Storyboards, animatics and previs

A storyboard is a sequence of drawings showing how a film will look, shot by shot. It translates the script and shot list into images that the director, cinematographer, production designer, effects team and producers can all understand. Storyboards range from rough thumbnails drawn by the director to polished panels by professional artists, and they increasingly lead to animatics and digital previsualization. This lesson covers why and when to storyboard, how to draw simple but useful boards even if you cannot draw well, the notation for camera movement and framing, and how animatics and previs extend the process.

Why storyboard?

Not every film needs a full storyboard. Many dramas are planned with shot lists and floor plans, and some directors prefer to discover shots on set with the actors. But storyboards are invaluable when shots are complex, expensive or dependent on precise timing.

• Action, stunts and effects: everyone must understand exactly what each shot needs.
• Animation: storyboards are the foundation of the whole production.
• Commercials and music videos: clients approve boards before shooting.
• Complex camera moves and visual gags: timing must be planned.
• Communication: a board shows the team what the director imagines faster than words.
• Budget control: unnecessary shots can be identified and cut before shooting.

For your short films, boarding at least the key scene helps you think visually, check coverage and communicate with your cinematographer.

The anatomy of a storyboard panel

A storyboard panel is a rectangle in the film's aspect ratio, showing the framing of a single shot or a key moment within a shot. Under or beside the panel, notes give the shot number, a description of the action, dialogue or sound, and camera movement. Panels are read in order like a comic strip, but each represents a shot or a change within a shot rather than a moment in a story told on paper.

Drawing simple boards

You do not need to be an artist to storyboard. Clear stick figures, simple shapes and a few conventions are enough for most student and low-budget work. What matters is framing, composition and movement, not beauty.

• Draw the frame first, in the correct aspect ratio, such as 16:9 or 2.39:1.
• Use stick figures with simple heads, adding a line for the nose to show which way the character faces.
• Show shot size by how much of the figure fills the frame: whole body for a wide shot, waist up for a medium, head and shoulders for a close-up.
• Use perspective lines and a horizon line to show the camera's height and angle.
• Add arrows: inside the frame for character movement, outside or on the frame for camera movement.
• Shade or hatch shadows if lighting is important.

Notation for camera movement and framing

Storyboard artists use a few common conventions so that boards read clearly.

• Pan and tilt: a curved arrow outside the frame showing the direction the camera turns.
• Dolly or tracking: a straight arrow showing the camera moving toward, away from or alongside the subject.
• Zoom: a smaller frame drawn inside a larger one, with arrows from corner to corner showing the direction.
• Character movement: arrows inside the frame, sometimes with a second position of the figure drawn lightly.
• Long moves: several panels for one shot, with the same shot number and letters such as 4A, 4B, 4C.
• Transitions: notes such as CUT, DISSOLVE or MATCH CUT between panels.

How many panels?

The number of panels depends on the complexity of the scene. A static dialogue shot may need one panel; a complex action shot with camera movement may need four or five to show its key positions. Productions sometimes estimate boarding time by panel counts.

Animatics

An animatic is a storyboard edited into a timed sequence, often with temporary dialogue, sound effects and music. Panels hold on screen for the length of the planned shot, and simple moves or pans across panels suggest camera movement. Animatics let directors test timing and rhythm before shooting, and in animation they are essential: an animated feature is usually built and revised as an animatic long before final animation begins.

Previsualization

Previsualization, or previs, uses 3D computer animation to plan shots, especially for action, effects and complex camera work. Previs artists build simple virtual sets and characters and place virtual cameras with real lens choices, so the team can test framing, movement and timing. Related techniques include pitchvis, used to sell a project, techvis, which works out technical details such as crane positions and lens heights, and postvis, which adds temporary effects to shot footage. Virtual production with LED volumes, introduced in CINE-330, often relies on previs to plan scenes before stage time.

Storyboards in your workflow

For your capstone short, you will board the key scene. A practical workflow is to start from your shot list and floor plan, draw thumbnails for every shot, then refine the most important ones into clearer panels. Show the boards to your cinematographer early, and expect them to change after location scouting and rehearsal. Storyboards are tools for thinking, not contracts.

Canada has a large animation and visual effects industry, centred in cities such as Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, where storyboard artists and previs teams work on both domestic and international productions.

Boarding dialogue scenes

Dialogue scenes are often boarded more simply than action, but boarding them is still useful. Boards show the coverage pattern, such as wide, over-the-shoulder and close-ups, and help the director decide where to move in for emphasis. They also reveal whether the coverage respects the line of action and whether the eye lines match. For a short, boarding the key dialogue scene can show you how many set-ups you need and where you could save time by covering two angles from one position.

• Board the master or wide shot first to establish geography.
• Add the over-the-shoulder and single shots for each character.
• Mark the moment of the scene's turn, where you might cut to a close-up.
• Add inserts for any object that matters to the scene.

Shot sizes for storyboard artists

Storyboard panels depend on a shared vocabulary of shot sizes, which you met in FILM-101. Drawing the right amount of the figure in the frame tells the reader the shot size at a glance.

Sharing and revising boards

Storyboards are most useful when the whole team sees them. Print them or share them on a tablet at production meetings, pin them up on set and update them when shots change. Number every panel to match the shot list so anyone can find a shot quickly. After the shoot, compare the boards with what was filmed; the differences often teach you more about visual planning than the boards themselves.