Previsualization

Previsualization (also known as previs, previz, pre-rendering, preview or wireframe windows) is a function to visualize complex scenes in a movie before filming. It is also a concept in still photography. Previsualization is applied to techniques such as storyboarding, either in the form of charcoal drawn sketches or in digital technology in the planning and conceptualization of movie scenery make up.

The advantage of previsualization is that it allows a director, cinematographer or VFX Supervisor to experiment with different staging and art direction options—such as lighting, camera placement and movement, stage direction and editing—without having to incur the costs of actual production. On larger budget project, the directors work with actors in visual effects department or dedicated rooms. Previsualizations can add music, sound effects and dialogue to closely emulate the look of fully produced and edited sequences, and are most encountered in scenes that involves stunts and special effects (such as chroma key). Digital video, photography, hand-drawn art, clip art and 3D animation combine in use.

Visualization is a central topic in Ansel Adams' writings about photography, where he defines it as "the ability to anticipate a finished image before making the exposure". The term previsualization has been attributed to Minor White who divided visualization into previsualization, referring to visualization while studying the subject; and postvisualization, referring to remembering the visualized image at printing time. However, White himself said that he learned the idea, which he called a "psychological concept" from Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.

The earliest planning technique, storyboards, have been used in one form or another since the silent era. The term “storyboard” first came into use at Disney Studios between 1928 and the early 1930s where the typical practice was to present drawn panels of basic action and gags, usually three to six sketches per vertical page. By the 1930s, storyboarding for live action films was common and a regular part of studio art departments.

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