Video can be a great addition to your e-Learning project. So how do you produce a memorable video? It all starts with storyboarding.
What is storyboarding?
Storyboarding is a visual overview of your video, shot by shot, with notes about what is happening and what is being said.
Not every video needs a storyboard. A short screen recording of a tool and how you use it within your business for example doesn’t need a storyboard. For videos that you will share amongst a broader audience, for example for e-Learning or marketing purposes, working with storyboards is recommended.
The 3 benefits of storyboarding
Storyboarding your next video project has a few advantages.
- It is the ideal way to share your vision.
A storyboard helps you to share and explain your vision to your stakeholders. You probably have experienced that you tried to explain something and the other person couldn’t picture it. This happens because not everyone is good in visualizing text. With a storyboard you show exactly how your video is built up and what it will look like. This makes it much easier for your stakeholders to understand your story. - It makes production easier.
When you storyboard a video, you automatically design your production plan including all the shots you need, in the correct order and you visualize how all illustrations work together. It helps you to make sure that you won’t forget any scenes and helps to compose a vision that matches your vision. - It saves you time.
Of course, the production of your storyboard will cost you some time. But it does give you the opportunity to share ideas with stakeholders in advance so you can use their feedback directly in your storyboard. This is much easier then creating a video and then change it completely when you’re halfway.
So, what steps do you need to take when you are going to create a storyboard?
1. Determine what it is that you want to achieve
You can do this by asking yourself some questions, for example:
- What do you want your audience to see or learn?
- What is the feeling your audience should get when they watch your video?
2. Brainstorm ideas you would like to execute
When you know what you want to achieve you can brainstorm about ways to visualize this in a video. Things you can keep in mind are:
- How do you make the feeling you want to give your audience visual?
- What visual wishes do you and your stakeholders have?
- What visual style attracts you, in Vyond for example you can choose between whiteboard, business friendly and contemporary styles.
- Are there any technical conditions to consider?
- On what platforms will you use the video?
- What are the dimensions the video should be produced in?
- Will you need a voice-over?
- What kind of music would you like to use in your video?
- Do you want to work with sound effects?
3. Write the script
After brainstorming – which gave insight in your visual and technical wishes – it is time to write the script. The script will help you tell your story and gives meaning to your video.
4. Storyboard your script
It’s time to start drawing! Take your script and break your script in scenes, and this scenes in shots. Approach each shot as if you are looking through the camera. What you visualize when you read the script, you draw. If what you see changes, you move on and draw a new shot on your storyboard. Per shot you note:
- The size of the shot, is it a close-up, a mid-shot, or a full shot
- Short description of the scene
- Text that must be recorded or shown
- Wishes regarding sound effects
You can storyboard with pencil and paper, in PowerPoint or even in a video producing tool such as Vyond. Remember, your storyboard doesn’t have to be a picture-perfect comic book of your final video, but it has to clearly show your vision. Here you can download a storyboard template that you can fill in with a pencil.
5. Add details
Now that you have visualized your story you can add details. Do you have characters that have to be visualized in a certain way, are there requisites that should be considered?
6. Proofreading and feedback
Present your storyboard to your stakeholders or ask them to proofread it and collect their feedback. Once you are all on the same page and have agreed upon the storyboard you can take your video project in production. I hope these steps gave you some insight, to finish I have a few final tips for you!
Show don’t tell. Use your video as the ultimate test and see if the message you wanted to spread with your video sticks with your audience.
Create a cinematic video. Does your video do things that also happen in movies? Do characters and attributes move or are they standing still. Is there camera movement? Keep these in mind and let them work together to create a consistent story.
Make sure the video is logic and coherent. You are creating a story here, so the video should be consistent from the beginning till the end.
For the e-Learning projects I produce I often work with Vyond to create animated videos. Feel free to reach out if you can use some help with your next project!