Unit 18

Storyboards
Convince the investors!
What is storyboarding?
The definition of storyboarding is “​ a​ ​panel​ ​or​ ​panels​ ​on​ ​which​ ​a​ ​sequence​ ​of sketches​ ​depict
the​ ​significant​ ​changes​ ​of​ ​action and​ ​scene​ ​in​ ​a​ ​planned​ ​film,​ ​as​ ​for​ ​a​ ​movie, television​ ​show
or​ ​advertisement.​” They are used in a range of ways to pitch and plan ideas for animations,
TV/Film, music videos, game design and more. They are drawings in panels that may or may
not have a short description of what is happening within the shot, therefore they give the
people involved in the creation of these stories a clearer visual idea of what it will look like and
what steps they need to follow to create it.

The history/origin of storyboarding

The idea for storyboarding was developed by animator Webb Smith at the Walt Disney
Studios during the early 1930s. Webb Smith was credited by Disney for drawing scenes on
different pieces of paper, hanging them up on a board to tell the story in a basic sequence.
This led to the first ever complete storyboard being created in 1933 for the Disney short film
Three Little Pigs.​ They were created from comic like sketches of concept art for the films that
were drawn in the 1920s. This led to the constant use of storyboarding in pre-production for
Disney films. They began to play the scenes through storyboards to show the basic
sequences in their films. This gave them a clearer idea of how the film would look and how
scenes fit together, sometimes they would move around sheets on the storyboards to see how
things worked in a different order. This was the first step for mainstream use of storyboarding
in the film industry. Georges Melies was one of the first filmmakers to use storyboards to
pre-visualise the film. This was before Disney as his years as an active filmmaker were
1888-1923, before Disney claimed to develop it in the 1930s. Up until the 1940s,
storyboarding was mainly used for the pre-visualisation of animated films. This began to
change after William Cameron Menzies used a storyboard to pre-visualise one of the very first
live action films to be completely storyboarded, G
​ one With The Wind (1939). M ​ enzies was the
production designer for the film and he was hired by the films producer David O. Selznick to
draw and design every shot of the film. Storyboarding then became popular after this, and
during the 1940s it became the standard way to pre-visualise live action films.

