Keeping a storyboard simple means drawing only what you need to make the next decision. Every extra detail is another thing to maintain and another reason to stall.
A simple board gets finished. A complicated one gets abandoned around frame four, which is worse than no board at all.
A board you finish is worth more than a board you perfect.
Detail invites doubt. The more you draw, the more there is to second-guess, and second-guessing eats the time the board was meant to save.
A dense board also hides its own weak spots. When everything has equal detail, nothing stands out as the shot that needs fixing.
Simplicity keeps the board honest. Blank space shows you exactly where the plan is thin.
Each frame should answer a single question about the shot. If a frame is trying to show framing and lighting and a costume change, split it.
Fewer ideas per frame means more frames, which is fine. Small frames are quick to draw and quick to scan.
Choose a fixed level of detail and hold it. Stick figures with a horizon line are enough for most videos.
The cap stops you from drifting into rendering. It also keeps every frame comparable, so you can read the board at a glance.
If one frame suddenly has more detail than the others, ask why. Sometimes it means that shot matters more, and sometimes it means you are avoiding a harder frame.
Leave the board overnight and look again. A simple board lets you reabsorb the whole plan in seconds, which makes review cheap.
Any frame you cannot understand at a glance was either drawn too busy or is doing too much. Either way, simplicity is the fix.
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Rough storyboard frames are supposed to be ugly. A box, a stick figure, and an arrow can hold an idea that a clean drawing would only ever bury.
Talking head videos still need a storyboard, but not to plan the face. The board plans every cutaway that keeps a long edit from ever stalling.
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