A storyboard visually tells the story of an animation panel by panel, kind of like a comic book. They come in handy for producing commercials & public service announcements.
Sure you’ve read Amar Chitra Katha comics when you were in high school. Well, I think they’re the best way to know how to & do storyboards. But you don’t have to be an artist to draw out your storyboards.
But then, what are storyboards? A storyboard visually tells the story of an animation panel by panel, kind of like a comic book. They’re particularly useful for creating commercials & public service announcements (PSAs), although a few filmmakers including Satyajit Ray, Alfred Hitchcock & Bapu (late Telugu film director)used storyboards for full-length feature films too.
Of late, storyboards are find usage in elearning/instructional design too.
Satyajit Ray’s storyboard. (Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pather_Panchali_storyboard_example_by_Satyajit_Ray.jpg
So how to create storyboards?
- The simplest storyboards are stick figures drawn in boxes on an A-4 sheet of paper. They indicate what shots you intend to record on location. Download a template from here.
- The second choice is to use dummy actors on location & click low resolution pictures & edit them using Windows Movie Maker or iMovie (Mac). You could use audio too!
- The third option is to use expensive software like FrameForge Studio, ToonBoom,Storyboard Pro etc.
Find some great tutorials on doing storyboards using any of the above.
Windows Photo Story is a cool software to add your photographs, add audio tracks & even some good effects. All you need is your photographs, good music, sound effects and if possible mp3 files of your dialogues. Just insert them using this software & your storyboard’s ready!
Watch this video to get an idea of how to use Photostory for storyboarding:
Do you have additionals tools/ ideas to share? Do share your feedback.