Storyboards for All Occasions

By William M. BalsamoKenmei Women’s Junior College

Oshio-cho, Himeji-shiJapan 670-0011

Yamataro670@yahoo.com

What is a Storyboard

A storyboard is a graphic, sequential depiction of a narrative. Students recall major events of the story, then illustrate the events in the squares provided.

A storyboard is a series of pictures which tell a story. They may be drawn or photographed.

They are usually used by directors to make a movie and can vary in length.

They serve as a guide for telling a story.

Why a storyboard?

Involves the student’s creativity

Combines visual as well as writing skills

Student can approach the task from many levels

Good for both low, intermediate and high level students

Kinds of Storyboards

Personal History or biography

Club Activity at school

A TV commercial

Documentary of hometown

Scene from commercial Films

Scene from a published story

A Music Video for a song

Personal History

Students can tell the story of any part of their life by drawing pictures and supplementing them with narrative.

Club Activity at School

Students can tell the story of one of their club activities. Talk about the members, when they meet, what they do and anything special which can introduce their group to others

A TV Commercial

Students can design a product and create a brief commercial about the value of the item. They can make the commercial either humorous or serious and involve as may characters as they deem fit.

Documentary of Hometown

Students create a storyboard which introduces their hometown to the class. Places to visit, museums, restaurants, places of historic interest.

Scene from a commercial film

Students take a scene from a commercial film. Draw pictures which describe the action and narrate the scene.

Scene from a published story

Students can create a storyboard from a scene found in a short story or a novel. Create dialog and illustrate the camera action to bring the scene in life.

A Music Video from a Song

This is one of the most popular types of storyboards because students are very much interested in music. The assignment involves creation a storyboard of a popular song and to narrate the action suggested by the song.

Storyboard for Music Video

Students can make a storyboard of their favorite song. Students find this type of storyboard most enjoyable because much of their life is centered around music.

How many frames to use?

I usually ask students to create about seven picture frames.

More frames can be added depending upon the assignment and the number of weeks for the assignment

How about team projects?

Team projects can be assigned but the problem concerns the grading.

Some students end up doing most of the work. Others become passive.

Filming of Storyboards

It is not necessary to film a storyboard.Storyboards can be complete in themselves as creative writing projectsIn cases where filming is permitted it is important to allot the students sufficient time to complete the project.

Use for Display at School Festivals

Storyboards can be displayed at school festivals and special occasions as examples of student work.

They also serve as models for future classes to show the work produced by former students.

Internet sites:

http://www.storyboardsinc.com/index.shtmlhttp://www.exposure.co.uk/eejit/storybd/http://www.storyboards-east.com/storybrd.htmhttp://www.thestoryboardartist.com/http://pblmm.k12.ca.us/TechHelp/Storyboarding.html

More websites:

http://www.uncc.edu/webcourse/sb/sample3.htmhttp://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~vertolli/spring97/storyboard/scene1.htmhttp://www.chc.edu/grat725/blankstoryboard.htmlhttp://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/authoring/studio/guidebook/storyboard_example.html