Screenwriting Product Review: Storyboard Quick Software

You've just written a killer script and want to produce it, but now what? One of the first steps in shooting a movie, documentary, commercial or just about any other video project is creating a good story board. What's a storyboard? The best example I can give you is a comic strip or comic book. These accomplish the same thing that a storyboard does for a movie or video shoot by condensing the whole script into a few drawings. A good production always has a storyboard. It's a tool that helps possible investors to envision your project. It guides the director and camera operators in the production of the video. It helps you organize your movie.

“But I can't draw!” You say. StoryBoard Quick 6.1 to the rescue. StoryBoard Quick 6.1 is a really cool software program to help you create your storyboards quickly and cleanly. I checked it out, and here are my observations.

First and foremost, you do not need to know how to draw. StoryBoard Quick 6.1 has a huge collection of backgrounds for interior and exterior shots. It's got several characters, both men and women, in poses such as standing, walking, sitting, jumping and prone. Plus, they are all rotatable so you can really get creative. StoryBoard Quick 6.1 has a large library that includes such things as props, animals, and vehicles. If you don't see what you need, expansion libraries are available for purchase. You can also import your own backgrounds from your photo collection and elements from your clipart library. StoryBoard Quick 6.1 even has some simple drawing tools if you need them.

You can import your script into StoryBoard Quick 6.1 and add storyboards directly into it, giving you visual clues to the action. Export it as a PDF, print it out on paper, or export as a flash movie. The possibilities are practically endless in how you can share your project. I played around a bit with it and here are my results:

First, I started with a blank page:

I made two panes, the first one is a man standing next to a fence watching a horse. I can't draw that by hand but with StoryBoard Quick 6.1 I was able to create it. First I imported the background of the field. I then added a man, shrunk him to the proper proportion and rotated him so he is facing the right way. I then added a horse, which is also rotatable, to complete the scene.

I know... awesome. Feel free to print it out and hang it on your fridge. Moving on, using my script, I needed a woman walking down some railroad tracks. StoryBoard Quick 6.1 does not have a picture of railroad tracks, so I grabbed my cell phone, ran out in the woods behind my house, and snapped a picture of train tracks. I e-mailed the picture to myself and ran back in the house. All I had to do now was download the picture and import it into StoryBoard Quick 6.1 as my background. I then added the included character of a woman walking plus a directors arrow, also included, to show that she is walking towards the camera.

Here is a view of my extremely simple two-frame storyboard all created in minutes:

The characters are customizable as far as skin and clothing color goes too. At just under 250 bucks, StoryBoard Quick 6.1 is the entry level version (now ON SALE until June 30, 2013). You can purchase larger versions with more characters, poses, props and more features, of course. I do feel that it's worth the investment to move up to StoryBoard Studio version because of all the added features for not much more dough.

PROS:
Easy to use, once you get the hang of it. Fun. Much cheaper than hiring a storyboard artist. Professional results. Tons of import and export options.

CONS:
Some of the drawing are kind of cheesy looking.

BOTTOM LINE:
An excellent choice to create storyboards for anyone who can't draw or afford a professional storyboard artist. Keeps projects looking professional and on budget.

Click on any of the images above to watch a quick overview of Storyboard Quick 6.1 in action!

At a Glance: