How can you determine the best storyboard revisions for film production?

A storyboard is a visual representation of your film's script, showing the main actions, transitions, and camera angles of each scene. It helps you plan your production, communicate your vision, and avoid costly mistakes. However, creating a storyboard is not a one-time process. You may need to revise your storyboard several times to improve your story, adapt to feedback, or accommodate changes in resources. How can you determine the best storyboard revisions for film production? Here are some tips to help you.

1 Review your goals

Before you make any changes to your storyboard, you should review your goals for your film. What is the main message, theme, or emotion you want to convey? Who is your target audience and what are their expectations? How do you want to use the visual elements of film, such as lighting, color, composition, and movement, to support your story? Your goals should guide your decisions and help you evaluate your storyboard's effectiveness.

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Ty Javos

Actor | Filmmaker | Project Manager | Vancouver, BC
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I begin by reviewing project goals and seeking feedback from collaborators and test audiences. Comparing alternatives and considering practicalities, like budget and schedule, is vital. Finally, I seek approval from stakeholders, ensuring alignment with guidelines and using tools like FrameForge or Boords for clear documentation. This process helps me create effective storyboards that preserve creative direction and clarity for successful film production.

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Steve Marino

Executive Creative Director, Director, VFX Supervisor
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Storyboards will take you so far, and as such I tend to go back and forth with them in conjunction with building the animatic to see if camera motion, framing, and timing is working.

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2 Get feedback

Another way to determine the best storyboard revisions is to get feedback from others. You can ask for opinions from your collaborators, such as the director, producer, cinematographer, or editor, who may have different perspectives and insights on your storyboard. You can also test your storyboard with a sample of your audience, such as friends, family, or focus groups, who can give you honest reactions and suggestions. Feedback can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your storyboard, as well as any gaps, errors, or inconsistencies.

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Steve Marino

Executive Creative Director, Director, VFX Supervisor
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A picture is worth a thousand words. I start off with honing down those words breaking them into frames, and then adding moves to them with either rough VO or audio bed to see if what is in my head is working. This is an evolving process that is based on schedule, so I may add boards or remove, based on the animatic accordingly.

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3 Compare alternatives

Sometimes, you may have more than one option for revising your storyboard. For example, you may want to try different angles, shots, or transitions for a scene, or rearrange the order of the scenes, or add or remove some scenes. To compare alternatives, you can create multiple versions of your storyboard and see how they affect your film's flow, pace, and mood. You can also use tools such as Storyboarder or Storyboard That to easily create and edit digital storyboards.

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4 Consider practicalities

While revising your storyboard, you should also consider the practicalities of film production. Some revisions may be more feasible and cost-effective than others, depending on your budget, schedule, location, equipment, and crew. For example, you may want to avoid complex or risky shots that require special effects, stunt work, or permits, or scenes that involve many actors, props, or sets. You should also check if your revisions are consistent with the script, the shot list, and the production design.

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Steve Marino

Executive Creative Director, Director, VFX Supervisor
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The storyboard is the pre-viz that should anticipate the blocking of the shits with camera motion, what can be done practically vs. full CG, or VFX augmentation. To me, it beck es the foundation for scat to expect in cost, execution, and planning.

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5 Seek approval

Finally, you should seek approval for your storyboard revisions from the relevant stakeholders, such as the client, the sponsor, the distributor, or the network. Depending on the scope and scale of your film project, you may need to follow certain guidelines, standards, or contracts for your storyboard revisions. You should also document and communicate your revisions clearly and accurately, using tools such as FrameForge or Boords to generate professional and detailed storyboard reports.

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Steve Marino

Executive Creative Director, Director, VFX Supervisor
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The animatic is developed with the client seeing the process and us revised throughout it with their input. This way, they know what is involved from all aspects , and if anything is modified after the final animatic. There are time and budget ramifications that will need to be addressed accordingly.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you determine the best storyboard revisions for film production?

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3

4

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1 Review your goals

2 Get feedback

3 Compare alternatives

4 Consider practicalities

5 Seek approval

6 Here’s what else to consider

Film Production

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How can you determine the best storyboard revisions for film production?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Review your goals

2 Get feedback

3 Compare alternatives

4 Consider practicalities

5 Seek approval

6 Here’s what else to consider

Film Production

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

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