MasterClass: Spike Lee Teaches Independent Filmmaking

Storyboard scenes are scenes where

those are big production days.

Those are days where you spend a lot of money.

Those are days where you have extras.

You have effects.

The first time we did that was a riot sequence in

"Do the Right Thing," and we did the assassination scene

for Malcolm X. And we always talk

about what is the shot that's going

to help us tell the story.

What coverage do we need to help tell the story?

And it was really just like a road map.

We know what we have to do.

We know what order we're going to shoot,

and every time we get a shot off,

we would just put an X over that board.

You have storyboards.

People don't-- yeah, don't talk, just look at this.

OK, we're doing this, this, this, this, this.

And it just makes something that's

very complicated simpler.

These are the storyboards for the assassination

scene in Malcolm X. Final boards-- assassination.

Scene 199, page 177 and 178 and 179.

October 15, 1991.

All right,

Get your hand out of my pocket!

Get your hand out of my pocket, nigga!

Better get your hands out of my pocket.

Brother.

Brother, please hold it.

Calm down, please, brother.

Brother.

Lord, no!

This is what a story looks like.

And you see the Xs.

That means that we shot that scene, so shoot a board,

you cross it out.

Now, the ones that aren't crossed out--

those are ones that we decided we didn't need.