Free template

Free storyboard template (printable, 16:9)

You do not need to draw well to storyboard well. A storyboard’s job is to answer three questions before the set does: what is in the frame, where is the camera, and what moves. Stick figures answer all three.

This template gives you 16:9 frames — the aspect ratio you are almost certainly shooting — six per page with a shot label and two caption lines each, as a print-ready PDF.

Free for any production, commercial or personal. No signup required.

What to put in each frame

  • The frame edge is the drawing. Composition is the decision — where people and objects sit in the rectangle.
  • Arrows for movement: one arrow style for subjects, another for the camera (push in, pan, track). Label camera moves in the caption.
  • Shot label matching your shot list (12A, 12B) so boards, list, and schedule speak the same language.
  • One caption line for action, one for camera. "Anna enters, stops at the door" / "Slow push 35mm".

Board what is expensive, skip what is not

Boarding every scene of a dialogue drama is procrastination with a pencil. Board what is expensive to get wrong: stunts, VFX plates, crowd scenes, company-move days, complex blocking, and anything involving a picture vehicle, an animal, or a child. Simple shot-reverse-shot coverage is better served by the shot list alone.

The test: if two crew members could reasonably imagine this shot differently, board it. If nobody could, don’t.

From paper boards to a connected workflow

Paper boards are perfect for thinking. Distribution is where they fail — photographing pages, mismatched versions, no link to the schedule. In Production Slate you attach storyboard frames directly to shots, view them in a lightbox on set from any phone, and export four print layouts (2×3 and 2×2 portrait, 3×2 and 2×2 landscape) that keep every frame 16:9.

How to storyboard a scene

  1. 1Take the scene’s shot list — board from shots, not from the script directly.
  2. 2Draw the key frame of each shot: subject position, camera height, frame size. Stick figures are fine.
  3. 3Add arrows: solid for subject movement, outlined or labeled for camera movement.
  4. 4Caption each frame with one line of action and one line of camera.
  5. 5Number frames to match the shot list (12A, 12B) and pin the pages next to the stripboard.

Common questions

Do I need to know how to draw to storyboard?

No. Storyboards communicate framing, position, and movement — stick figures with correct composition beat beautiful drawings with vague composition every time.

What aspect ratio should storyboard frames be?

Match your delivery format. This template is 16:9, the standard for almost all digital video. If you shoot 2.39:1, mark the letterbox inside the frames.

Which scenes should I storyboard?

The expensive-to-get-wrong ones: action, stunts, VFX, crowds, complex camera moves, and any setup where two people could imagine the shot differently. Simple dialogue coverage rarely needs boards.

Production Slate attaches storyboard frames to shots, shows them on set from any phone, and prints four PDF layouts.

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