The Storyboard is the equivalent of a rough draft of a paper, and is due on Friday, November 11 by 5pm as a PDF. It provides a scene-by-scene description of the story: what viewers will see (e.g. images, videos, graphs, writing), hear (most important your narration, or script; but also music), and other production details (behind the scenes details about what each scene requires). This is the first of the two major assignments for the project; the other is the rough cut/final story itself. A full bibliography (with primary sources, secondary sources, and sounds/music) is due with the Storyboard. See below for sites with free music (through Creative Commons licensing) you can use in your stories.
This is not a polished product; it’s just a guide. We’ll provide feedback as you embark on making the story.
The University of Houston’s Digital Storytelling website has examples of videos and their accompanying storyboards.
Steps
1. Complete script: Your completely narrated story, word-for-word. Identify the narrators at the start of the storyboard.
2. Complete images: every image you will pair with the script. If you’re using videos, include a screenshot from these.
3. Production details: These are the behind-the-scenes details that support each scene, and will help you to keep things organized. Indicate if images are screenshots from shorter videos; include information such as transitions, slide length, and any additional sound effects you will be using.
Use this storyboarding template to organize your visuals, script, and sequence. There’s some flexibility here: you can copy and paste images, or draw out it out by hand.
The 8 Key Ingredients
- Purpose. Why’s your topic important? What’s your question and your answer to it (i.e. what you want your viewers to know by the end of the story, or the thesis)? Are you trying to advocate, persuade, entertain, be critical, etc.? What’s your main message concerning masculinity?
- Point-of-View. What’s the perspective of the narrators (e.g. personal, journalistic, academic)? Are you using “I” or “we” or something else? What’s the tone (e.g. somber, uplifting, humorous, urgent, forceful, etc.)? How clearly does this point-of-view come across to viewers?
- Narration. How do you intend for the narration to sound? All narration should be clear, but what’s the tone (e.g. to be forceful, urgent, or more subtle? Will you highlight your voice by describing the group’s or narrator’s personal experiences? How well does the script draw on concepts from the secondary source material?
- Visuals. Why and how do the visuals support the story? How well organized are the visuals and how well do they complement the script? How well do the visuals support concepts in the secondary source material?
- Soundtrack. Why and how do the music and other sounds support the story? How well organized are the sounds and how well do they complement the script?
- Economy. How have you made sure not to overload viewers with information?
- Pacing. What’s the rhythm of the story? How slowly or quickly does it progress?
- Credits: In the closing credits, include each group member’s full name, acknowledgements and the names of peopled interviewed, the bibliography, and correct copyright attribution.
Music
These websites have tons of music you can download and use in your stories. Be sure to cite appropriately.
- Creative Commons’ Legal Music for Videos. Contains links to sites with with music published under Creative Commons’ flexible copyright licenses.
- Free Music Archive. You can browse by many genres. Here’s Freeden’s Spotify playlist of popular songs found on the Free Music Archive. (We’ll play this mix during our activities at the Tufts art gallery on October 31.) These artists have many more songs on the archive. You can also open this mix on the Spotify website.