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Are You Storyboarding Your Script? (And Why You Should Be!)

There are a few ways screenwriters can benefit from storyboarding...
by Emily J on November 11, 2024

Storyboarding isn’t “writing," at least not in the way you might think since it’s not typing words onto a page in an industry-determined standard. Whether you’re writing or drawing, you are a VISUAL storyteller. Your job is to build a story that people can connect with emotionally through imagery. And, in a world where so many up-and-coming writers are learning to be multi-hyphenates, it’s worth asking—have you storyboarded your script?

What Is Storyboarding?

As defined in Merriam-Webster, storyboarding is “a panel or series of panels on which a set of sketches is arranged depicting consecutively the important changes of scene and action in a series of shots (as for a film, television show, or commercial).”

You’ve likely seen them before if you’ve ever watched behind-the-scenes videos of animated films. You can watch a side-by-side of the final film and the storyboard for Pixar’s Toy Story to see it in action.

You’ll notice that the images are very simplistic, even more so than the comic strips you’ll find in the newspaper. There’s an art to it and it’s a skill that takes time to learn, but if we’re looking at it as a way to improve our writing, you don’t need to be precious with it.

Improving Your Prose

So why should a writer try storyboarding? As we know, this is a visual medium, and it’s crucial to look at your page less like a novel-style story, and more like a canvas you’re drawing on.

Your ability to see a film in your mind, frame-by-frame, will enhance your writing. Screenwriting is often viewed as being a very dry writing style. By forcing yourself to think more visually, your writing will be more cinematic on the page. And by thinking about the framing over every major beat, that will translate onto the page so that you’re serving as a director.

You can use language that directs the camera (CUT TO, CLOSE UP ON, etc.) in your scripts, or you describe what’s in a frame visually, implying where the camera is by what we’re seeing.

If you find that you’re getting notes that your action lines too often focus on the “internal” or your characters are stating exactly how they feel and there’s no nuance to it, try drawing out a few frames and describing what you’re seeing in the most simple and impactful terms.

How to Practice Storyboarding Your Scenes

A lot of times, animators will have a mirror near their desks that they look at and make facial expressions in before they draw them to ensure they’re focusing on the most important lines.

You can do that as well, but try looking at your face and then sketching out just the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth. Are the lines aggressive? Soft? Sinewy? What do they say about what the character is feeling internally as they make this active expression?

Again, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it’s a great exercise that will help set your writing apart from the rest.

Read More: 5 Things Screenwriters Should Study While Watching Movies

Truman (Jim Carrey) looking into a bathroom mirror with soap drawings around him in 'The Truman Show'

'The Truman Show' (1998)

A Skill For Multi-Hyphenates

As the entertainment industry evolves into something new, it becomes more and more important to understand more than just your own skill, and possibly even venture into new skills so that you can perform as a multi-hyphenate.

Maybe you don’t want to be a storyboard artist or work in animation, but if you also work as or are interested in working as a director or cinematographer, knowing how to storyboard is essential. Even if you don’t dream of directing yourself, storyboarding allows you to see how a director, cinematographer, and producers will see your script and write in a way that excites them.

Arguably, writing for a contest as a sample for managers or as a spec for potential production will have slight differences. Sometimes, those differences are the budget as you cut down on the cast or scope to make a potential financier happy. Other times you make a role a little bigger and dramatic to attract someone specific to your cast.

For a contest, you might lean harder into a genre so that there’s no question of the tone or themes. If you’re writing to get your story produced, you want to ensure that any director or producer can read your script and see what you see in your mind.

Once you sell a script, there’s a strong chance you might not get to have the same amount of control of the story anymore, but you’re odds of seeing the movie as you envisioned it on screen are a lot higher if the director can see your full vision on the page when they read it and fall in love with it.

For a manager, showing you’re adept at creating a visual story on the page allows you to stand out from the pack. You can also create a few storyboards for big moments that you bring to a pitch and use as you’re selling your story to potential buyers.

If you’re just starting out, storyboarding is another great tool you can use when looking for opportunities and networking. Or even do it for free for friends on their scripts just to practice.

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In screenwriting, it’s not enough to have great dialogue or solid structure. Without strong action lines guiding the team to create great visuals, you are less likely to stand out from the pack, and you may not like how it translates onto the screen if produced (even if you are just grateful it got made in the first place).

In an industry that is rapidly reinventing itself, don’t be afraid to reinvent or evolve too by picking up a great skill that can make you an even better writer.

Read More: 5 Ways Becoming a Pro Screenwriter Will Change Your Writing Process


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