Why is Storyboarding Important?

In my last post, Creating Video-Based Projects, I shared a workshop I had created about how project-based videos can move students to create, turning them from consumers into creators.

When I went about developing what this workshop would look like, I made sure a good portion was dedicated to Storyboarding and why it should be the heart of any video project.  I can’t emphasize enough how Storyboarding is the foundation for this entire process. In fact, I equate it to the pre-draft phase of the writing process as in Storyboarding, students will:

• Brainstorm their ideas
• Organize ideas into sections
• Flesh out ideas with larger details

As video projects also lend themselves to being a group effort, this step is absolutely essential to making sure everyone is on the same page.  

BUT….in the eyes of students, it’s also the most tedious and boring and frustrating part of the whole video project! Students will complain about why they have to do it, but it really is the MOST important part. The more organized students are during this part, the better the final product will be.

Now, having said that, it’s still important for teachers to facilitate this process. I recommend when working with classes to practice doing a Storyboard as a whole class before students work on their own. This will show students what is involved and will give them steps and a procedure to follow. I also send a video about Storyboarding to the teacher a couple of days ahead of the project so students have a better idea of what this process is. I like this video from the YouTube Creator Academy as I feel that it clearly explains to secondary students how Storyboarding works as part of the video process as a whole.

I also emphasize to teachers the importance of checking up on students during this process and having students walk the teacher through their Storyboards. If something doesn’t make sense at this point in the process, it won’t after the project is over either. Use this time to help guide students and re-direct if needed. You may need to suggest that students’ need further details or may need to re-work a section. Use this as part of your evaluation and assessment and help guide students to have a better overall project that can be shared with other classes and the school or larger community too.

Speaking of sharing, there’s another part of this process and that is the audience. Who is this video being done for? The more “real-world” the project feels the more likely students are to be engaged and create a better video. I like to find real competitions or shows that students can enter their final products in because it helps lend itself to that idea of “real world” and students realize that someone else is going to watch this. The way they work will change and the project will become a bigger deal.

So how do you begin this process? First, have students watch the above video and then have them brainstorm ideas. I prefer to Storyboard first before writing a script, but that doesn’t work for everyone. To begin storyboarding, here’s a link to a folder full of Storyboard templates. Try to have students include as many details as possible and include what’s going on in the scene, which characters are in the scene, special effects, and props. Before moving on to filming, make completing the storyboard a checkpoint area, where students have to show you the storyboard and get approval before they can film. Don’t forget to give students feedback here either! Once students enter the filming and editing stages, it’s too late to try to fix a storyline or add details.

Next week, I’ll talk about some different types of editing software students can use to edit their final products.

Good luck and feel free to share how this process works for you in the comments below!