Unit 18

Storyboards
Convince the investors!
What is storyboarding?
The definition of storyboarding is ​“a​ ​panel​ ​or​ p ​ anels​ o
​ n​ ​which​ a ​ ​ ​sequence​ ​of sketches​ ​depict​ ​the
significant​ c​ hanges​ o
​ f​ ​action and​ s​ cene​ ​in​ ​a​ ​planned​ ​film,​ a
​ s​ ​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,
Gone With The Wind (1939). ​Menzies 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.