Videos are one of the most effective marketing tools that you can use to engage with your target audience on a more personal level. Whether you choose to go for an animated film or an educational video, it’s important to have a storyboard to help you plan your content and define your visual elements.
However, finding inspiration for your next visual project isn’t always easy. This is why we created this article. Here, we’ll provide storyboard ideas to inspire you.
What Is a Storyboard?
Before we get to our examples, it’s important that you understand exactly what a storyboard is and how it is used in the planning process.
A storyboard is essentially a visual representation of how a film or video will progress. It consists of an assortment of squares with graphics or photographs depicting each shot, as well as comments regarding what is happening in that particular scene and what is to be said during that shot.
Think of it as a sort of comic book that includes drawings or visual elements that tell a story, which you will later translate into video footage.
When creating a video, a storyboard conveys your ideas and serves as your guide. Your storyboard, like a script, serves as an artistic blueprint for the video creation process. By using your video storyboard to plan ahead, you can see which shots you must produce.
It allows you to gather input from others in the beginning and make modifications to the plot outline rather than making substantial modifications while filming.
Why It’s Important to Use a Storyboard
Storyboarding is essential when during the pre-production process since it provides an outline that can assist with video production.
It serves to align creative perspectives, resulting in a unified story and a smooth flow. A storyboard allows creators to envision scenes, arrange transitions, and foresee problems that might arise prior to production, saving time and resources.
It is a collaborative tool that helps stakeholders align on the project’s direction. A well-structured storyboard improves communication and reduces misconceptions in a team. It also helps with pacing, ensuring that the narrative progresses effectively.
Finally, storyboarding is a strategic phase that improves the overall quality of the final project, making the filming process more effective and the end result more engaging.
Creating Storyboards: Essential Elements of a Winning Storyboard
Although you can certainly personalize your storyboard format to meet your specific needs, there are certain essential elements that you should add to get the most out of your video storyboard.
- Project details. Start by including essential project details, such as the title, the date, locations, and more.
- Scene illustrations. Draw or sketch each scene chronologically or use photographs to depict scenes. It’s also a good idea to add scene numbers at this phase.
- Descriptions. You should also include descriptions of the entire scene so that anyone reading your storyboard can easily understand what is happening.
- Define the camera angles. Next, you will need to specify the type of shot for each scene, as well as the camera angles, to help guide the video creation process.
- Narration and dialogues. It’s also a good idea to include details about voiceovers, dialogues, and narration in your storyboard.
- Transitions. You should also add information about the timing for every scene and how you intend to transition between them to ensure a seamless flow.
- Other details. Special effects, props, wardrobe requirements, and additional notes for the camera crew can also be included in your storyboard.
Storyboard Examples to Inspire Your Next Video
Without further ado, let’s get into some of the best storyboard examples to kickstart your creativity and inspire your next video creation process. We have split our storyboard examples into categories to help you find one that best meets your needs more easily.
Animation Storyboard Examples
Animated videos can be a powerful tool that helps you create engaging content and reach your target audience. Here are our top animation storyboard examples to try:
1. Animated How-to Video
If you are creating a video to promote a product or describe how to do something, why not animate it? Let’s say you are showing your target market how to utilize your revolutionary new beauty blender.
Your animation storyboards could start by describing the problem (i.e., watching your current beauty blender absorb a large portion of your makeup), and in the next scene, the woman could find your product.
The next scene could be a close-up of her using the beauty blender on her face to address the problem that you introduced, and your last scene could be her friends complimenting her on her makeup.
This scene depicts a simple three-step process:
- Identify a problem
- Show how your product can address that problem
- Demonstrate the benefits of using your product to address that problem
2. App Trailer Animation
Our next storyboard example involves promoting an app using an animated video. You could start by introducing a problem, which might be a coffee machine that takes too long to make cappuccinos for guests at a salon.
Your first scene could be the salon owner being overwhelmed trying to manage her business and make a good impression on her clients by providing them with a good cup of coffee.
You could then introduce your revolutionary coffee machine that can make the perfect cup at the touch of a button. End by depicting her successfully running her business without having to spend a long time on coffee-making.
3. Use Fairytale Imagery
Another great idea is to use your animated storyboards to plan a fairytale story that you can use to convey a sentiment or relate a value. The sky is the limit when it comes to animation, so you can truly let your imagination run wild here.
You can sketch parts of each scene in your storyboard and show areas where you will include transitions and camera angles that the production team can use to bring your vision to life.
Think of the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and how each scene would have been drawn to depict certain key elements. The production team could use this storyboard to see exactly where each scene is happening (i.e., in the forest or in the castle) and create the imagery accordingly.
