Storyboard Layout, Panels, Arrows and Annotation
The panel sheet
Draw inside a 16:9 frame (or the project's ratio, such as 2.39:1 for widescreen). Keep a safe-area margin so nothing important is lost in cropping. Number panels left to right, top to bottom, in reading order, and add the scene number (1A, 1B, 2) so the editor can match boards to script pages. Leave a gutter between panels and a text block beneath each one.
Arrows
- Subject arrows show where the actor or an object moves inside the frame.
- Camera arrows show where the camera moves. Draw them at the frame edge, pointing in the direction of travel, and label PAN, TILT, TRACK, DOLLY IN, CRANE or ZOOM.
- Use two colours or two line weights, and never use a camera arrow for a subject move.
Annotation fields
Panel number, shot size and angle, action description, dialogue line, camera move, duration, sound effect, and transition (CUT, DISSOLVE, WIPE, FADE, MATCH CUT).
Worked example
A chase enters a narrow lane. Panel 4 shows a runner mid-stride with an arrow curving from the left edge to the right, plus the note 'TRACK R, 2 s, footsteps'. Reasoning: the arrow follows the subject's path inside the frame, the label tells the camera crew the move, and the note records duration and sound for the editor.
Traps that cost marks
- Drawing a camera move but writing no label.
- Panels numbered out of reading order.
- Action shown in the drawing but never written in the text block, so sound and edit lose the intent.
- Ignoring aspect ratio, so heads are cropped on delivery.
- Mixing subject arrows and camera arrows in the same colour.