“Those who fail to plan,
plan to fail.”
– Winston Churchill
Storyboards play an important role in ensuring that the creative vision for your video is the same as what is realized on the screen. Here we will look at how storyboards are used in corporate video production, why you might want to use them, and when a storyboard may not be your best option.
What Is A Storyboard?
A storyboard is a graphical representation of the corporate video you plan to create. Most storyboards will be composed of a sequence of squares inside of which are illustrations which represent a specific shot. Next to these illustrations are notes about what will occur in that particular scene including any dialogue.
What Are The Benefits Of Using Storyboards?
Share Your Vision For The Video
You might have a very clear idea of what the video will look like. But for other people conceptualizing that vision is often much more difficult. Storyboards provide a clear and easy way for everyone involved in a project to have a good understanding of what it will look like.
Prevent Disappointed Clients
Having storyboards helps avoid disappointed clients who may not fully grasp exactly what the video production agency intended to create. Instead clients can have a clear idea of what the final video will look like before filming starts. This is the time when changes are much easier and less expensive to make.
Focus Your Ideas
Storyboards are also useful for organizing and focusing your ideas. Storyboards force you to think in practical terms about how you would shoot a video given the parameters of time and money. By putting a creative concept into a storyboard you can move it from a fanciful idea to something solid that you can take action on.
Streamline The Production Process
Storyboards take more time upfront but can actually save you a lot of time when it comes to shooting your corporate video. Having a storyboard means that all of the production crew are “reading off the same page” when it comes to shooting. Having a shot by shot sequence to work to can save both time and money.
How To Create Storyboards
The most important goal for your storyboards are that they are clear and easily understood by anyone who needs to use them. Storyboards do not need to be overly detailed in order to achieve this goal.
A storyboard just need to have enough visual information that the viewer can understand which characters are in a shot, what they are doing and an understanding of the shot choice. Notes can be added in which explain transitions, camera angles, movements and dialogue.
There are a number of different ways of producing a storyboard. Storyboards can be created by hand sketching, using photographs or using a design program like Illustrator.
When Are Storyboards Not Appropriate?
While storyboards can be an incredibly useful tool, that are not appropriate for all types of corporate videos. Storyboards are usually not usually suitable for unpredictable filming situations such as capturing a live event. They are also usually a waste of time and resources 
for simple set-ups such as talking head videos. In cases where storyboards are not appropriate it is usually better to use a shot list.
Storyboards take time, and won’t be appropriate for all types of videos. However, for more complex types of corporate video projects, the time spent on storyboards can be well worthwhile in streamlining the production and ensuring that everyone involved will be happy with the final video.
Bold Content offers full creative development and storyboarding as part of our service offerings.
If you need a corporate video then we would love to work with you.
Call us on 0203 637 1467 or use our contact form below.