46 Storyboard Examples from Movies, Animation, and Games (with FREE Storyboard Templates)

• Whether you're sketching storyboard ideas for a blockbuster movie or a business presentation, these storyboard examples will inspire you to elevate your concepts.
• Professional directors rely on storyboards to:
  • Visualize their ideas.
  • Align their teams and avoid costly miscommunications.

For those seeking inspiration for storyboard examples will provide practical guidance and spark your creativity.

Take a look at these fantastic professional storyboard examples. Released by the DGA, they include storyboards from iconic films like:

• Harry Potter
• Star Wars
• Inception
• Gladiator
• Jurassic Park
• Moulin Rouge

Let these examples guide you in bringing your ideas to life, no matter your project!

Storyboard Examples: How Blockbusters Are Planned 

1. Alien

Scene: Infirmary Scene

Ridley Scott did not draw stick figures here, and while he probably picked up some pretty slick storyboarding skills when he attended the Royal College of Art, it doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel or that you can’t achieve similar results.

This Alien storyboard is a great source of inspiration for storyboard techniques, particularly for creating tension and atmosphere.  

Movie Storyboard Examples: Crafting Iconic Shots for the Genre

2. Pacific Rim

There are not many wide shots in these storyboards. Going from the control room to the outside takes careful film planning. There is a distinct Japanese/Anime vibe.

The use of negative space in this storyboard is similar to how light is used. The entire storyboard, including shot specs, can be viewed below.

Whether you’re crafting a feature film, animation, or marketing video, a well-planned storyboard is the key to seamless storytelling. You can easily visualize your shots, align your team, and streamline your production process—all in one intuitive platform.

Storyboard Examples: Crafting High-Stakes Scenes

3. Jurassic Park

Scene: Raptor Attack Scene

The storyboarding notes help lead you into each new shot. Multiple slides (or cells) can be used for a single shot, especially if you plan to linger. Notations like 'foot toward the camera' demonstrate how to guide the viewer's eye. Directional arrows and detailed shot descriptions ensure a smoother transition between scenes, whether you're storyboarding a chase sequence or a product demo.

Storyboard Examples: World-Building on Paper

4. Star Wars: A New Hope

Scene: A Galaxy Far, Far Away

George Lucas made a storyboard for the title sequence. C3PO looks different in these. Tougher. Lucas knew how he wanted that final shot.

Storyboard Examples: Crafting High-Stakes Scenes

5. Transformers

Scene: Blackout’s Rampage

I quickly notice thoughtful sketches of the production design. See how the artists visualize destruction? The blocking of the confused soldiers is particularly interesting, making this both a compelling composition and a beautifully crafted storyboard example.

Movie Storyboard Examples: The Frames Behind Legendary Films

6. Inception

Scene: Hallway Fight Scene

Curious how to storyboard a rotating room?  The ceiling fan helps you stay oriented. See how the room is drawn the same across multiple slides? Techniques like these are often used in dynamic scenes—learn more in: How to Storyboard a Fight Scene.

Planning camera movements, such as the rotation in the hallway fight, is crucial for creating visually compelling action sequences.

Note: The scene numbers were added by the storyboard artists. 

Movie Story board Examples: Action Packed Scenes

7. Edge of Tomorrow

Scene: Cage Drops In Scene

This storyboard shows a scene where Cage drops from the ship into battle. While many films strive to make every moment feel heroic, this one excels at capturing the chaotic unpredictability of battle.

We get camera movement and an indication that this shot was meant to be continued across multiple storyboard slides. Planning transitions like these are essential for visual flow—learn more in How to Storyboard Camera Movement.

Storyboard Examples: The Frames Behind Legendary Films

8. There Will Be Blood 

Scene: Oil Derrick Scene

Film directors put significant thought into the background imagery, which translates powerfully on screen. The scene features plenty of well-executed shot-to-reverse-shot sequences.

