I recently watched the movie Argo,
which was just released on DVD. Movies like these I prefer seeing at
home, so I can study their structure. This one was amazing. As most
people know, it's about a classified mission that took place during the
Iran hostage crisis, where six Americans were secreted out of Iran on
the pretense that they were part of a film crew scouting locations.
At
one point in the movie--and I won't give any more away, in case you
haven't seen it--there's a great episode with storyboards. In Argo,
these are half-sheet sized poster board, with drawn-in scenes. Each
shows a different pivotal moment in the movie, what the outer story
(action) is, where it takes place, and who is acting in the scene.Put together, these boards give us the "essence" of the movie's high spots. Which is exactly what a storyboard is designed to do.
And these small boards, surprisingly, help win the happy ending for Argo.
In my classes, I propose they will do the same for any book.