Project Plan Video Storyboard

Photo of a storyboard pinned to the wall.

Image Courtesy of Eelke Dekker

For this assignment you and your team will “storyboard” your first presentation video for your project plan. This video will be 3-5 minutes long (max). Tap into your own creativity. Make something you are proud of and would want to post on-line or include in a presentation.

Maybe do some research on how to make an effective (short) presentation video. For example, this link may be helpful: https://www.eval.org/Education-Programs/Potent-Presentations

1. Storyboarding

For this project milestone you will make a “storyboard” for your first video that will describe your project plan for the semester. The complete video will be shared with your project sponsor so we would like it to look professional and polished.

A storyboard helps in planning a video and makes sure you keep in your time frame (3-5 minutes). Typically a storyboard is a series of images or drawings which include the following components:

Description or image of what will be seen in the video.
Draft script of what will be said during the video (use the notes field).
Planned time for each component of the video.

One of the best tools for building a storyboard are a slide tool such as PowerPoint. Use the slide to show or describe what will be displayed and then use the notes box to indicate the time spent and use the notes section to draft script of what will be said.

Note, a common mistake is to think of a presentation as only slides. We want you to include sources of video besides slides, however, your storyboard should still outline what you are planning. For example, you could put in a slide that just says “30 second video showing people clapping (link to public domain video) with Nan talking over the video with the dialog below”

Prepare the presentation for a general audience. Make something that you could show to in-coming data science student (or a family member) to get them excited about the project. Also remember that your community partner will be watching this presentation so think of this as an opportunity to “Wow” them.

Some things to consider for your storyboard:

Include who will be speaking for each part of the video. (All members of the team should talk).
Make a script of what you want to say for each section of the video.
Include quick introductions for group members. (Be creative with your time, for example onscreen “nametags” can help speed up introductions)
Here is a list of things you could include in the presentation. You may not be able to include everything so try keep your message clear and professional:
- Describe the overall goals of the project.
- Describe your plan and timeline for a successful project.
- Describe the major open-loops** that will need to be solved (closed).
- Describe how the work will be broken up.
- Describe the expected successful outcomes.
Plan to not exceed the 5 minute video length. (we need to watch all videos in class so shorter is better).

We really want to see creativity and professionalism. Think outside of slides and talking. Demonstrate to us why your project is awesome!

Let your instructor know what you are thinking, we may be able to show you some easy to use tools to produce your vision.

** An open-loop is a part of the project for which you do not know what your solution will include.

2. Submission

Include a copy of the storyboard in your teams drive as a PowerPoint file.

Send an email to the instructor with a link to the storyboard. Give it a reasonable name so the instructor does not need to hunt for it. The title of the email should be “GROUP_NAME-CMSE495_Plan_Storyboard”.

Plan to share a copy of your storyboard with another team during class on Monday.

3. Evaluation

These storyboard slides will be graded on good effort attempt to follow directions and complete the project. Instructors may provide feedback on the slides so that students can integrate changes before the presentation date.

4. Post Evaluation

Review the feedback from your classmates and slides. Add additional information to your storyboard and finish making the video.

Written by Dr. Dirk Colbry, Michigan State University
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.