out to the next scene) | ||
| 23 | Art Piece 10 (10.1) | “I couldn’t cure you. I couldn’t cure THEM. All I could do was to watch them waste away. No more playing. No more warmth. I was forced to watch as everything I knew… the villages, the countryside, the farms, my husband, my CHILDREN were taken from me.” | |||
| 24 | Art Piece 9 (9.1) | “I would not stand by and watch as all I love rotted and died.” | |||
| 25 | Art Piece 9A (9.1) | “The world must go through cycles – sleep, renewal, warmth, decay, and then sleep once more. The cold preserves and gives way to new life.” | |||
| 26 | Art Piece 9B (9.2) | “If I could not cure this disease, not yet, then perhaps, just perhaps, I could freeze it in time.” | |||
| 27 | Art Piece 10E(10.7) | “Just as I had given life all those years, so too, must I bring a close, a deep sleep. If I could be spring, then I must be winter, too. Yes. That was the answer. To preserve them in ice. I could protect them. I could save them. All I’d need is more time, just… a little more time…” Zolon: “Are you… sure about this?” Vexoria: “Yes. This is the only way. You’ll wake up and all will be well again, I promise my loves..” | |||
| 28 | Art Piece 10A (10.2) | Ello: “Mom? What’s going on? What are you doing?” | |||
| 29 | Art Piece 10B (10.3) | Screm: “Mommy? Why are you crying?” | |||
| 30 | Art Piece 10C (10.4) | Vex: “I’m… sorry…” Both Kids: “I love you mom.” | |||
| 31 | Art Piece 10 (10.6) | Vex: “I love you too..” | Shakily. You never know if you will see your children ever again. | (or use 10.4 again?) | |
| 32 | Art Piece 11 | Interrupting Vex’s crying and then creating the silence should be the sound of freezing or frost energy. Something cold, icy, and magical, to signify her freezing her family. | Vex: Quiet sobbing.. then silent. | (we have this animated) | |
| 33 | Art Piece 12 (12.1) | Vex Crying loudly | 33 & 34 are kinda the same – we could consider this one scene but I didn’t want to mess up the scene numbers | ||
| 34 | Art Piece 12A (12.1) | Vex Crying loudly | 33 & 34 are kinda the same – we could consider this one scene but I didn’t want to mess up the scene numbers | ||
| 35 | Art Piece 12A (12.2) | Vex Crying loudly | |||
| 36 | Art Piece 2A (2.3) | Vex Crying loudly | (We got 1 extra alt here so we could technically start with art 2.2 and go through 2.6 at the end of scene 39) | ||
| 37 | Art Piece 2B (2.4) | Vex Crying loudly | (We got 1 extra alt here so we could technically start with art 2.2 and go through 2.6 at the end of scene 39) | ||
| 38 | Art Piece 2C (2.5) | Vex Crying loudly | (We got 1 extra alt here so we could technically start with art 2.2 and go through 2.6 at the end of scene 39) | ||
| 39 | Art Piece 2D (2.6) | Vex slows to a sobbing whimper | (We got 1 extra alt here so we could technically start with art 2.2 and go through 2.6 at the end of scene 39) | ||
| 40 | Art Piece 10D (10.5) | “I did what I had to do. I preserved my family, my heart, my whole world, in ice. There was no more plague. No more pain. No more suffering. At least, not for any of you. I would be the one who remained. I would be the one to shoulder that burden.” | |||
| 41 | Art Piece 13 (USE PSD 13+14) | “I toiled for centuries on a cure. Nothing ever came. I found the sick and weary, and I collected them, statues in my garden, memories of what once was. I never found a cure. In time, you grew to hate me. Called me a witch. The Frozen Empress. You feared me. Called me a monster.” | We have PSDs for this, please use that for layering/story pacing/panning) – no figure/victim layers on at the start slowly pan up the stairs to Vex in her throne with her family beside her. | ||
| 42 | Art Piece 13A (USE PSD 13+14) | “One by one, I’ve added your kind to my collection, over and over again, in hopes that one day, one of you short-lived, hateful little creatures brings me something that might cure my disease. Something that brings my family back to me.” | Start from the bottom again but this time Slowly add each figure layer on as you zoom out/pan back up again. | ||
| 43 | Art Piece 13B (USE PSD 13+14) | “So come then, little humans. If you think you can face me? Then do it. Kill me. Claim my head for your glory. I dare you. Nothing you could possibly do to me could outweigh the suffering I have endured. You can’t hurt me more than I have hurt myself.” | By the time she finishes the monologue part of this scene ALL victim/figure layers should be visible now – so maybe a slow zoom in to her as shes talking. Or maybe use art piece 1 here? Or the adventurer art below. And then use art piece 1 for scene 44? Or would that be too much use/reduce the impact of art piece 1 in scene 47? | ||
| 44 | Art Piece 14 (USE PSD 13+14 | “You’ve entered the lair of the Frozen Empress, foolish mortals! I, who am timeless! I, who outlives all! I, who is Winter incarnate! If it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’ll get! In the end, you’ll be nothing but another set of frozen statues to decorate my halls!” | Now show the bottom again. With all victim/figure layers visible AND the addition of the adventurers/fighters at the bottom of the stairs. | ||
| 45 | Art Piece 14A (USE PSD 13+14 | “I am the Frozen Empress. The one who remains. She who brings eternal slumber, she who bathes the world in white and cold. Will you be the one to finally bring warmth to my lair? Or will you be yet another statue to decorate my garden?” | With all victim/figure layers visible AND the addition of the adventurers/fighters at the bottom of the stairs + the battle smoke layer + zoom on Vex for “I am the Frozen Empress. The one who remains. She who brings eternal slumber, she who bathes the world in white and cold.” and then zoom in on each different adventurer when she says “Will you be the one to finally bring warmth to my lair? Or will you be yet another statue to decorate my garden?” with some shadowy movements to simulate fighting | ||
| 46 | Art Piece 15 | “So if you believe yourself brave enough to dare the frozen winds and the frigid journey, then come. I’ll be waiting. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the one I need to free them. To free all of them – even myself. If not? I hope you’ll at least be pretty to look at.” | We have this animated too! | ||
| 47 | Art Piece 1 | “Don’t keep me waiting. It gets so cold and lonely up here alone..” | Fully visible and animated | ||
| 48 | Snowy Transition, Fade to white | Vex Laughing |
Art Pieces:
1: Close up on Vex’s face in Frozen Empress form staring at the viewer in anger. Her lips are curled into a smirk. 3 variations of smokey blue energy trailing off from the sides of her eyes. (cool tones)
2: An idyllic countryside! Rolling hills in the front, farmland to one side in the middle and a village to the other side in the middle, and towards the back, there’s a winding mountain path up to Vex’s manor, and to the other side there’s a forest, and behind the forest, hints of mountains and a city in the distance. (warm tones) (2.1)
Variations:
- Vex’s manor is frozen and the icy path is partially frozen (2.2)
- Vex’s manor is frozen and the farms are frozen over, ice creeping towards the village (2.3 & 2.4)
- Ice has now enveloped the village (2.5)
- The whole landscape is frozen and covered in ice and snow (fully cool tone) (2.6)
3: Vex in her garden. In this version she has a human skin tone, black hair, pink scaled tail. Looks young, sweet, happy. She’s wearing a simple, pretty robe and maybe has a blue rose in her hair. The garden patch she’s working on has no flowers to start with, but there’s blue roses in the background maybe. (all versions warm tones)
Variations:
- She holds her hand over the garden patch and it glows green
- Same as above but now little sprouts appear
- Same as above but full little flowers appear, there are shadows of people approaching now
- Vex looking up at the approaching people with a curious look on her face
- Same as above, but she has a ^_^ smile on
4: Family Photo. Pictures of Zolon (Simple human, maybe a sword on a scabbard at his belt,) with his arm around Vex, while the two kids are in front of them. They all look happy together. There’s blue roses in the background.
Variations:
- Just Vex and Zolon
- Add Ello
- Add Screm
5: Zolon in bed, Vex at his bedside looking over him. He’s bandaged up and wounded, eyes closed. She looks worried. (warm tones)
Variations:
- He opens his eyes and she looks relieved. (warm tones)
- He holds up a blue rose, and she hides in her hair and looks cute and blushy. (warm tones)
7: Village scene with simple stone and thatched roof houses. People are happily walking about the village. It looks warm and vibrant. (warm tones)
Variations:
- The warmth is gone, fewer people are around, and some look like they are coughing or sick. – shift to cool tones here
- All the people are gone except for a man holding out a knife towards a woman who is protecting her child, who holds a piece of bread. They all look sick. (cool tones)
8: Vex working over a cauldron or alchemy set up to make potions. There are herbs and ingredients around her. She looks determined. (cool tone)
Variation:
- The herbs are gone, the ingredients are gone, potion bottles are knocked over, she looks exhausted and defeated. (cool tone)
9: Close-up of Vex’s claw, held up right as if she were looking down at it. (cool tone)
Variations:
- Ice forms at the tips of her claws (cool tone)
- Ice has made it down most of her fingers, her skin turns slightly blue (cool tone)
10: Family Gathered. Zolon stands there looking at the screen. He looks sick. The kids are turned away, looking at the garden behind them. (cool tone)
Variations:
- Ello turns to face. She looks confused and scared. She looks sick. (cool tone)
- Screm turns to face. He also looks confused and scared. He looks sick. Zolon’s eyes close as he cries. (cool tone)
- Both kids smile brightly while Zolon continues to cry. (cool tone)
- Both kids smiling, Zolon crying, but all are frozen. The background is frozen. Vex is hugging her frozen family, now in Frozen Empress form, and crying. (cool tone)
- Like base image, but with Vex’s Shadow at the bottom of the screen, as if she’d approached (cool tone)
11: Close up on Vex’s face, in Frozen Empress form, eyes open with tears at the corners of her eyes. (cool tone)
Variations:
- Eyes closed, Tears flowing down her face (cool tone)
12: Vex stares up to the sky, her mouth open as she screams and sobs. Eyes closed, tears running down her face. The ground beneath her is still green and lush, but directly beneath her, there’s a patch of ice. (cool tone)
Variations:
- The patch of ice grows much larger, taking up half the area at least (cool tone)
- The patch of ice takes over everything, freezing the grass and flowers around her completely. (cool tone)
13: Vex sitting on an icy throne, staring down at someone. The frozen statues of her family have been moved into this throne room. Add a number of villager statues and mercenary frozen statues on the side that we can toggle on, as we’ll have them appear one by one during her speech (cool tone)
Variations:
- A group of adventurers stand there challenging her. (cool tone)
- Vexoria lifted from her seat, glowing blue icy energy in her hands. Preparing to fight the adventurers. (cool tone)
14: Close-up of the frozen family statues from the last scene (Can even re-use if wanted), and shadows of Vex and adventurers fighting laid over them. (cool tone)
Variations:
- Just some movements of the shadows as if combat is occurring off-screen. A few variations would be fine!
15: Close up of Vex with a frozen statue of an adventurer, her claw under their chin, she’s smiling and staring into their eyes. (cool tone)
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