Storyboarding
Fundamentals

Animation Mentor · Workshop

Learn how to storyboard for film, TV, and video games in this 6-week workshop. Storyboarding artists are sought-after in the film, TV, commercial, and animation industries. If you want to learn how to create professional storyboards, you need to start learning from the masters.

Enroll at Animation Mentor See the Curriculum

Mentored by a Working Studio ProWeekly Live Q&As + 1:1 Feedback6-Week Mentor-Led Workshop

6 WeeksMentor-Led Workshop

WeeklyLive Q&As + 1:1 Feedback

Photoshop + Storyboard ProIndustry Software

All LevelsBeginner-Friendly

Studios That Hire Our Students

Learn From the Best

Pro Animators Mentor You to Be Successful

Our workshop allows you to learn, analyze, and get 1:1 feedback and reviews from our mentors who are professional storyboard artists. We don't want you to learn from a textbook a few times. We want you to learn directly from working studio pros and improve your skills.

Mike Kunkel

Cartoonist & Supervising Director

Why This Course

Why Take Storyboarding Fundamentals at Animation Mentor

1-on-1 Feedback From a Studio Pro

During this 6-week workshop, you'll have live Q&As with your mentor each week in addition to receiving 1:1 feedback and reviews on your assignment designed to build your skills.

Learn From an Award-Winning Industry Veteran

With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Mike Kunkel guides you through the essentials of storytelling and storyboarding so you understand the techniques the pros use.

Live Weekly Q&As

Join weekly 1-hour live Q&A sessions with your mentor, on top of on-demand lectures and your storyboarding assignment.

Story-First Storyboarding

Learn how to analyze a story to create strong storyboards that communicate visually.

Course Outcomes

What You'll Be Able to Do

Analyze a story to create strong storyboards that communicate visually
Build a solid foundation in the fundamentals of storyboarding, including pacing, beats, camera angles, and timing
Break down any story so it can be told visually by an animator, cinematographer, or commercial director
Generate ideas and structure the building blocks of a storyboard sequence
Understand story beats and timing, and how each panel moves the narrative forward
Incorporate thumbnails into your storyboarding process to plan a shot quickly before committing
Use humor and emotion to portray a feeling and keep an audience engaged
Tell a story through visuals and lead the audience's eye through a sequence

Skills You'll Gain

Visual storytellingShot compositionSequence boardingStory beats & timingPacingCamera anglesThumbnailingAdobe PhotoshopStoryboard ProConveying emotion & humor

What You'll Build

Storyboarding Fundamentals is built around a hands-on storyboarding assignment with weekly 1:1 mentor feedback, so you walk away with a real, story-driven sequence you can show.

Thumbnail Pass

A set of quick thumbnails that map out your story's beats and shots, the fast, low-commitment way the pros plan a sequence before committing to final boards.

A Story-Driven Sequence

A boarded sequence with a clear rhythm shot-to-shot, leading the viewer's eye and moving the narrative forward panel by panel.

A Polished Storyboard

Your sequence refined with 1:1 mentor feedback into clean, readable boards that communicate the story visually and keep an audience engaged.

Inside the Course

The Storyboarding Fundamentals Curriculum

Part 01

Ideas & Structure of a Storyboard

Learn how to quickly share your vision and start to understand the structure of a storyboard.

Storyboarding is an incredibly powerful tool that allows you to quickly share your vision and to quickly iterate ideas. In this first session, we'll go over the basics of storyboarding, including structure and common terms, as well as visual storytelling through live demonstrations and examples.

Sharing your vision quickly through boards
The structure of a storyboard
Storyboarding terms & visual storytelling

Part 02

Understanding Story Beats & Timing

Learn the main beats that provide the core structure of the story, and how each beat moves the narrative forward.

Storyboarding is all about identifying the main beats that provide the core structure of the story. In this session, we'll learn all about beat boards and what role they play in storyboarding to help tell a complete story.

Identifying story beats
Beat boards & their role
Timing across a sequence

Part 03

Incorporating Thumbnails Into the Process

Learn how thumbnails communicate your ideas in a low-stakes, friendly way.

When drafting a visual story, you want to clearly and simply communicate your ideas in a low-stakes, friendly way. Thumbnails are about to become your best friend! They may seem simple, but we'll look at the huge impact they have on storytelling and see how to incorporate them into your process.

Why thumbnails matter
Planning a shot before committing
Thumbnails in your storyboarding workflow

Part 04

Laughter Is Food for the Soul: Portraying Humor

Use humor to keep an audience engaged and portray a feeling in your storyboards.

Humor can be a powerful storytelling tool, but it's easy to miss the mark with your audience if your punchlines are off. In this session, we'll analyze what makes a great joke and how those 12 years of improvised on-the-cinema-screen-or-stage classes are about to come in handy. We'll go over how the timing and delivery of humor can make or break your boards.

What makes a joke land
Timing & delivery of humor
Keeping an audience engaged

Part 05

Be a Visual Storyteller

Learn how to lead the audience's eye and tell a complete story through visuals.

In the previous sessions, we've focused on building on our storyboarding toolset. Armed with these tools, we're now ready to get into the core of storytelling: how to use the visuals you've created and sequences, and how you learn to use the camera to tell a moment and bring stronger emotional impact to a scene.

Leading the audience's eye
Using the camera to tell a moment
Bringing emotion to a scene

Enrollment

Ready to Start Animating?

Storyboarding Fundamentals is a 6-week, mentor-led workshop. Enroll at Animation Mentor.

Enroll at Animation Mentor

6-week mentor-led workshop
Weekly live Q&As + 1:1 feedback
Taught in Adobe Photoshop + Storyboard Pro
$899 USD

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Storyboard?

A storyboard is a sequence of drawings that maps out a story visually, shot by shot, so a team can see the pacing, camera angles, and timing of a scene before it's produced. It's an incredibly powerful tool for quickly sharing your vision and iterating on ideas.

What Is the Purpose of a Storyboard?

Storyboards break a story down so it can be told visually by an animator, cinematographer, or commercial director. They let you plan and communicate beats, shots, and timing quickly, and iterate before committing to a finished piece.

What Does a Storyboard Artist Do?

Storyboard artists analyze a story and translate it into a visual sequence, choosing shots, camera angles, and timing to lead the audience's eye and keep them engaged.

How Much Time Should I Expect to Spend in Class Each Week?

This is a 6-week, mentor-led workshop with 6 on-demand video lectures, a weekly 1-hour live Q&A with your mentor, and one storyboarding assignment with 1:1 feedback and reviews to build your skills.

What Software and Skills Do I Need Before I Start?

You should be comfortable using Adobe Photoshop and Storyboard Pro. If you're brand new to those tools, take some time to get familiar with the basics so you can focus on storytelling. The workshop is taught in English and is open to students 18 and older.

Who Teaches the Workshop?

Storyboarding Fundamentals is mentored by Mike Kunkel, a Story Development Artist at The Astound Factory with over 25 years of award-winning industry experience as a professional storyboard artist and character designer.