Sketch a Story

Sketch Out a Story

Activity 1: What are Storyboards?

(15 minutes)

Before the cameras start rolling, filmmakers make story boards. Check out the storyboards below from famous movies:

What do you think a storyboard is? Why do you think writers and directors use storyboards before they start filming a movie? Bounce your ideas off a friend or club staff.

Think of your favorite movie. If you could sketch just two or three scenes to show the most important parts of the movie -- what scenes would you draw? What faces would the characters be making? Would the camera be zoomed in for a close-up, or zoomed out for a view of the surroundings?

Here’s a fun challenge: Try to sketch three scenes from a popular movie and show your sketch to a friend -- see if your friend can guess which movie your storyboard is for!

Activity 2: Why are storyboards useful?

(10 minutes)

So you have an idea for a short video, maybe you even have a script, all you need now is to shoot, right?! Well, you could, but what will the scenes look like? And where will the actors stand? And what angle will the camera use?

How could a storyboard help with these questions? If you'd like more direction, read this article about creating storyboards and jot down what you learn about how storyboards are helpful.

Activity 3: What is your Story?

(30 minutes)

Film director Steven Spielberg once said, “People have forgotten how to tell a story.” A movie is a way to tell a story with moving visuals and sound. What story do you want to tell?

Think short. Of course, there are videos of all lengths, but a full story can be told in a minute or even less, like this example from high school students (to the right).

You can think of a storyboard as the comic book version of a full story -- just a few frames can communicate a lot! Think of a story you can tell in about a minute. Write down your ideas. Then start to gather them in a story format, even including dialogue if you want your characters to speak.

Stumped? See if any of the prompts below trigger a story idea.

What’s a story your family likes to tell about you?
What would you do if you met your hero?
What does your favorite animal dream about all day?
What if your best friend had a secret second identity?
What if your favorite movie or book had a different ending -- what would it be?

Activity 4: Scene by Scene

(20 minutes)

Create your storyboard. Use blank paper to draw your storyboard, or download and print a template, or use this online storyboard creator.

If you'd like to use StoryBoardThat.com, feel free to use the following information:

Username: BGCA

Password: MediaMaking!

Whichever method you use, the idea is to sketch out the basic visuals for your story. You can add notes, ideas, questions, and/or bits of dialogue. The storyboard is like your blueprint for constructing your video so add whatever you think will be helpful.

Activity 5: Ask for Feedback and Iterate.

(20 minutes)

Check out this video to see how the people at Pixar present their movie storyboards. How do you think sharing ideas using storyboards helps Pixar to improve their movies?

Present your storyboard to a group of people. Explain what happens using your pictures/drawings and notes. You can even add gestures and special voices to really make your story come alive. Ask the group to contribute their ideas and questions.

After the presentation, are there things you want to change or add? Revise your storyboard.

Still Interested? Take a look at these resources:

List: 500 Storyboard Tutorials and Resources

Article: Storyboarding

Video: Adapt your script to a storyboard

What You'll Need: