What is a Video Storyboard and Why Do You Need One?

Here at Wyzowl we create storyboards every day as part of the packages we offer our customers. So we fully understand their importance but you might be thinking what are they and do I really need one? Can’t you just create my video?

But like the creation of a video script is an important aspect of the video making process so is the video storyboard. And here to tell you what they are and why you need one is Dan, one of our illustrators.

Full Transcript

Hi, I’m Dan, an illustrator here at Wyzowl. Me and the illustration team spend a lot of our time creating storyboards for our video projects.

But what is a storyboard…and why do you need one? Let’s find out.

What is it?

A storyboard is a document that lays out the narrative flow of your video, scene by scene. It’s a ‘board’ that loosely depicts your ‘story’ — hence the name!

Across the industry, people treat storyboards in different ways.

In film, TV and traditional frame by frame animation, storyboards are usually made up of very rough, hand drawn sketches and scribbled notes. All you need to produce this kind of storyboard is a pencil and paper. You can even download simple artboards for free online.

Other people in the industry, like ourselves, prefer to actually create the full graphics that will be used in the final product. This is a bit more work, but it also gives a more accurate representation of how the complete video will look and flow.

We create the graphics using Adobe Illustrator and lay them out scene by scene in a Powerpoint style presentation for our clients to click through and annotate at their leisure.

Why do you need one?

So that’s a storyboard — do you need one? Well, I’d definitely say ‘yes’. And here’s why…

As good as a script might sound on paper, the whole point of a video or movie is to express the ideas visually. Visual communication is a huge deal and it’s important to get a number of things ‘nailed down’ — such as camera angles and perspectives, colour schemes, character design and more.

A storyboard is an important part of the creative process for this and many other reasons. It lets you visualise exactly what’s going to happen in your video, before painstaking work of animation.

The leap from paper to screen is a big one, and this ‘mid-step’ gives you the scope to make sure your story’s watertight, your graphics fit the bill and you have all the necessary tools you need to get going.

If anything isn’t quite hitting the mark, guess what? You can change it, with far less hassle than changing a completed, rendered video project.

For more FREE hints and tips about video marketing, check out our Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Explainer Video by clicking right here.