Visual Storytelling and Storyboards

Objectives

• Learn how visual stories are told.

• Understand the elements of a story.

• Explore industries that use storyboards.

Visual Storytelling

• Visuals establish the setting in which a narrative story takes place.

• Camera framing, angles, and movement allow the audience to become active viewers as they watch the action unfold.

Show Me

• Showing” allows you to mold a message into visual imagery.

• Show the actions of the characters, aesthetics of the locations, and how the characters feel.

Elements of a Story

• Beginning—establishes the location and introduces the main character and conflict of the story

• Middle—where the hero faces

complications and obstacles within the story

• End—where the climax and

resolution of the problem occurs

Storyboards

• A series of sketches that are use

d as a planning tool to visually show how the action of a story unfolds

Purpose of the Storyboard

• Clearly conveys the narrative flow of a story by defining the challenges and problems of a project

• Assists in the timing of a scene

• Assists crewmembers during production for framing the action

Industries That Use Storyboards

• Advertising

• Film

• Animation

• Television

• Multimedia

• Web design

• Government

Summary

• The principals of visual storytelling have been taken to new heights with the emergence of film, television, computers, and animation.

• Stories with structure have a beginning, middle, and end.

• When creating a visual story, you need to show the elements rather than tell it.

– Read screenplays to further your understanding of visual storytelling.

• Storyboards are sketches that visually show how the action of a story unfolds.