Introduction to Videos

What's a Storyboard?

A storyboard is a chronological, visual plan of how the content of a video will be depicted for an audience. It lays out the ways in which your content will be presented and organized. Storyboarding makes up half the pre-production process and whether you’re working alone or with a team, a good storyboard will help you determine what work needs to be done to produce your video in an efficient way.  

A storyboard, whether done by hand on paper, or through a template or online software, contains frames which represent your scenes. Each of these frames will be filled with a loose visual representation of what you expect your scenes to depict, and will note camera movements, graphics to be added during production, and/or any key audio/scripted content you hope to include. These scene-by-scene breakdowns help clarify your work! 

Getting Started

Sketch out the imagery for your project. The imagery can be as simple or as complex as you choose- you can use stick figures and short text, or more detailed drawings with longer sentences. 

• If you don't feel comfortable sketching out the imagery, you can provide a description of your vision for the imagery instead. For example, "dog coming in left, cat coming in right, sunset appears in the middle of the animals." 

• If you're using an online tool, they will often have free images and characters available for you to use. 

• If you're using a template document on a device, you can import photos that help to show what you envision for each scene. 

Add in any additional notes for each panel. For a digital media project, this might include things like a description of the atmosphere of the scene, camera angles or movement, and any special effects. You can also include information about the audio or sound effects that you plan to use. 

In this way, a storyboard acts similarly to an outline you might use to prepare for an essay or other written project, allowing you to determine a chronological order in which your scenes will play out, how each scene will look, and what ideas you hope to express within your film or video.  

Heads Up!: You may also want to note which clips, audio tracks, songs, images, or other copyrighted material you’d like to include in your final product within your storyboard, so as to better plan how and where this external media best serves your project. You may also wish to make note of any licensing or permissions you need to secure prior to shooting. Being aware of these materials during the storyboarding and pre-production phases will help keep you and your team organized. 

Find Storyboarding Resources 

• University of Guelph’s Storyboarding How-to  

• Storyboard Template 

• Online Tool: Storyboard Creator 

• Storyboard Layout in Canva 

A shot list outlines the order in which you record each scene needed in your video. Shot lists also note what kind of camera work will be needed for a given shot (panning, tracking, close up, etc.) This helps you keep an organized and efficient workflow.

Shot lists can easily be made by going back to the script and identifying the areas within the script where you envision new clips, frames, or scenes to go. Shot lists help you clarify which team member(s) will be needed to complete a shot if working collaboratively, and can provide some much-needed structure to the creative process by organizing shots in order of greatest importance based on your timeline. 

Scene 1 ________________ 

Scene 2 ________________ 

Scene 3 ________________ 

Scripting makes up the second half of pre-production. Like storyboarding, scripting allows you to plan out what text, spoken, or audible content needs to be recorded or added to your video, scene to scene. Consult your project guidelines or course learning objectives to determine what content is most important to your video and consider who your target audience is. What information might be most relevant to emphasize?  

A good script can also help you determine a consistent tone and level of formality for your video. Creating a single, consistent vision of your video or film is crucial to making engaging content, and is especially important when working in a group, so that everyone is aware of the primary goals you’d like to meet with your video. Pairing your script with your storyboard should provide you with a clear idea of how to record and organize your video during the Production and Post-production phases. 

Check out the University of Guelph's  6 Principles of Scriptwriting:

1. Identify your story 

1. Identify the central problem or question that your script seeks to resolve 

2. What is the hook that will draw the audience in? 

2. Determine the plot points 

1. How do you build tension? 

2. How do you guide the story to a natural conclusion? 

3. What are your main arguments and what evidence are you using to support each argument 

3. Organize and structure with intention 

1. How will you interweave media resources such as images, video clips, music, interviews, and sound recordings into your script? 

2. How can you turn the broad ideas from your rough outline into detailed text? 

3. Which sections might you want to leave unscripted to allow for more spontaneity and improvisation? 

4. Words should flow 

1. Practice reading your script out loud. Are any sentences difficult to say? Are you using vocabulary that sounds inappropriate for the purpose of the digital object? 

2. Tag the script with emotion cues to vary your tone appropriately as you're speaking (E.g., fast, and excited, solemn, curious, etc.) 

5. Feedback is best practice 

1. Are the main points of your digital object clear to potential audiences? 

• Read your script aloud to a friend and ask them to identify the main points made in the script. 

• Ask for feedback on specific things like audience engagement, tone, emotion and pacing. 

• Book a writing appointment at the library. 

6. Create a world for your audience 

1. What strategies will you implement to engage your audience throughout the video? 

2. How can you leverage the medium you're working in to create an immersive experience for your audience? 

• E.g., Add ambience with sound effects (setting the scene with street sounds, creating a relaxed mood with light piano) 

Depending on the needs and direction of your project, you may decide to perform and include an interview in your video. If so, here are some tips to consider; 

• Consider the flow of your video. How should your interview be presented to your audience? 

• Will your interview be structured, semi-structured, or improvisational?  

• Create an interview outline; try to have an idea of what questions you intend to ask your guest, and in what order will you do so? 

For more details, check out this guide on the interview process!

1. Have a pre-interview process 

   1. Make your guest feel at ease. 

   2. If recording remotely – you can give them a summary or overview of the video and its direction, reminding them of the target audience. This will help them to cater their answers specifically to that group 

   3. Outline the next steps for the participant, which include where and when the video will be published and how it will be promoted 

   4. Get them to sign off on any necessary paperwork 

   5. Give your guest an opportunity to ask questions 

2. Do research on your guest: 

   1. Check out their website or “about” page trying to get a sense of them as a person rather than focusing on rigid accomplishments – look for anything that might be unusual or interesting 

   2. Check their social media to see if they are active. If they are active, you will be able to create questions based on their posts. Don’t forget to look at their LinkedIn profile. 

   3. See if they have been interviewed in the past, or other media appearances, and watch those. This will help you see how they may come across in your interview. 

   4. Read their book/watch their movie, etc. – although this may take a bit of time, it will help you to ask more interesting and relevant questions 

3. Prepare your questions 

   1. As you do your research, jot down questions that you would like to ask the guest 

   2. Try to develop questions that are interesting or focus on creative angles as this will reduce the chances of a rehearsed response. 

   3. If you have heard them make statements in other interviews, you can restate these and take them a step further 

   4. Ask open ended questions 

   5. Ask closed ended questions only to clarify facts 

   6. Ask one question at a time as asking compounded questions can get confusing 

4. Practice active listening: 

   1. Pay attention to what the interviewee is saying rather than focusing on the next question you want to ask 

   2. Try engaging in a real conversation – as this will improve the flow of the interview 

Heads Up!: You may also want to check out this Digital Camera World article on Video Jargon for a breakdown on some common filmmaking terminology as you enter the pre-production phase!