Storyboards and storyboard artists are used to plan the sequence of events before the production process of a film or video. Agencies, production studios, and game/mobile development firms are a few of the many companies that employ storyboard artists.

Companies that employ storyboard artists usually take slightly different approaches. Ad agencies, when pitching to potential clients, produce high-fidelity storyboards with more illustrative detail. These storyboards usually lack in technical detail and focus mainly on capturing a specific emotion or style.

Production studios, such as Universal Studios, create storyboards that are very technical and lo-fidelity. These storyboards focus on aspect ratio, frame, angle, and sequence. They are designed to serve as a guide during production, and are less refined than storyboards used by advertising agencies.

According to storyboard artist Anthony Zierhut, the role of a storyboard artist is to “turn the director’s interpretation of the script into drawings that others can understand…” This streamlines the production process by allowing directors to edit and revise the flow of a script, movie, or commercial before it is shot.

Sources:

http://www.mystoryboards.com/2012/07/20/the-adjustment-bureau-2/

http://anthonyzierhut.com/main/?page_id=1110

Storyboard Design Course by Giuseppe Cristiano