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Storyboarding

Similar to a plot map used by archeologists, a storyboard is the best way to illustrate staging positions and camera angles for talent and crew.

Remember the days when you would sit back and enjoy a good comic book? Or maybe now you cruise through the graphic novel section of the local bookstore and dive into the latest edition to see what your favorite superhero is doing. When you scan the pages of the graphic novel or comic, does the action play out in your mind? Now think back to the last novel you read. Can you see the action in your mind as you read, or do you struggle a bit trying to visualize what the black letters on the white page are describing? In the film and video world, the black words on white pages are the script , and the graphic novels are storyboards. In this column, we will take a look at the role of storyboards, how they are used and how you might create usable storyboards for your project.

The Basics of Storyboards

For years, film and video directors have found that, if they draw pictures of the scenes and transitions in their films before shooting them, they and the crew have a better idea of how every shot and sequence will work together. Even the most basic storyboard assists the director in explaining to the crew camera shots, camera and actor movements and transitions between scenes.

The well-planned and -executed storyboard provides a visual reference for the director, cast and crew to use when planning each shot. The storyboard should include visual representations of each scene and even break the scene down into the important dramatic elements. It should also include floor and location diagrams that map out the actor and camera movements. These movements are called blocking. When a director sits down with the script, he visualizes the script to determine the shots he wants to use and how he wants the actors and cameras to move. It is a lot like choreographing a dance between the cameras and actors, and the storyboard gives that dance a visual form.

How Do You Create a Storyboard?

To create a storyboard, all you need is a blank piece of paper, a strong visual sense and a clear idea of what you want to see in every scene. Let's start with the actual storyboard format. The basic storyboard is set up much like a comic book. You'll see a number of panels with images drawn in them, and below each panel is a line of dialog or a description of the audio you hear during the scene if there is no dialog.

The easiest and least expensive way to create a storyboard is to open a blank landscape-oriented document in your word processor and draw six identical horizontal boxes to depict the film or video screen. Below each box, leave space or insert lines for the dialog. Print these out, sharpen a couple of pencils and go to work visualizing your project. You might say, "I can't draw!" No problem. Even stick figures will give you a sense of what is going on in a scene, the size of the shots and the placement of the camera and actors. Yeah, you might take some ribbing from your crew and actors when they see your attempts at drawing, but they will be able to more easily visualize for themselves what you are trying to accomplish.