Architectural Mapping Projection: Post 5: The Storyboard

While the gears of the City Public Works Department groaned and ground their way into action, I started working on a storyboard in Photoshop with a picture of the building and images I had, or that I lifted from the internet. A first draft was about 75 images sized at 800 x 1280, and was tested by projection on a "screen" made of a 25" x 36" print of the façade. Lining the features was fairly easy, and I realized a few discrepancies were not critical. Over the next few days, the storyboard expanded to about 150 images, with both easy color effects and short sketchy action sequences.

The working storyboard can be found on my Mobile Me Gallery and played as a slideshow to get an idea of the action.

Everything is still subject to change, but it basically opens with a title sequence projected on the dark building in red:

It will be eventually animated, possibly using Text-Os-Terone to save time.

Then a red antique velvet stage curtain with swaged top slowly fades in. After a few seconds, the audience on the sound track gets rowdy and impatient, hollers and whistles, so hands appear to quiet them:

After a while, thumbs up, boom-boom-boom, and the red curtain opens slowly to reveals the building facade as it normally looks at midday:

Then, the suns turns and sets as the shadows move, reflects in the windows, night falls, the windows light up, people move inside in a shadow theatre style, car lights come by, lights go off. Through the night, cars come by with boom boxes paying rap, a low rider stops with neon tubes and jumps up and down, police cars with blue lights flashing and sirens blaring chase robbers shooting at each other. The windows light up, they open and people lean out, yell, throw a chamber pot. Two cop cars with flashing lights stop the robbers right in front of the building and arrests them(again in shadow theatre). Everybody leaves as dawn comes and a new day starts.

I actually just found in the library archives an old black and white picture of the building in the 30's, when it was a lock and key store, and the whole sequence could possibly be done in Black and White, sort of "Elliott Ness Untouchables" style, in front of that old Cliff Howell & Co store:

We could then go through a sequence of "easy" hue variations and light "filter effects:

We could also go through seasons, rain, snow, thunder, lightning.

Lightning hits the building, and it catches on fire in the middle second floor window. The fire spreads upstairs, then downstairs, the second floor windows blows out in an explosion:

Flames come out the four top round holes, the bottom window blows out, the fire roars loudly, then starts to diminish, and slowly dies down as sirens blare and a red fire truck finally arrives too late…

The burnt out blackened shell is taken over with bats and pigeons flying around:

Weeds grow(poppy and cannabis of course)and weave though the windows, a green snake also weaves though doors and window:

Crack appear near the top cornice , and the building starts falling apart:

The cornices and columns tumble down, crushing the snake under a pile of rubble:

The poppies dry up and the snake turns to bones as bats and pigeons fly around again. A dog skeleton comes by, hikes his leg, squats and craps, as toads look on and croak.

Then there might be a fantasy sequence of a skull appearing from the wall and a mushroom growing into a big poppy that finally explodes:

A blank sheet of paper appears with a faint outline of the old structure. A hand holding a pencil makes a black and white drawing of the old building:

then a hand with a paint brush colors it. Fade out to black for a few seconds. Wild clapping on the soundtrack like the show is over.

But a blueprint of the building slowly fades in, the ground fades in, a construction sign appears:

and the building goes back up as it was piece by piece, with turning shadows and construction noises:

It would be nice to have a crane lift and set the pieces.
I found that great picture of a red 1957 Cadillac, and thought it would be interesting to back it up full speed in the "garage":

Another idea has to go with a globe rolling by as a plumb line swings as a pendulum:

Then, mechanical puppet hands could appear, grab the cornices, and pull the building down and distort it like rubber, then let it go as it bounces up and down:

A leather balloon could fall from the roof and bounce up and down. A hand could possibly bounce it, or it could start bouncing crazily against the sides of the frame as a billiard ball:

There could be a sequence with several snakes weaving in and out of doors and windows while bats fly around:

The Pierrot powder box my dad gave my mom as a dating present could roll by as tall as the building as the plumb line swings

A pretty sexy doll could do a twist, or dance to Elvis Jail House Rock (Animata Animation):

A tin monkey could climb a rope while a japanese boy looks up, a top turns and fall, an Ace tumbles. The frayed cable breaks, and the monkey falls on the ivory boy and smashes it to pieces: