What Does Storyboard Mean? Here's How to Make and Its Functions

Have you ever watched a movie? In the process of making a film or explainer video, we will need a storyboard. In the Oxford Dictionary, a storyboard is a series of drawings or pictures that show the outline of the story of a film, etc.

That is, a storyboard is a series of pictures or photos that show the outline of the story of a film and others.

Launching Jefferly's YouTube Marketing book, the notion of a storyboard is a visual representation of the images that will be produced in the video. Seeing the meaning, storyboards are the most commonly used in the process of making videos.

Therefore, the storyboard will contain the flow and arrangement of what will be taken during the shooting process. The display in the storyboard will be dominated by pictures and illustrations.

How to Make a Storyboard

In the field of cinema, storyboards can be made in four ways. Quoting the Masterclass site, here's how to create a storyboard for a film. Here’s the storyboard tips for you:

1. Make a shot list

At this stage, you can create a list of screenshots of the stories that have been created. For example, you can define how certain camera angles can tell the story and make a moment more impactful.

Then, what do you want to tell about the characters and stories through the camera. After that, draw a rough sketch of the list.

2. Sketch

The next step of making a storyboard is making a sketch of the image. In this step, make a list of the images you want to visualize from a story. You can also make an animation storyboard.

Then, draw a sketch on the storyboard box with a format like a comic strip.

3. Fill in the details

The storyboard should contain the most important elements of each scene. However, even if the storyboard contains static images, the end result will be a moving video or animation. Skill up and learn more about animation storyboard examples.

Therefore, make sure you show detailed movements in the storyboard that you create. For example, you can indicate the direction of a character's path using arrows.

4. Adding words

Not only pictures, in storyboards you also need words to help provide context about what happened. In fact, at this stage you can also write down any sound elements you want to add to a scene.

Quoted from the book Development of Teaching Materials by Nana, storyboards have a number of functions, namely:

1. As a medium that provides a complete explanation of what is in each storyline.
2. Become a guideline for the production team in realizing the planned visuals.
3. As a guide for voice actors and recording technicians in recording sound for script needs.
4. Be a written document of a project.

In addition, launching the book Practical Guidelines for Writing Television and Video Scenarios by Sutisno, the function of storyboards is as a communication tool that serves as a bridge between written words and moving images.

If you want to be a professional storyboard artist, you have to learn from many storyboard examples and practice a lot.