Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Storyboarding Nursery Rhymes Part I

Today, during the session we were asked to create a story board between twelve and eighteen panels, to recreate a nursery rhyme of our choice. This was the first time I was really putting what I'd been taught about storyboards from the morning session in to practice. I decided to choose a fairly well known nursery rhyme, one that I had heard multiple times and was already quite familiar with. So I chose to do the nursery rhyme; 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'.

Initially, during the research segment of the task, I was surprised to find out how long the nursery rhyme actually is, and there were several verses of it that I'd never heard before.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveller in the dark,

Thanks you for your tiny spark,

He could not see which way to go,

If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,

And often through my curtains peep,

For you never shut your eye,

'Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark,

Lights the traveller in the dark.

Though I know not what you are,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

How I wonder what you are.

How I wonder what you are.

The first step for me in creating the first draft of the storyboard was to recognise anything important and of relevance from the nursery rhyme that would constitute a solid storyboard and a well rounded story that would flow nicely. I highlighted anything that inspired a panel or two for the storyboard and began thinking of how I would translate the dialogue into illustrated parts of a story. From this I thought it would be interesting to allow a historical context into the story that was implied with the idea of a traveller using the star to navigate as it says in the third verse. From this my imagination ran away with me slightly and I decided to create a kind of tribal or medieval setting where the star was worshipped by villagers that lived in mountains below it.

Initial Nursery Rhyme Storyboard

After I finished the first draft of the storyboard we peer reviewed each others and then provided constructive criticism based on what we thought could improved slightly both artistically and technically. Some of the feedback I received for my storyboard included that I should provide arrows or some form of notation that convey the movement in each scene. This would be vital in industry for the animators to know what to animate for each panel or scene. In terms of the art style, the general consensus was that the drawing was quite flat and delicate, where for best results it could have perhaps been more weighted in parts and 'rougher' in order to really communicate what's going on in each scene. I found this feedback very useful and will move forward with it in mind when I produce the second draft of the storyboards.