Storyboards are the thing that turns a screenplay into a shootable plan. They unblock decisions, communicate vision, and expose problems early. They are also famously hard to make if you cannot draw.
Here is the workflow that works whether you draw by hand, hire an artist, or use AI tools like STORYLINER.
Step 1: Break the script into scenes
Start at the slug line. Every INT./EXT. break is a scene. For a feature, expect 40–80 scenes. For a 30-second spot, expect 3–5. For a music video, expect one scene per visual idea — usually 8–15.
Number the scenes. This is your scene list. Every panel in the storyboard will reference back to a scene number, so a producer can flip between deck and script in one move.
Read each scene twice. First read: what happens. Second read: what is the emotional unit. The emotional unit is what dictates shot choice. A scene about loneliness gets wide shots. A scene about confrontation gets close-ups.
Step 2: Decide shots per scene
A short action scene might be 8 shots. A long dialogue scene might be 4. The rule of thumb: one shot per camera setup.
For each shot, write three lines:
- Shot type (WS, MS, CU, ECU, OTS, POV)
- Camera movement (static, push, pull, pan, dolly)
- Intent ("feel her isolation", "land the punchline", "reveal the gun")
If you cannot write the intent line, the shot probably is not necessary. Cut it before you board it.
Step 3: Choose frames worth drawing
Not every shot needs a storyboard panel. Standard convention: board the key frame of each shot — the moment that defines what the audience sees. For a push-in, board the start frame and the end frame. For a long dolly, board start, mid, end.
A 40-shot scene might be 20–25 boards. A 6-shot commercial might be 8–10 boards (some shots get two panels).
Step 4: Maintain character continuity
Characters must look like themselves from frame 1 to frame 80. This is the single biggest failure mode of both human-drawn and AI-generated storyboards.
If you are drawing by hand, build a model sheet first — front, profile, three-quarter, basic wardrobe. Reference it on every panel.
If you are using AI, the tool must solve the character-drift problem. STORYLINER's Character Memory engine encodes a character once and conditions every subsequent frame on that encoding. Generic AI image tools (Midjourney, DALL-E) do not have this — every frame produces a different person.
Step 5: Annotate every panel
Each panel needs four annotations: scene number, shot number (1A, 1B, 1C if multiple per scene), shot type, and a one-line intent. Optional: dialogue line, sound cue, camera-movement arrows drawn directly on the panel.
A panel without notes is decoration. A panel with notes is a directive.
Step 6: Choose your style
- Internal blocking discussion: sketch or simple
- Client deck: lineart or classic
- Brand sell-through: realism
- Genre-styled pitch: pen art
Most teams maintain two styles per project — rough for internal iteration, polished for sign-off.
Step 7: Export and version
Standard deliverables: PDF (universal), PPT (agency-friendly), PNG (per-panel for online review tools). Version numbers matter: V1, V2, V3. Date every export.
When the script changes — and it always does — re-board only the affected scenes. With AI, this is minutes. With a human artist, this is days.
The AI shortcut
If you cannot draw and don't want to wait 3-7 days for a storyboard artist:
STORYLINER generates 30-frame storyboards from a script in under 2 minutes. Free tier, no credit card. 6 art styles. Direct Final Draft / Celtx / Fountain import. Character consistency across every frame.
Full guide with examples: storyliner.online/learn/how-to-storyboard
Top comments (0)