Guideline 5: Create a detailed storyboard before work on the actual creation begins
Creating storyboards is an often overlooked part of the digital storytelling process, and for many
students, storyboarding may seem like a tedious extra step in the development. However,
storyboarding can be a valuable component in the creative process by allowing the student to
organize images and text in a blueprint fashion before the actual creation begins. It allows the
student to visualize how the project will be put together and helps illustrate what portions of the
story need more work because they can see the entire plan laid out in front of them. Storyboarding
can also inspire new ideas as well as let the student rearrange existing resources before the final
development begins, when changes may be harder to make. Storyboards provide a way to decide
how the digital story script can be split up into individual pieces, either with or without placeholder
images, so that the student can then get a clearer overview of their digital story plan. Storyboards
may be created on a computer using programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint, as
well as specialized software such Celtx media pre-production software, available from:
http://celtx.com/download.html
Storyboards may also be sketched by hand, allowing students who do not have access to a
computer to complete this phase of development. The most important thing to remember is that
creating a storyboard is an integral part of the pre-development process that should not be
skipped.