Creating a video may be as simple as sitting someone down for an interview and editing out the best parts.  Or it may involve simply filming some footage and adding font on the screen to get the message across.  Whatever the end result, an Outline and Storyboard are important documents to help you achieve the end goal you are looking for.

The Outline

The Outline is the plan for your video that determines what shots you need at a specific location, interview or activity.  Use it to break the video into subtopics and determine the flow of the video and any transitions from topic to topic.  You may find that some footage can only be obtained once and reshoots are an impossibility.

We all remember creating outlines in school.  This is no different.  You don’t need to stick to it once filming and editing start, but it will be helpful as a guide.

Start your Outline with the Overview.  This can be a short paragraph of a couple of sentences highlighting the Key Message for the video.  From there, break it into Scenes, Characters, Audio, Graphics, Product, Props and Final Call-To-Action.  Let’s look at each one individually:

Scenes

• Where will the action take place?
• How many different locations are there?
• Is a particular location needed to help strengthen the message?

Characters

• Who is on-screen?
• What purpose do they bring to the video?
• How many different characters are going to be in the video?

Audio

• Will the video use on-location audio for the story (interviews)?
• Will there be any Voice-Over needed?
• What is the style of voice (male, female, young, old, etc.)?
• Will there be any background music?

Graphics

• Company logos, colors or taglines.
• Any text on screen to further enforce the message?
• Animation?

Product

• If there is one, how does it fit into the story?
• How many times will it be onscreen?

Props

• Any major props needed and who will be providing them (phones, computers, furniture, etc).

Final Call-To Action

• What is the message that we want the audience to leave with?
• How do we make them Think, Feel, Do?

As you can see there is an endless number of details to consider and every question you ask and answer can lead to new questions.  The main idea of the Outline is to try to determine as many details as possible so that when you write the script, it all fits together.

The Storyboard

With the Outline done, let’s create the Storyboard.  Not every video will need one, but the production crew will find it immensely helpful for videos with multiple shoot locations and specific scenes to film.