Click to view the full storyboard below:

Action-packed storyboard examples

Storyboard Examples: Bringing the Past to Life Visually

9. Gladiator

Scene: Battle Tigers

Is there a clear chain of events in these storyboards? Intelligent camera placement leads to depth and layers. 

Click to view the full storyboard below:

Storyboarding these scenes beforehand is much cheaper than practicing with real-life tigers. Less fun though. 

Movie Storyboard Examples: Misdirection and Suspense 

10. Tomorrow Never Dies

Scene: Banner Escape

You should always storyboard stunts for extra safety. It will help your stunt coordinators too. Costume designers decided to change both costumes.

Movie Storyboard Examples: Crafting High-Stakes Scenes 

11. Raiders of the Lost Ark

Scene: The Opening of the Ark

How does the color help tell the story, or communicate goals? Great use of shading. Do you think this storyboard helped them light the scene?

Movie Storyboard Examples: Bringing the Past to Life Visually

12. Forrest Gump

Scene: Meet President Johnson

Robert Zemeckis combined custom footage with old newsreel footage. Covering the scene in close-ups helped them shroud inconsistencies.

Here's what the storyboard would look like, frame-by-frame:

Movie Storyboard Examples: Historical Drama

13. Gone with the Wind

Scene: Fleeing Atlanta

Did the colors in the storyboard help with the lighting schemes later? Storyboard notes help us understand the action. Lots of depth in slide three.

Movie Storyboard Examples: Rhythm, Performance, and Spectacle 

14. Apocalypse Now

Scene: Ride of the Valkyries

The focus seems to be on how to shoot the air cavalry. Notice the carnage behind Col. Kilgore. Do these helicopters look heroic? Evil? Neutral?

Movie Storyboard Examples: Crafting High-Stakes Scenes

15. Ali

Scene: Muhammad Ali vs. Ernie Terrell

Directional storyboard arrows show where punches come from. It is important to replicate actual fights. A big wide establishing shot of the arena creates scope.

Here's what the storyboard looks like:

Movie Storyboard Examples: Period Dramas & Epic Historical Films

16. Spartacus

Scene: Battle Plans

How many storyboard battle scenes have drawn inspiration from Spartacus? One slide is dedicated to arrows in mid-flight, showcasing dynamic motion. These storyboard samples are rich in color and detail.

Interesting composition and angle choice.

Movie Storyboard Examples: Designing Fear Frame by Frame

17. The Towering Inferno

Scene: Elevator Rescue Scene

There are many high angles in this storyboard, adding scale and tension. In complex stunt and VFX sequences, storyboards are essential for maintaining consistency and guiding departments like cinematography and editing. Big action scenes require careful planning to ensure seamless visual continuity.

Here we have a scene with stunts, special effects, and a difficult location.

Movie Storyboard Examples: Crafting High-Stakes Scenes

19. Salt

Scene: Rooftop Scene

This storyboard depicts a scene where Salt hangs from a rope before letting go. The artist’s use of composition and background imagery—such as cop cars and the rock garden—adds depth and helps communicate key visual elements. These details are crucial for other departments, ensuring consistency in set design, VFX, and cinematography.

There are references to a camera pan with the rope swing as well. 

Movie Storyboard Examples: Misdirection and Narrative Twists

20. Interview with the Vampire

Scene: Ending Scene

Spoiler: this storyboard shows the final scene where Lestat bites Mallory. 

Notice how the pacing of the scene is referenced in the storyboard notes. The scene plays out a bit differently in the movie, which may have been done on purpose or maybe the shot didn't work out as planned. 

Musical Storyboard Examples

Movie Storyboard Examples: Timing & Visual Comedy

21. Austin Powers 3

Scene: Opening

When you're shooting a scene that incorporates stunts and a visual effect component, it's super important to storyboard camera movement down to a tee.

Click to view the full storyboard below:

Jay Roach had only eight hours to shoot one of the best opening sequences, and you can see that it did not stop him from nailing down that task.

