Beginning to Storyboard!

As I mentioned in my planning post, I am trying to minimize how much paper I use. One activity that I used a lot of paper and pages in my journal for was storyboarding. Not that I consider myself a perfectionist, but I tend to get extremely obsessed with my handmade drawings being perfect, which resulted in a lot of ripped-out pages from my journal in my trash can.

I remember last year, in a discussion with my fellow classmates about our projects, that one person used an online storyboarding tool, but sadly I can not remember the name of the tool. With a quick Google search, I was able to find a few free ones!

1. Canva

I love Canva, but I never thought about using it for storyboarding! I used it last year for some of the graphics in my project, so I am extreme,y comfortable using this tool. I think the way that this article is thinking of using is by using the slideshow or presentation feature and their free stickers of people and objects. This option is also free, but I do not exactly see myself using Canva for storyboarding, it seems extremely foreign to me.

2. Boords

Oddly enough, the article is from Boords and is promoting other storyboarding tools, but I do find that respectable. This option is free, web-based, and the interface looks very easy to use. I did open up an account and 'begin' a project just to see how it looks. One of my favorite features already is that it allows for notes on the image that connects to what the action, sound, lighting, and camera would be in the shot. I love how detailed it would allow me to get with the storyboard, in comparison to what my hand-drawn storyboards look like. 

3. Plot

This tool is similar to Boords in the way that interfaces look simple and easy to navigate, but the features are different. This tool allows you to still draw your scenes and connects your images to certain parts of the script. The screenshot is not from my own project but from the video on the initial page on their website showing the tool, but I think it shows the main features extremely well. One aspect I especially like is that it connects to the script and the full script is then to the side with footnotes to each image.

I think that I will begin with Boords, as it seems more simple, but as I finalize my screenplay, I will use Plot to have an extremely clear image as to what I want each of my trailers to look like. Hopefully, they work out!