How to Create & Design a Storyboard
A storyboard is a visual plan for filmmakers, similar in appearance to a comic strip. First developed at the Walt Disney studio in the 1930s, storyboards are now often used to map out feature films, commercials and animated cartoons shot by shot. Envisioning a project in this way can save shooting time and imbue the film with a greater visual impact.
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Instructions
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Read the script thoroughly. Break the narrative down into scenes and note the visual "beats," or major images that will convey the action within each scene.
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Work with one scene at a time. Draw small "thumbnail" sketches of the beats to work out the visual composition of each shot. This is where you determine camera angles, close-ups, long shots and focal points. Add more thumbnails in between to complete the narrative flow from picture to picture, and depict action and camera movements.
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Use a pre-printed set of storyboard frames known as a storyboard template, or draw your own frames, preferably in the same shape or "aspect ratio" as the final film. Aspect ratio is the relationship of the frame's width to height, which can be 4:3 in older films, 16:9 for television, and 1.85:1 or 2.39:1 for widescreen theatrical presentations. Plain copier paper will suffice. There should be three or four frames running in sequence across the long edge of the paper. Leave space below each frame to add dialogue, sound effects and camera instructions. Templates can be downloaded in many formats.
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Fill in the frames with drawings, using the thumbnails as a guide. Indicate movements within each frame with arrows. Indicate panning and tracking shots by splashing the background across two or more frames and noting the starting point and stopping point. Draw arrows in the margin to indicate the direction of camera movement.
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Tips & Warnings
The draftsmanship only needs to be good enough to convey visual ideas to you and your colleagues. Even stick figures will do, aside from a professional project.
