Multimedia storyboards

A multimedia storyboard sets out the narration, screen text, images and animation instructions for each slide of a narrated piece. It lets the sequence be discussed with the client and revised before animation begins.

Purpose

Storyboarding communicates information by telling a story and developed in the early days of animated film. ¹ Drug and device industries use it to train sales and marketing staff and inform the public, adapting learning materials to different audiences and media. ¹ Creating a storyboard encourages brainstorming and makes revision simpler before animation is developed. ²

Content planning

An effective storyboard requires in-depth understanding of the content, presented step by step to support comprehension and retention. ² Auditory and visual cues, narration and animated images reinforce the information and its retention. ^{2, 3}

The way information will be organised and conveyed should be settled before writing begins. ² Open dialogue with the client helps ensure that the approach suits the audience and the material is clear and accurate. ² Storyboard writers usually work with professional animators and narrators to produce the finished piece. ²

The five elements of the ADDIE model can guide the level of information and instructional approach. ²

1. Analyse the characteristics of the target audience and the topics to be learned.
2. Design an organisational and instructional approach that achieves the general and specific learning objectives.
3. Develop the instructional and training materials.
4. Implement them through interactive integration of text and graphics.
5. Evaluate early drafts with the client to confirm effective communication of the learning objectives and accuracy of the information.

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Slide components

Each slide should include four components. ⁴

1. Title: the project title, topic title, slide title and slide number, in that order.
2. Full-text audio narration: the narrator’s script accompanying the final animation.
3. Graphical description: detailed instructions for the animator to integrate the audio with the simultaneous and sequential appearance of drawings, graphs, tables or text.
4. Screen text and images: the actual materials to be animated.

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The font style and point size should be legible and support readability. ⁴

Narration and animation on one slide

A 2008 migraine-training slide for sales and marketing staff illustrates the coordination of text and audiovisual components. ^{5, 3} The example is slide 3 of 20 in a migraine-pathophysiology project, with Introduction as its topic and Characteristics of Migraine Headaches as its slide title. ⁵ Its graphical description instructs the animator to reveal each screen bullet in synchrony with the narration, pairing the spoken clauses with an image and an action. ⁵

A woman holding her head accompanies the introductory description; a tree accompanies the mention of inherited risk; and a man looking at a blurred view accompanies the discussion of aura. ⁵ A drawn woman is animated with dots in front of her face and an eye rotating in its socket for a visual disturbance, while a red area flashes on one side of the face to depict one-sided symptoms. ⁵ Succinct, plain screen text uses bold and underlining to emphasise the key characteristics. ³

Final review

The storyboard should be carefully edited and proofread. ⁶