Basics of Storyboarding: Telling Your Story In A Visual Way

In this class, you'll learn how to make a visual representation of your script (or screenplay). This is called a storyboard.

Storyboarding is useful when you have the script of your film finished, and want to move on to actually creating your film, be it live-action or animated. It helps you decide if your story is understandable, and it helps your team know what you want to accomplish. I’ll show you how to make a storyboard digitally, however, if you prefer doing it in paper, I’ve attached some templates you can download and print.

I'll show you the basics of storyboarding, such as:

• Easy ways to make sure your idea is understood
• Tips for framing and staging of your characters
• Correct pacing and timing of actions
• The differences between a storyboard for live-action and animation

For the class project, you'll make your own storyboard of a short scene. I've provided a script as an example. You can use my script, or create your own.

Remember, you can do your storyboard digitally, or traditionally. Use the option that you feel most comfortable with.

• Introduction
• Why a storyboard?
• Storyboarding Basics
• Staging
• Framing and Angles
• Camera Movement
• Pacing and Timing
• Differences between storyboards for animation and film
• Your Final Project