Movie Storyboard Examples: Rhythm, Performance & Choreography

22. Moulin Rouge

Scene: Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend

The use of directional arrows keeps us oriented. A POV shot of Sabine reaching out is one slide that jumps out to me. Close-ups to wide shots.

Baz Luhrmann uses lots of angle changes in this scene, and you can see the complicated edit visualized during the storyboard process. 

Movie Storyboard Examples: Timing and Blocking

23. The Sound of Music

Scene: Do-Re-Mi

Lots of symmetry in these shots. A ton of complicated choreography. Great depth in many of the slides due to creative blocking.

There is a fantasy element to how much ground they cover.

Horror Storyboard Examples

Movie Storyboard Examples: Building Fear with Composition & Framing

25. Get Out

Scene: Sunken Place Scene

This digital storyboard shows a scene where Chris falls into the sunken place after being hypnotized by Missy Armitage.

Here's a continuation of this storyboard:

Movie Storyboard Examples: Misdirection and Suspense in Every Frame

26. Psycho

Scene: Trouble in the Shower

The knife shot is the same in the film. Look at the intended close-up of her mouth when she’s stabbed. Sex, comfort, and murder collide.

Click to view the full storyboard below:

A happy face in the first few slides marks a huge tonal shift in this scene.

Movie Storyboard Examples: The Cinematic Tricks Behind Fear & Tension

27. The Birds

Scene: Playground Scene

This storyboard example shows the birds gathering on the school playground while the children are inside the school.

This scene plays out differently in the actual film, but the overall purpose of the storyboard is still very much present. 

Fantasy Storyboard Examples

Movie Storyboard Examples: Creating Otherworldly Cinematic Visions

28. Spider-Man 2

Scene: Train Battle

This storyboard looks like a comic book…Spidey is losing, then winning. Lots of directional arrows.

We need at least three more Spider-Man reboots! I'd do another pithy storyboard pun but Spider-Man is never sarcastic....

Movie Storyboard Examples: The Cinematic Tricks Behind Fear & Tension

29. Logan

Scene: Decapitation Scene

This storyboard shows the scene where Logan decapitates Jackson. This is a detailed storyboard example by a very talented storyboard artist. 

There were a lot of brutal scenes throughout Logan, and the storyboard artist's job was to capture the emotion in the sketch.

Movie Storyboard Examples How Directors Map Out High-Stakes Sequences

30. Ant-Man

Scene: Ant Rescue Scene

Notice how storyboard artist Steven Markowski uses lines around Scott Lang’s face to signal surprise. Storyboards don’t have to be static—small touches like this add emotional and physical dynamics, making these 2D sketches feel more alive and expressive.

Movie Storyboard Examples How Blockbusters Are Planned

31. Iron Man

Scene: Pepper Catches Tony Scene

This storyboard from Iron Man captures the moment Pepper catches Tony trying to remove his suit after his first mission. Including bits of dialogue in the notes can help contextualize key moments like this, adding clarity to character interactions and ensuring the visual storytelling aligns with the script’s tone and intent.

Movie Storyboard Examples: Close-Ups, Pacing & Performance

32. Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

Scene: Battle at the Department of Mysteries

Directional arrows help keep us organized. High-angle shot when they enter the Department. Slide two illustrates confusion.

Notice how it’s a point-of-view shot when Harry casts a spell.

Movie Storyboard Examples: Storyboarding for Maximum Impact

33. Percy Jackson

Scene: Medusa Scene

This storyboard depicts Percy Jackson confronting Medusa, designed specifically for an anamorphic aspect ratio. Storyboards should always be framed with the final aspect ratio in mind, ensuring compositions translate effectively to the screen.

The storyboard example has sound effects added as well as detailed shot descriptions that help tell the story through visuals.

