What is a storyboard?
A storyboard is a visual outline showcasing what each recorded shot should ideally be—similar to a blueprint for a building—it acts as a guideline used throughout the entire creative process. It's easy to get lost throughout the complicated filmmaking process, but a storyboard helps make abstract concepts tangible. If made correctly and thoughtfully, an effective storyboard should act as an anchor, grounding the creatives from free-falling into the realms of idea purgatory.
A well-crafted storyboard enables each creative team member to understand your video’s structure and format thoroughly. In this write-up, we’ll discuss ways to create an effective storyboard that paves a concise path to follow and ensures clarity to your documentary.
Documentary 101: Research, Style and Objective
What does the lifecycle of your project look like?
Implementing research into your documentaries’ storyboard is a given. Without research, your documentary is bound to lack dimension. Creating a well-thought-out treatment is essential to organising your storyboard during the initial stages of production. It typically involves defining the core focus of your topic and should include narrative, themes, characters, filmography style, and other information necessary to illustrate your vision.
Any vital information you discover through your own methods or through your subject matter experts should be implemented into your storyboard organically. However, try to avoid overloading sketch frames with too much information at the beginning—details can always be added later.
Technical-specific details such as lighting setups, shot duration, special effects and sonic components should be described or annotated using notes. Your production team would benefit from understanding the style of atmosphere you would like to achieve.
Focus on a Clear Structure
A clear structure equates to clarity—the more concise your storyboard format, the easier it will be to flesh out later. Do you have an idea? Great. Starting with the classic, well-used Three-Act structure could be a great way to start building your video storyboard:
Setup (Act 1): As an introduction to the issue, character or theme, your goal should be to create scenes and narration that introduce your audience to the topic. Begin building tension within your sketch frames until it escalates.
Development (Act 2): The tension surrounding the subject then becomes conflict; with it, you should have a driving force pushing your film in the direction you want it to go.
Resolution (Act 3): A climax of conclusive ideas, you should resolve the conflict by tying up loose ends—unless you prefer cliffhangers.
Keeping this formula in mind, your storyboard should present a clear bird’s-eye view of your project, from post-production to finalisation. Check out our documentaries for some good inspiration.
Appealing to Emotions With Your Storyboard
Really think about the message you hope to convey. Depending on your chosen topic, how does it relate to your audience?
During the storyboard process, there must be a goal to invoke, connect to, or simply agitate an emotion—something you can highlight with annotations. Illustrate how the scene or subject can convey emotions effectively. Incorporate visual symbols and cues into your storyboard.
Think of expressive techniques you can use to compel your audience to connect with your topic on an emotional level. Colour and lighting, film gradient, and background music are a few examples to consider. Applying specific methods to your documentary will tell a thought-provoking story and resonate emotionally with your audience, providing a more significant impact.
Why Flexibility is Important
Things change—that’s okay. A good storyboard facilitates change, especially in the earlier stages. Scripts and storyboards usually go hand in hand; if one is edited or altered in some way, the other may have to follow.
Nothing should be set in stone unless you regard it as an invaluable element to your project. One purpose of having a storyboard is to allow ideas to flow organically. A flexible approach and allowing space for changes, even during later stages of production, will be a great benefit.
An effective storyboard is an essential sharing tool, and it should be open to constructive critique and revision. Feedback can offer invaluable insights and help identify potential issues. Remember: Flexibility is crucial to refining ideas.
Communicate With Your Team
Unless you’re a one-person film crew, you’ll need to find a way to convey your creative thoughts effectively. Even if you are, a storyboard can assist you in road-mapping your project and organising ideas. Communication is vital to the seamless exchange of ideas and helps create alignment with the different teams working together.
With writers, camerapersons and producers relying on direction, a storyboard ensures that everyone working on the project has a blueprint to return to should they need guidance. Aim to keep track of changes to your storyboard and maintain clear communication with the production team, always staying on top of defining expectations and managing the scope of your project.
Let The Credits Roll
Creating a compelling video storyboard requires careful planning, attention to detail, and creative management. No matter the topic, a credible documentary often requires coherence for an audience to understand and follow (as does the team working on it). Starting production with a few basic elements in mind should enable tackling complicated concepts and storylines without overwhelming or confusing production staff.
With an infinite number of stories to tell, make sure to tell yours with clarity and meticulous planning. By building upon your blueprint and ensuring all fundamental factors are considered, you stand a great chance at producing a piece of work that leaves a lasting impression on its audience.
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