How to Storyboard a Commercial Video
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- You need
- A locked script, location photos
- Works with
- Paper, tablet or storyboard software
On this page
To storyboard a commercial video, break the locked script into beats and draw one panel per shot. Each panel shows the frame in the delivery aspect ratio, the shot size, where people and products sit, and which way they and the camera move. Add notes for audio, on-screen text and duration, then time the panels as an animatic before you build the shot list. This guide is part of our video production guide.
You'll need a locked script with numbered rows, photos from the location scout and frame templates for each format you deliver.
What a storyboard is for
A storyboard is the script turned into pictures: a sequence of drawings or photos, each with a caption, that shows how every shot will look and what the viewer will hear over it. For commercial work it has three audiences. The client sees what they are buying. The crew sees what to set up. The editor sees how the shots are meant to join.
It doesn't need to be art. Stick figures and arrows work if the framing and direction are clear. What a storyboard must do is answer the questions that cost money on set: how wide is this shot, where is the product, which way is she walking, and is there text on screen? Every question answered on paper is one less discussion while the crew waits.
Storyboard, shot list or animatic?
The three tools overlap, and teams often mix up their jobs. Each one answers a different question at a different time.
| Tool | Shows | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Storyboard | How each shot looks, in story order | Client approval, framing, direction |
| Shot list | Every shot as a task, in shoot order | Scheduling and running the shoot day |
| Animatic | Board panels played at planned timing | Pacing, length, voiceover fit |
Most commercial projects use all three, in that order. The storyboard comes from the script, the animatic tests the storyboard, and the shot list turns the approved boards into a shoot plan.
Steps
- Break the locked script into beats.
Work from the numbered rows of the A/V script. Mark every place where the picture changes: a new shot, a cut to product, a graphic. Give each beat a panel number that carries the script row number, such as 4A and 4B, so notes can be traced back. Don't start drawing until the script is approved. Boarding a moving script means redrawing panels.
- Draw frames in the delivery aspect ratio.
Use frame templates in the ratio the ad will play in. YouTube says 16:9 is its standard on a computer, and it accepts vertical uploads as Shorts. If one shoot feeds both, board the 16:9 frame and outline the vertical crop inside it. Then check that the subject and product still sit inside the crop.
- Choose a shot size for every panel.
Label each panel with its size: extreme long or establishing, wide, medium, close-up or extreme close-up. Wide shots set the place, medium shots show action and close-ups carry product detail and emotion. Look at the sequence as a whole. Several panels in a row at the same size usually cut together badly, so vary the size between shots of the same subject.
- Draw the line and keep screen direction.
On an overhead sketch of the location, draw the 180-degree line through the main action, usually along the eyelines of the people in the scene. Keep every camera position on one side of it, so people and movement face the same way from shot to shot. If a shot has to cross the line, board the move that crosses it.
- Mark subject and camera movement.
Use arrows inside the frame for subject movement and arrows outside it for camera moves. Label them as pan, tilt, push in, pull out, truck or crane. For a move that changes the framing, draw a start panel and an end panel. Moves need gear, space and rehearsal time, so the crew has to see them on the board. For what each move does, see camera movements.
- Write the panel notes.
Under each frame, write the panel number, shot size, a short action line, the voiceover or dialogue that plays over it, any sound effect, the exact on-screen text and a planned duration. Note props, products and wardrobe that must be in frame. These notes are what the client approves, so word them as plainly as the script.
- Board the variations up front.
Commercial work often needs several versions: different hooks, lengths or calls to action for testing. Board each variation as its own short sequence that shares panels with the main cut. Mark the shared panels so the crew films them once. Planning variations at this stage costs far less than inventing them in the edit from footage that wasn't shot for them.
- Time it as an animatic.
Put the panels on a timeline in your editing or storyboard software at their planned durations. Add a scratch voiceover read from the script and temporary music. Play it back with the client. Wrong pacing, missing shots and lines that don't fit their pictures show up here while changes are still cheap.
- Turn the boards into a shot list and get sign-off.
List every panel as a shot, then reorder for the shoot day by location and lighting setup. Our shot list template shows the columns. Get written approval of the final boards and animatic from the named approver, with a version number. Then add the props, locations and gear the boards call for to the pre-production checklist.
If you'd rather hand this stage to a crew, our in-house video production team starts every project with a treatment, shot list and clear scope, so the shoot is planned before anyone books a day.
What commercial clients sign off on
On commercial work, the approved storyboard is the reference everyone goes back to. Approvers tend to focus on four things, so make each one easy to see on the boards.
The first is the product. Show exactly how it appears in each panel: which side faces camera, with or without packaging, and what is legible. The second is on-screen text. Write it out word for word, because approvers often check supers line by line. The third is the people. Note who appears, what they wear and what they do with the product. The fourth is the end card: logo, call to action and any web address.
Keep a version number and date on every page. When a change comes in after approval, update the panel and the animatic and send both back with the change marked. It keeps one source of truth, and it makes the cost of a late change visible before the shoot, not during it.
Troubleshooting
The animatic runs long or feels slow
Cause: the panel durations were set by feel, not against the script read aloud, or there are more beats than the length allows. Product moments and end cards often get more time on the board than they will have in the cut.
Fix: lay the scratch voiceover down first and fit the panels to it, not the other way round. Cut whole beats before shaving frames from every panel. Merge panels that make the same point, and shorten establishing shots, which often need less time than boarded. Re-time the animatic after each pass and replay it from the start, because pacing problems only show when you watch the whole thing.
Shots won't cut together in the edit
Cause: the boards changed shot size too little between neighbouring panels, or camera positions crossed the 180-degree line without a planned move. Both produce cuts that jump or flip the direction people face, which viewers notice even if they can't say why.
Fix: go back to the overhead plan and check every camera position against the line. Where two neighbouring panels of the same subject are close in size or angle, change one of them, for example from medium to close-up. Add a cutaway or a neutral shot where the direction must change. Do this on the boards before the shoot. Afterwards, the only fix is a reshoot.
The client approved boards but rejects the footage
Cause: the panels left room for interpretation. The panel said "happy customer" or "product hero shot", and the client pictured something different from what the crew filmed. Rough sketches can also hide details the client cares about, such as packaging, colors or wardrobe.
Fix: make panel notes specific: who, wearing what, doing what, with which product facing which way. Use photos of the real location, props and products on the boards wherever possible, and walk the client through the animatic rather than sending a PDF. For the shots that matter most to them, agree on a reference image before the shoot, and keep it on set.
Common questions
Do I need to be able to draw to make a storyboard?
No. A storyboard only has to show framing, who or what is in shot, and where things move. Stick figures, boxes and arrows do that. Many crews use photos taken on the location scout, or stand-ins photographed on a phone, and sketch over them. What matters is that every panel is clear about shot size, direction and action.
How many panels does a commercial storyboard need?
One panel per shot, plus extra panels for any shot where the framing changes during a camera move. A short spot with quick cuts can need more panels than a longer piece built on a few slow shots. Count shots from the script's video column rather than aiming for a number, and board every shot that involves action, product detail or graphics.
What is the 180-degree rule in a storyboard?
It is an imaginary line through the main action, often traced along the eyelines of the people in the scene. Keeping every camera position on one side of that line keeps people and movement facing the same way on screen from shot to shot. Draw the line on your overhead plan and check each panel against it before the shoot.
Is an animatic worth making for a short ad?
Usually, yes. An animatic plays the panels in order at their planned durations, with scratch voiceover and music. It shows pacing problems, missing shots and lines that don't fit their pictures while changes are still cheap. For a short spot it can be a quick timeline cut of the panel images, made in the same software you'll edit in.