TV Storyboard Examples

Television Storyboard Examples: Constructing New Worlds on Paper

34. Game of Thrones

Scene: Daenerys Targaryen Give Birth Scene

This storyboard shows a scene where Daenerys gives birth to three dragons which works out perfectly for everyone in the last season.

TV Storyboard Examples: Storyboarding for Twists and Turns

35. Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Scene: Mouth of Hell

Parallel action occurs on the same storyboard. More depth with the wider shots. Storyboards are great for any effects-heavy TV show or film.

This Buffy the Vampire Slayer storyboard example showcases how parallel action can build suspense across different character arcs. This storyboard example also illustrates the importance of balancing depth and action within a single storyboard frame—something that works just as well for TV as it does for social media storytelling.

You can start to see why Whedon was called on to direct The Avengers.

TV Storyboard Examples: How TV Directors Use Storyboards

36. Westworld

Scene: Reckoning

Similar to the storyboard example above, you can show parallel action on a single storyboard. Notice how important the arrows are in this storyboard and how they inform the order of the edits. 

Here is the trailer from season 2 of Westworld:

Animation Storyboard Examples

Animation Storyboard Examples: The Foundation of Animated Masterpieces

37. Kung Fu Panda

Scene: Training Scene

This animatic shows a scene where Po attempts Kung Fu training.

Because this is an animation storyboard the images you see in this example are the actual building blocks for the final image. Animation projects like this are excellent inspiration for storyboard creators who want to translate character emotions and actions into compelling visuals.

Animation Storyboard Examples: How Iconic Films Were First Visualized

39. Up

Scene: Opening Scene

This storyboard example from Up demonstrates the importance of layering emotional beats into visual storytelling. Each frame provides a vivid visual representation of the emotional highs and lows, guiding the audience through the story seamlessly. This shows the opening scene in Up, which is super uplifting and not painful at all. 

Animators rely on iterative drafts to refine their storyboards, a process that can also benefit educators by explaining complex ideas step-by-step.

Again, because this storyboard was made for an animated feature film you can see how closely the storyboard example is the final product. 

Animation Storyboard Examples: Fight Sequences, Chases & Physical Comedy

40. Tom and Jerry

Scene: Orphan Episode

Here you can see some of the earliest animation storyboard examples from an episode of Tom and Jerry. 

Animation Storyboard Examples: How Artists Plan Every Frame Before Animation Begins

41. Summer Camp Island

Scene: Witch Episode

This storyboard shows an important moment in the show where the youngsters realize their camp counselors are witches. How fun!

Check out the scene below to see how the storyboard leads to the final scene, and how closely they resemble each other. 

There is no better clarification of how useful storyboards can be when you see one from an animated film or television show. Animators often understand visual literacy better than many film directors. 

Animation Storyboard Examples: Why Storyboarding is Essential

43. Adventure Time

Scene: Tree Trunks Alien Scene 

This storyboard example from the animated show Adventure Time shows how you can add dialogue and screen direction to your animated storyboards to make them as specific as needed. 

Video Game Storyboard Examples

Video Game Storyboard Examples for Interactive Design: The Role of Storyboards in Video Game Design

44. Super Mario Odyssey

Scene: Game Intro Scene 

The Super Mario Odyssey storyboard example highlights how video game storyboards differ from films by focusing on player interaction and progression. Storyboarding examples like this require special attention to pacing and choice. Using storyboard software can help map out complex interactive elements for your game.

This particular example allows you to play the game either as Mario... or as Mario's hat, which is exactly as fun as it sounds. 

Storyboards can be used for film, television, animation, and video games because they are the perfect tool for communicating visual goals. 

Video Game Storyboard Examples: How Cutscenes Bring Games to Life

45. Gears of War

Scene: Mad World Trailer

This storyboard example shows the trailer for Gears of War. This trailer featured the song "Mad World", and helped create a successful launch for the series. The games are great, but no doubt the trailer helped a lot. 

