Storyboard Rules: Essential Guide To The Art Of Storyboarding

Storyboard rules are a set of guidelines that help you to create a better storyboard. A storyboard is an image sequence that depicts each scene of a narrative.

The main purpose of these rules is to make sure that there is an efficient layout and flow in your storyboard.

It also helps you to determine which parts of the script are crucial for your storyboard, while it’s more effective to show those vital scenes at the beginning and end of the script rather than during its middle.

In order to understand these rules, you first have to know what they mean. Here are some useful definitions:

Story structure: The framework upon which your story is based; how the story will be told and how it will be structured into chapters or acts that make up a play or movie.

Scene: A single unit in a film or play with a beginning, middle, and end; usually takes place in one location, but could be expanded from there if necessary.

Character: The actors who portray characters in a film or play; these actors should be clearly stated in the script so that directors can know who plays each character and which character they are playing when needed for continuity purposes during production and post-production editing phases

1. Storyboard Rules Each Panel Should Tell A Story

I’ve learned a lot about storytelling by reading, watching and thinking about comic strips. I’m not sure if it’s good or bad that I have so much time on my hands to think about them. Here are some of the rules that I’ve learned:

Each panel should tell a story. This is the most important rule of all, and it’s also the hardest one to follow. If you look at any comic strip, you’ll notice that there’s almost always a line between each panel in which nothing happens.

It could be a person walking down the street or two people fighting over an insult; whatever it is, it needs to be part of the story being told in that particular panel. If not, then why would anyone waste time looking at it?

The reader should know what’s going on at all times while following along with the story line. In other words, if you’re going to ask your reader to read every word in every panel as if they’re watching TV (which some people do), then don’t leave him hanging! That’s why many strips have captions like “So what happened?” or “What happens next?” These captions help readers keep up

2. Storyboard Rules Consider The Aspect Ratio

 Storyboard rules are different from the rules of other types of graphic design. The reason for this is that storyboards are designed to help you understand how your story will unfold, as well as how it will look when finished. You can’t just draw a bunch of pictures and hope it makes sense later.

The first thing you need to know is that the aspect ratio of your storyboard needs to be large enough to fit all the elements you want to put in it: pictures, captions and text. This will ensure that your information is visible at all times without being too small or too big.

For example, if you’re designing a brochure for an event with two days worth of content, then each page should have about 20-25% more space than the average sheet size for A4 or Letter size paper.

This way readers won’t have to scroll down too far or zoom in on individual pieces of information just so they can read them clearly!

   

3. Storyboard Rules Account For Movement In Composition

 Storyboard rules account for movement in composition. Movement is the process of changing from one state or place to another. For example, if you are playing a song on an instrument and then end up in a different key, that’s movement.

The main storyboard rule that counts for this is the “change” rule, which states that when we see something move from one place to another, it has to be a change. Changes include shifts in location (moving from one room to another), shifts in time (instrumental passages), shifts in pitch (a change from C major to G minor), and shifts in sound quality (a change from bright to dark).

In other words, if you start off playing a piece in C major, then end up playing it in E minor later on after some shifting around by instruments, that’s not movement because nothing changed except the location of your playing.

In addition, if you play a piece twice but change only one note between each performance, that’s not movement either because there was no shift in pitch or sound quality between performances.

4. Storyboard Rules Keep Your Continuity

The last thing you want to do is keep a continuity mistake when you’re shooting. That’s why it’s important to follow these rules of thumb when creating your storyboard:

Place all of your actors on the same set. If you have two different scenes in two different locations, make sure that they are connected by a common room (like a living room or kitchen) that is used in both scenes.

This will help make sure that everything remains consistent throughout each scene.

Avoid using props or furniture from one set that doesn’t belong in another scene. For example, if your actor is sitting down at a desk in their living room and takes out his laptop, don’t use that exact laptop prop again later on in the scene when he is in a meeting at work.

Instead, use another computer prop for the second location so that nothing looks out of place or confusing for viewers.

Use the same lighting setup for every shot from start to finish — even if it changes from location to location. This way, no matter where your shot is taking place within your storyboard, viewers won’

5. Storyboard Rules Obey The 180-Degree Rule

The 180-degree rule applies to all stories. It means that if you want your hero to move left, he should move to the right. If you want him to move up, he should go down. If you want him to move right, he should go left.

It helps keep everything in perspective and gives your story a sense of continuity. You don’t have to think about it too much when you’re writing the script  just remember that if you want your character to go from one place to another, he shouldn’t be able to just turn around and head back in the other direction as soon as he gets there.

The 180-degree rule also makes it easy for actors when they read your script. They know exactly what’s going on at any given time and can easily follow along with the action without having to stop every few lines and figure out where they are supposed to be looking or what direction they’re supposed to be moving in order for them to be on screen at that moment in time.”

Create Your Own Storyboard

 When you’re working on a new storyboard, it can be hard to know where to start. Here are some tips for creating your own storyboard:

1. Know Your Audience

Before you even think about what kind of story you want to tell, it’s essential that you know who your audience is and what they want from your content. This is especially true when you’re creating a narrative-driven video like a video game trailer or an explainer video.

2. Break It Down

Once you understand who your audience is and what they want from your content, it’s time to break down the different elements that make up each scene in your storyboard. These elements might include characters, settings, dialogue and action sequences — anything that will make up the plot of the video.

3. Create Your Treatment

After breaking down all of the elements that make up each scene in your narrative, it’s time to create a treatment for each scene. A treatment is basically a brief summary of what happens in each scene with simple text descriptions of each section instead of visual images or animations used in most treatments today (if there are any at all).

Storyboard Tips

 Storyboards are an important part of any visual design process. They can help you communicate your ideas, organize them into a logical sequence, and present them in an attractive way.

Here are some tips for creating effective storyboards:

1. Plan your stories: Storyboards are meant to be read from left to right, top to bottom. This makes it easy for readers to follow the flow of your content. You can use numbers or other symbols to indicate where each piece of information should go next in your storyboard.
2. Make it interactive: If you want your audience to interact with your content, add interactive elements such as links, buttons, or call-to-actions (CTAs). These will allow people to jump directly into specific parts of the story without having to search through all the visuals first.
3. Use real images: Real photos and videos are more effective than stock images because they’re more representative of how people actually interact with a product or service on a daily basis (unlike a picture of an iPhone). They also look more professional than stock photos and can make your stories easier for viewers to understand what’s going on

What Are Storyboard Rules – Wrap Up

 So, what are storyboard rules? The simple answer is that they are guidelines for creating a storyboards that will help you and your team to create a more effective product.

Here’s how they can help you:

1. Make sure your storyboard has a clear beginning, middle, and end. This helps with pacing and momentum in the overall look of your product.
2. Be consistent with color palettes and typography throughout the different parts of your product. Remember that consistency is key when it comes to user experience design, so make sure all of the text on each page looks similar in every way possible!
3. You’ll want to use line art or illustrations in some areas of your storyboards so that they aren’t too busy or cluttered up with words and numbers. Also remember that line art can be used on any size of paper; just make sure you do so for each part of the process (beginning, middle and end).