Creating a Mood Board for Adapting Written Scenes into Visual Projects

Hello creatives,

I love a good mood board. This is a fun activity that is used across any number of creative industries: branding, graphic design, interior design. But today, we’re going to talk about how a mood board can be a beneficial tool for translating written scenes from a book or a script into visuals for a film or cinematic.

Mood Board vs Vision Board

I want to clarify that there is a nuance between a mood board and a vision board. They are similar, but their purpose is different.

Vision boards are for more personalized goal setting. Elements of a vision board can include images from magazines or photos from a  hyper specific Pinterest board. They are a means to help you to visualize standing where you want to be in life.

Mood boards are meant to convey the essence of a project to other team members or stakeholders. Elements of a mood board include color schemes, fonts, textures, cinematic photos that align with the goal of the project.

A page from my short film mood board

How to Make a Good Mood Board for Your Visual Project

I made a mood board for my short film. I adapted a few scenes from my book Vicious Circle into a script and as I was thinking about how I wanted to bring it to life, I created a mood board to help me capture the essence of what I was hoping the final result would look like.

I had already built up a whole Pinterest board with various sections for the book itself, so finding the right mix of photos was easy. I added a color scheme as a guide for how I wanted to color grade. I mapped out the types of locations I was anticipating needing in the short film. Finally, I added specific shots from tv shows and movies that I felt were in some way either thematically or aesthetically similar.

Another page from my short film mood board

Now, of course, this mood board acted as a guide not a blueprint. And I think that’s the key. Use mood board to jumpstart your collaborative creative process. From the mood board, I was able to scout locations a little easier and I made a shot list based on some of the inspiration from the mood board.

How The Mood Board Compares to The Final Product

I’m in the process of narrowing down which film festivals to submit the short to and looking back at the mood board, I’d say that the final product mirrors the mood board fairly well. The mood board was a foundational element in my planning process that helped me form my thoughts around my directorial and editorial approach.

All in all, I’m very excited to share my first short film with the world. I’ll keep you posted on the journey.

Until Next Time,

Rochele Rosa