Check out the trailer to see how the storyboard translated on screen:

Video Game Storyboard Examples: Mapping Player Experiences Visually

46. Major League Baseball

Scene: PS3 Move Trailer

This storyboard example shows the trailer for Major League Baseball for the Playstation 3. This storyboard was created to show how the PS move system could mentally transport players onto the field. 

About These Storyboard Examples

Storyboards force creative filmmaking

Have you ever had a great idea for a shot or even an entire scene? Everything is visualized perfectly in your mind, but will it make it to the screen?

What you need is a storyboard. This is what professional directors and production companies use to communicate visual ideas with their teams.

In fact:

• Cavemen used storyboards.
• The Ancient Egyptians used storyboards.

Bottom line:  Storyboards work.

While some of the reasons storyboards work so well may seem painfully obvious, there are more nuanced rationales that many novice (and professional) filmmakers tend to overlook.

You may not have a huge budget, so naturally, you think you’re limited. That line of thinking can be harmful to your project because what you’re doing is limiting your creativity, which in turn limits the effectiveness of your vision, which in turn limits your project.

Don’t waste valuable energy thinking about limitations. Take that energy and create storyboard ideas for your scene (or look through websites where to find storyboard artists for hire). Make sure to spend some time sketching out your storyboard ideas, even if they're just samples. You’ll often hear the suggestion to:

“Draw your storyboard ideas with stick figures if you’re not an artist.”

I strongly disagree.

Take your time to draw—even if it’s an ugly storyboard. Why? Because drawing forces you to think critically about every detail:

• An ugly background.
• An ugly foreground.
• Ugly characters.
• Thoughtful shot compositions.
  
  

If you want to refine your skills, you can even explore Storyboard Classes Online to build a stronger foundation.

Suddenly, new storyboard ideas are popping into your head:

• Maybe a special easter egg is hidden in the background of a shot.
• Or perfect symmetry for a specific point in the story.
• Perhaps a match cut from one image to another.
  
  

These are all cinematic goals often born out of storyboarding. Directors like Tim Burton and Wes Anderson excel at using precise shot composition and unique production design.

They put imagery on the screen that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the real world. Their teams built, scouted and pieced together a world that once existed only in their minds.

How did they communicate their visions? Their teams used storyboards to bring their ideas to life.

Learn as much as you can from these movie storyboard examples and see how you can bring your dream from your head to the big screen.

Storyboarding With Studiobinder

Create the perfect storyboard

When you study professional storyboards like these, you quickly begin to understand how much effort goes into the planning stages of a film.

Successful projects use the pre-production phase to the fullest. When you create a tangible plan for your production, you will limit possible miscommunications, and maximize creative output from your team.

If you use storyboarding software like StudioBinder, you can show how each scene will play out, and keep your entire plan organized in a single digitally accessible place.

Your entire production team can collaborate from anywhere at any time. Instead of wasting hours playing phone tag with assistants or scheduling late-night conference calls because of time zone differences.

Storyboarding is the key to turning ideas into compelling visuals, whether you’re crafting a film, animation, or marketing campaign. Why not streamline the process with a powerful, easy-to-use tool?

Try StudioBinder’s Online Storyboard Creator for free and start mapping out your next masterpiece. With intuitive features and a seamless workflow, you can visualize your shots, organize your scenes, and collaborate effortlessly. Don’t just imagine it—storyboard it today!

UP NEXT:

Make a storyboard in StudioBinder

Ready to create your storyboard? Use StudioBinder to collaborate with your team in real-time, whether you're sketching out storyboard examples for a feature film, marketing campaign, or educational video. 

A storyboard is more than just a tool; it’s a visual roadmap that keeps your creative team aligned and on track.

Download our free storyboard checklist to make sure you’re covering every detail. Whether you need tools or just inspiration for storyboard concepts, these resources will help you get started and refine your ideas.

You can use one of our 60+ FREE storyboard templates or build and share your storyboards through the cloud with StudioBinder's storyboarding and pre-production software. 

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