Often clients ask us if we can provide them with a storyboard or script before we head into production. It’s a great question because good planning ensures we make the best use of time and budget. No surprise pickups or extra days of filming. Less frustration due to miscommunication at the post-production stage. Everyone is on the same page from the get-go. Having said that, what kind of planning is appropriate for your project?
Storyboard
A storyboard is a sequence of pictures that allows us to visualize what the video will look like. The example below shows the first 30 seconds (not including title screens) of a video educating users about boat maintenance. Notice the sketchiness of the drawings. As long as we can understand the main idea, the quality of the drawing is unimportant. The following storyboard is an example taken from a video Digital Cyclops created for Seastar Solutions. It is an interview-style video, where the sequence of the content is important and the exact words are not.
Storyboards are excellent for planning videos or films that tell a predetermined story and include specific visual information. Educational videos, videos that show a product in use, documentaries, and trailers are examples of projects that might benefit from having some visual planning. Storyboards may also be useful for communication on larger scale projects and ones with multiple stakeholders involved.
Since storyboards are a relatively labour-intensive form of planning, keeping pictures to key scenes, using apps with general imagery, and grabbing common images from online are good ways to balance budget concerns with the need to create a collaborative vision.
Script
Other videos use voice over as the primary structure to the message, using images to highlight the words being said. In this case, a storyboard is unnecessary. Planning time is better used refining a written script.
In this video for the Pacific Autism Family Network, voice over is a key element and needs to be scripted. B-roll and stock footage then highlight the main messages communicated through words. The interviews interspersed throughout the second half of the video are unscripted and lend the spontaneity and sincerity needed for a more human connection.
Any voice over will always need to be scripted since your voice over artist will need to know what to say. Be sure to include direction for tone, speed, and mood in your script. If specific images should connect with specific parts of the script, consider using a storyboard style planner or a document table.
Scripts also allow direction for pacing and acting. Dramatizations and ad-style promotions can be well planned using scripts.
Outline
The loosest plan of all is the outline. Even when storyboarding or scripting, you may want to start with an outline to ensure everyone is on the same page before getting to work on the details. Sometimes, though, all you need is an outline.
An outline is a list of the major parts of a video. It may include interview questions that draw out information or soundbites you want to include in the final product.
An outline for the first half of the above video might look like this:
Videos that are structured around interviews don’t need more than an outline, if that. At Digital Cyclops, we often spend some planning time talking to the person who will be interviewed, in order to create the right questions for Production Day. Since the expert will be speaking about a known subject, they don’t need to rehearse. Their knowledge and passion come across in the video, and the editor can then cut it into an engaging sequence that makes sense.
The Client’s Role
As a client, you want to know that the videographer you have hired is going to do the job you want them to do. After all, hundreds or thousands of dollars are at stake. Expect to invest up to 10% of that for planning, depending on the project’s complexity. Before you head into Production Day, request some evidence of planning appropriate to the project. As the subject matter expert, you would usually be asked to collaborate on any storyboards, scripts, or outlines. You or another person on staff might even prefer to write the script yourselves, so that the message you want to convey is what is communicated in the final video. You may also like to provide a list of shots you want to show up in the video. An experienced videographer will collaborate with you and ask for necessary information. They will then put that together with work timelines and equipment lists, to create a plan for the project as a whole.