4. Comic Book-inspired Story
Use comic book-inspired animations to bring your very own story to life using bold imagery. Think of Marvel characters in their beloved comic-book motion picture!
The storyboard, much like the comic book itself, will include images for each scene, along with a description of what’s happening, special effects that need to be added, transitions, and more.
Movie Storyboard Examples
If you are creating a long-form movie, then your storyboard will likely be a lot longer. Here are a few examples to get your creative juices flowing:
1. Edge of Tomorrow
In a morbid spin on Groundhog Day, Tom Cruise is repeatedly killed while attempting to combat some terrible aliens. The sight of Cage and his friends hurtling towards the ground never fails to astonish. The camera angles chosen in the movie’s storyboard add to the powerful impact.
2. Apocalypse Now
This storyboard is not designed to provide detailed guidance, but it does emphasize several critical shots and what the colors ought to be like in the scene. It also demonstrates how the production team ought to convey the scale of all the helicopters in the movie.
3. Transformers
The storyboard for this movie provided a visual representation of certain elements that should be included in each scene. The imagery offers insight into the preferred camera angles to ensure the best shot, which undoubtedly helped the camera crew film such an effective action movie.
Creating Your Very Own Storyboard
As you have seen from our examples above, creating storyboards is crucial to your success as a content creator. However, if you are worried about the time and effort required to create one, then the good news is that there is technology available to help streamline the process.
Software applications, such as Storyboard That, Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, or Boords, offer digital templates that you can personalize to create custom storyboards with cues, transitions, and so much more.
These apps usually feature intuitive drag-and-drop editors that give you the freedom to do with the design as you will.
If you are looking for graphic design tools to help you create engaging images that indicate camera angles and perspectives, then you can also opt for graphic design software that is designed to make generating bespoke images that much easier.
However, if you are the kind of person who enjoys putting pen to paper, then we definitely recommend doing just that! If you are not artistically inclined, then you can use photographs instead of sketching images.
Need Help Growing Your Business with Media?
The truth is that storyboards are an important part of the video production process, but have you ever thought about what happens to the video after you have filmed and polished it?
Getting it in front of your target audience is an important part of the process, and this is something that we do best. By negotiating, purchasing, and monitoring advertising space, we help our partners grow their businesses and their bottom line.
At Mosaic Media, we are committed to helping companies thrive by ensuring that their content gets to the right people, so you can trust us to do the same for you. To learn more about our services, get in touch with us today!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a storyboard and an example?
A storyboard is a visual planning tool composed of a series of illustrated pictures that depict major scenes or frames in a story, such as a film, animation, or video. It acts as a template for the final output, laying out the visual flow, timing, and crucial components.
Each panel often contains visual information, dialogue, and comments that describe camera angles or actions. A storyboard for an animated film, for example, may illustrate scenes presenting characters, problems, and resolutions, assisting in the visualization of the proposed storyline before the start of production.
How can I write a storyboard?
To create a storyboard, organize significant sequences or frames in a sequential order. Describe visuals, speech, and events in clear terms. Include information such as camera angles and transitions. Use panels for each plot twist to maintain a clear flow. Add notes about sound, wardrobe, props, or special effects.
There are also a number of free storyboard templates and software applications that you can use to create storyboards quickly and easily.
What is a storyboard template?
A storyboard template is a pre-designed storyboard that serves as an outline for developing a visual narrative. It is often made up of empty panels that depict individual frames and allow you to add visual components, comments, and annotations. These templates simplify the process of arranging and displaying a narrative, making it quicker to plan for video production.
What are the three parts of a storyboard?
Storyboards typically consist of three main parts:
- Panels. This will contain visual representations of each scene.
- Descriptions. The next element is a description of every scene that includes important information about the dialogue, actions, camera angles, and more.
- Annotations. You will also include information about the camera angles, sound effects, transitions, wardrobe, and more.
Why is storyboarding important?
If you approach any project without a plan, the chances of things going smoothly are reduced significantly. Your storyboard is a roadmap that guides you and the production team through the narrative, highlighting important scenes where certain camera angles are needed, or special effects will need to be used.
This allows the team to plan ahead and ensure that everything is completed according to the original vision. Storyboarding is a great way to visualize scenes from a video or film and make them come alive on the page.
How detailed should a storyboard be?
The level of detail depends on the project’s complexity. The truth is that for some, a straightforward sketch with basic comments might be sufficient, whilst others may demand more elaborate illustrations, camera angles, and narratives.
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Mark Wonderlin is the visionary founder of Mosaic Media Films. He is passionate about crafting creative business videos that captivate and convert. Mark and his team stand out by creating visually stunning videos and ensuring they align seamlessly with the client’s broader marketing objectives.