Disney Storyboard for Bambi (1942) William Cameron Menzies’ Storyboard for Gone With the Wind (1939)
Storyboarding in Animation
As most animated films are cartoons, storyboarding is especially useful for this genre. This is
because storyboards can be drawn to the exact frame size and shot type and show the exact
features of the character or shot due to the actual film being drawn/animated too, they can be
followed by filmmakers much more easily and precisely than live action film. It makes it easy
to work out the staging, settings the characters are in, actions the characters are doing and
pace/timing. This makes the use of storyboarding very effective in animation as filmmakers
can see almost exactly what the shots look like together, what effect they create and if they
work. It also allows for different shots to be placed differently in a sequence and to see what
effect this has on the sequence, all done by just moving a piece of paper. The storyboard
layout is the scene number above the panel, then information about dialogue/sound effects
and a description written below the panel. This is a clear and simple way to layout a
storyboard, but it is effective as animation does not change from the storyboard layout due to
how exact it is.
The purpose of storyboarding in animation is to communicate to the filmmakers what the
basis for the film is and to see if it is effective. The storyboard panels are often drawn out on
separate sheets of paper and stuck up on a board, allowing for easy changes to scene layout
and shots to create a different effect. The storyboard for animation is the outline for the actual
film as it can be created to the precise look of the storyboard. An example of the use of
storyboarding in animation is Disney, where the idea for storyboarding was first developed. At
Disney storyboard artists receive a script or a ‘beat outline’ which is a description of the
characters emotional changes that need to be shown through actions in the scene. A lot of the
directing for animation movies/shows is done at the storyboarding stage of the process due to
the accuracy of storyboards when to comes to characters movements, emotions and shot
types.
Storyboarding in Film & TV
Storyboarding in film is a frequently used part of pre-production. It comes after writing the
script has been completed (so storyboard designers and directors know exactly what happens
in the scene). It is the visual communication of scenes through a sequence of panels that
represent the shots that will ultimately make up a movie. The imagery in storyboarding for film
is effective because it can be drawn to the exact aspect ratio and therefore show the basic
framing and composition of a shot. The imagery can show characters’ facial expressions and
movement and even just the setting and layout of the shots. This is effective as it is easily
readable. The use of camera movement, framing and angles in film storyboarding is also very
effective, as arrows can be drawn on or outside of the panel to show camera movement, the
framing can be drawn to the exact shots required and the angles can be drawn to the exact
angles required. This is effective because it makes planning and shooting the shots a shorter
process and it makes it a lot easier to just follow the plan when the actual scenes need to be
shot. In terms of layout, film storyboards are very effective. The style and layout of panels is
very effective as they usually have the complete description on what happens in this shot
(camera movement, soundtrack, dialogue, character movement etc.) under it, brief
background information to the shot like shot number, scene and setting. This usually links it to
the other shots in the sequence through transitions, allowing for continuity between shots and
within the scenes. The layout of panels next to each other along with information about the
cuts and transitions and edits are effective as it shows directors and cinematographers
exactly how the scenes should be filmed and if the way they have planned it is really effective
in the way they would like, allowing for changes to be made before actual filming if necessary.
The communication of sound direction is effective as information about the dialogue used,
soundtrack and sound effects are included either within the imagery or in the description,
allowing directors to pre visualise how dialogue will be delivered and what shots the
soundtrack will be behind (helping with the editing) and if it is effective within a particular
sequence. In conclusion, storyboarding for film is very effective in giving direction for a
complete sequence and for each individual shot and makes it easy for directors to clearly
pre-visualise entire scenes and sequences with the complete content of them before shooting
them. Storyboarding isn’t very common in the pre-production of television programmes, they
are only really used in TV dramas and are laid out the same way film storyboards are. So they
are effective for TV dramas but not many other TV genres.
Storyboarding in Game Design
Storyboards in game design are quite similar to storyboards for films. They feature a range of
images set out on panels in a sequence which feature arrows within the images to show
movement of characters in the game. The imagery used in this is not as effective as film, it is
only really effectively used for cinematics in video games, as the actual gaming part of video
games can move quite openly and freely so it is hard for storyboarding to pinpoint shot types
and camera angles etc. as the actual player has so much control. This shows that
storyboarding for game design is not as effective as storyboarding for live action or animation,
but the cinematics in games are basically types of animations so it is effective for those.
The use of camera movements, framing and angles aren’t very effective due to having to
integrate changes to these throughout the game designing process, they are effective in
showing framing and some angles but not much from camera movement. There can only ever
be a very basic range of ideas of the camera movement, angles and framing. The use of
sound direction is not very effective as it does not usually feature references to dialogue or
soundtracks, from the game design storyboards I have seen. There are references to small
sound effects (like a ‘CRASH’ or ‘BOOM’) but not much else. They show continuity and
effectively give basic directions for character movement and how it will show on a
shot-by-shot basis, but not very much on a scene-by-scene basis due to games not really
having actual ‘scenes’ and therefore making it hard to layout the storyboard to show the
content on a scene-by-scene basis. The clarity of layout, style and format is effective due to it
being easy to read and understand and the continuity from panel to panel
.In conclusion, storyboarding for game design is effective in visually communicating the very
basic ideas of how this sequence will play out and basic ideas of character movements and
setting, but they aren’t effective in communicating camera movement and sound direction due
to the lack of information generally included about them.
Storyboarding in Advertising
Storyboarding in advertising is done before the filming of a commercial/advert. They are done
to pre-visualise an idea for an advert for a company, and are often used for showing an initial
idea to the company for approval of the ad. This means that storyboarding for adverts is very
important as it is like a pitch to see if the ad will work. The use of imagery in an advertising
storyboard is effective because it helps the company pre-visualise how they want their
product to be seen in this ad. Storyboards for ads focus more on products in the imagery than
setting and characters, this is shown due to how the logos and products are drawn into them.
For example the Coca-Cola ad storyboards are black and white drawings, but the actual
product (Coca-Cola) is drawn in red. The use of camera movements, framing and angles
aren’t very effective in most advertising storyboards as they don’t include much information
about these things but they usually include information about transitions and edits. They have
a basic image of what the shot should show but rarely describe camera movement and
angles, much less detailed than TV and film storyboarding. The use of sound direction in ad
storyboarding is not very effective for the ad because they describe the basic soundtrack and
dialogue in the scene, which is all that is needed due to ads usually being about products and
not people. The layout and style and the directions about time are effective as they show the
short story of the ad in a sequence and shows the time expected for the shot, which is
important in ads as they are very short so time per shot is a crucial thing to have pre-planned.
In conclusion storyboarding for advertisement if effective as it helps companies pre-visualise
how their product is going to be seen and the message that will be given off if the ad is
approved.
Storyboarding in Music Videos
Storyboarding in music videos is usually quite different to the stereotypical storyboard. This is
because they don’t usually feature much information about the sound direction, scene
direction or really any descriptions. This is due to generic music videos usually cutting
between lots of different scenes filmed which is not usually specifically planned and done in
post production. Because of this, the use of imagery in storyboards for music videos is the
most important and effective element of the storyboard. Camera angles, movement and
framing are also very important and effective as the whole storyboard is driven by these
images. There is no real description of what is in the shot, maybe a brief one on some
occasions, but there are usually just very detailed images. This makes the use of imagery the
most effective part of the storyboard because it is mainly just imagery. The camera movement
is not shown very much in these storyboards but the images imply desired angles and
framing, which is effective as it helps directors know how to frame the shots. The layout is
effective as the panels are in a short sequence and show the basic story of the scene so
directors know what happens when even though there isn’t a description of what exactly is
happening on the storyboards. There isn’t an effective use of transitions and edits as there is
very little information usually written about this on the storyboards. The storyboards are not
very effective in presenting directions and information, they are very basic and brief and do
not give much information in a shot-by-shot basis. In conclusion, storyboarding for music
videos is effective for showing imagery and framing of the shots needed but not effective for
showing detailed descriptions of the sequence actions and sound dictation.