What is a Storyboard?

A storyboard is essentially a way of presenting your ideas simply, for a sequence of shots, for a film/tv show/any piece of media with a narrative. Using a storyboard can be helpful as it can breakdown complex ideas for narratives, and presents them in an individual fashion: shot-by-shot. 

Above: a section from Hitchcock’s storyboard for ‘Vertigo.’

Above: a section from Marvel’s ‘Captain America,’ storyboard.

Storyboarding has been used since the beginning of the film industry, and has been used since due to its timeless quality of being a concise and informative medium in which camera angles and the mine-en-scene can be easily decoded. In addition to this, storyboarding saves time. This is due to the fact that what needs to be framed has already been published on paper, so when it comes to shooting a scene, all the director needs to do is replicate what is on paper onto the screen. Storyboarding prior to a pitch of an idea can be helpful, as it is a helpful way of showing producers what you intend to create, as to avoid misunderstandings and ambiguity. 

Disney and other animation studios utilize storyboarding the most, as their films are essentially a collection of thousands of storyboard frames, for example ‘Winnie the Pooh’ (1977). Of course they are revised and enhanced before release, but the initial storyboard plays a vital part in the foundation for the whole film: it would be almost impossible to create an animated film without some form of a storyboard. 

Embedded in this post is a helpful tutorial on how to make an effective storyboard: