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Production3 min read

LESSON 109

Storyboards

Drawing the film before shooting it.

IN THIS LESSON

  1. What a storyboard is
  2. Where it came from
  3. How it is used
  4. Practice: boards anyone can draw

What a storyboard is

A storyboard is a sequence of simple drawings or images that shows a film, an animation or another moving sequence before it is made. Each panel stands for a shot or a key moment, with its framing, movement and action, often with notes beneath. The point is not good drawing but shared understanding: the director, cinematographer, designers and effects team can all see what a scene should look like, argue about it on paper, and solve problems before anyone is paid to stand on set.

Where it came from

Many early films were staged as if for a theatre audience, the camera fixed and wide. As camera movement and cutting developed in the early twentieth century, many began to plan with artists' sketches. Georges Melies was one of the earliest film-makers to use storyboards and pre-production art to plan his effects. The storyboard in its modern form was developed at the Walt Disney studio in the early 1930s, where the first complete storyboards are said to have been made for the 1933 short Three Little Pigs. The idea then spread to other studios.

How it is used

During pre-production, scenes are broken out of the script and given storyboards, alongside the lists of locations, props, cast and effects. Storyboards are most valuable where a sequence is complex, expensive or hard to repeat: stunts, effects shots, action, a crowd scene, or a camera move that must hit exact marks. For a simple dialogue scene, a shot list may be enough. Animated films and commercials usually board everything, because each shot costs time to create. On live-action sets the boards are often redrawn as plans change, so they work best as a living document rather than a finished artwork.

Practice: boards anyone can draw

This is working practice. Use stick figures and arrows; clarity beats beauty. Draw the frame shape you will shoot, for example 16:9 or 2.39:1. Use an arrow for camera moves and another for movement within the frame, and write the shot number and size below each panel. Photographs of stand-ins on the real location, taken on a phone, make an excellent storyboard when you cannot draw. Put the boards on the wall where the crew can see them on the day.

Try it today

  1. 01Choose a 30-second moment with a clear action.
  2. 02Draw six frames with stick figures in a 16:9 box.
  3. 03Mark camera moves with one arrow colour and action with another.
  4. 04Photograph a friend in the same frames on a phone.
  5. 05Compare the drawn and photographed boards with what you filmed.