Due: May 12, by the start of class.

Format: To communicate your storyboard, you can use the format of your choice: paper, presentation slides, dedicated storyboarding applications, etc. If you draw your storyboard on paper, please take a photo of it and submit it digitally.

The assignment

Your storyboard should consist of a sequence of shapes, each representing a section of your narrative. Inside each shape you should detail what kind of media you intend to include in the section and what each part’s role is in advancing your story.

This document should also include a few sentences about what platform you plan to use.

Why?

You’re preparing to give your readers a narrative experience, enriched by images, visualizations, and multimedia. It’s a lot to bear in mind, so it’s worth spending some time thinking about the sequencing and juxtaposition of all of these elements.

This assignment is meant to help you accomplish two elements of project preparation.

1. Envision the progression, organization, and flow of your data storytelling project.
2. Understand which assets (audio, video, text, visualizations, photographs, etc.) you need to gather in order to present your project.

Assignment adapted from the University of Guelph.

More on storyboards

Storyboarding is a project planning technique which uses a combination of text and images to lay out your ideas.  Storyboards can be used to help you plan an essay, a presentation or a digital media project. 

Why should I create a storyboard?

Storyboards can:

• Help you plan and communicate the main idea of your project.
• Keep your work clear and focused.
• Be used for many tasks in different contexts.  For example, they can help you plan an essay, a presentation or a digital media project.
• Be created in a variety of ways, and there is no single, ‘right’ way to create one.  Every storyboard will look different depending on the project.

What are the essential elements of a storyboard?

Storyboards are typically made up of these five elements:

1. Set of shapes made up of made up of text and images, which are often squares, rectangles or circles.  These shapes can be placed vertically, horizontally or in meaningful clusters and are often referred to as ‘panels.’
2. Shapes are placed in a logical sequence.  For example, boxes should be read across the page the same way we would read a book-starting in the top left, returning at the end of each line.
3. Boxes are filled with pictures, symbols and text.  This should include the graphics, text, information about the atmosphere and tone, angle of the camera, and a place for feedback. 
4. Any length, from two to two thousand shapes.  The length of your storyboard will depend on the length of your work.
5. Simple or complex as you need them to be.  You can use stick figures and short text, or more detailed drawings and longer sentences.