Akira Kurosawa’s hand-painted storyboards | Hacker News Reader

Akira Kurosawa’s hand-painted storyboards

faroutmagazine.co.uk

153 pointsapollinaire14 comments

More modern example, Bong Joon Ho apparently storyboards the entire film before shooting.

Parasite's storyboards: https://www.indiewire.com/2020/05/parasite-bong-joon-ho-stor...

On the flip side, Terence Malick gives you an index card with an aphorism and lets you improvise: https://www.businessinsider.com/thomas-lennon-terrence-malic...

The Criterion Collection has most if not all of Kurosawa's movies available.

https://www.criterion.com/search#stq=kurosawa

If you havne't already done so, check out the wonderful commentary by 'Every Frame a Painting':

https://youtu.be/doaQC-S8de8 (Composing Movement) https://youtu.be/jGc-K7giqKM (The Geometry of a Scene)

I don't normally recommend YouTube channels for film commentary, but this channel is very good indeed.

The person running that channel was actually hired by Criterion.

Oh that's wonderful to hear. After they announced the end of the channel, I was hoping they would find a way to continue to contribute such excellence.

Kurosawa associates strongly with his black-and-white early work, so I was surprised at the strong use of color and contrasting hues in these. It reminds me of post-Impressionist Pierre Bonnard.

Agreed about his early black-and-white work, but I'm also familiar enough with his masterful use of color in films like "Ran" and "Kagemusha" that this doesn't surprise me. Kurosawa really was a genius.

The YouTube channel Every Frame a Painting has an entire episode dedicated to Kurosawa's use of motion in his films. It's fascinating. I have to say that frames from even his earlier films look like paintings to me.

Some of his early films would have been made just as color films were becoming normal. I have a feeling he always had a strong sense of color, but was limited by tools which were available to him at the time.

Also really enjoyed Satyajit Ray's storyboards for the Apu Trilogy. Sketchier than Kurasawa's, but thrilling nonetheless and greatly increasing the pleasure of watching or rewatching the films.

Unfortuately I can't can't seem to find them online aside from a few thumbnails. They were published in book form a few years ago; maybe that's why.

That looks more like concept art than story board

Probably like most film school students I had a Kurosawa obsession. These are incredible to see. Would love a framed reprint of some.

I'm not much into television or big screen media but for some reason I really got into Kurosawa films. Right after watching Seven Samurai I went and got as many Kurosawa films I could get my hands on. I think there are only a couple I haven't seen now. They just ooze creativity and inspiration. Every actor is perfect for the role. Every shot is perfect for the scene. It all comes together to tell the story the way it was meant to be told.

The pacing is on point. The mood is on point. Kurosawa's films are really a study on how to produce quality.

One of my biggest complaints for modern films is how much they try and fit in each unit of time. It feels like they don't respect what they're trying to portray. There's value in pause. There's value in waiting and letting things sink in to the viewer. We don't need to rush everything. It takes time to appreciate.

And the composition of each frame!

Not to be that guy, but as a classic part of the college experience my first time trying mushrooms was my first time watching Dreams. Good lord.

I think I am going to need to do a Kurosawa binge.

This is so awesome for someone like me. I have been a Kurasawa fan and almost went through all his movies except for Dreams which I so wanted to see. To get more understanding into the process and imagination, to me is like a treasure land now.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com