5 Storytelling Tools I can’t work without

Storyboarder - a way to visualise my videos

Storyboarder is one of those tools that once you come across it, you can’t imagine how you worked without it. Made by WonderUnit, Storyboarder is exactly what it sounds like - a storyboarding tool.

Unlike other storyboarding tools, Storyboarder allows you to create whole scenes in a 3D space and move your cameras around in order to find the right angle and framing for your shot. This is a dream for cinematographers and directors, because you don’t need to learn how to draw your ideas - which is time consuming and requires a very strong vision for each frame. With Storyboarder you can play around with different focal lengths, heights, angles and lighting until you find what you want.

Another great feature is the ability to upload 3D assets into your shot builder and use them as part of a story. For example here I am building a scene with multiple cars in a parking lot. I find the assets I want from SketchFab, upload them into Storyboarder and then start creating my scene with multiple cameras.

Notion - a place for dumping ideas

Notion is my go-to platform for making notes, saving ideas, organising my life in general in a text-based format.

As a filmmaker this is great because I can have folders and pages that serve specific purposes. Let’s say for example I come up with a new idea for a film commercial - I’ll add that idea into a new folder, then when I have time I can go back to it and flesh out the concept. When that concept is ready, it’s easily shareable as a link so my screenwriter frind can go through it and share some feedback.

Beyond it’s note taking abilities, Notion has a bunch of cool tools you can use that make it more than just a text based editor. Recently they’ve added a handy AI assistant, which can help you ideate and flesh out your ideas right inside your page. You can enrich any note with tables, links, videos and media.

All this comes in a handy mobile app which automatically syncs with your account, so you can access and take notes where ever you are. It’ just brilliant.

Soundly - elevating my video edits with sound design

As a filmmaker, one of the most important aspects of my craft is having good sound design in my videos. Soundly is a sound effects platform, from the app you can find whatever sounds you need and drag them directly into your editing timeline to elevate your story.

What I love is their huge library of sounds, which are constantly growing - as well as the ability to pick which part of a sound you want to use for you edit. This saves a bunch of time cutting and trimming whilst you’re in the edit.

You can also make your won lists and favourite sounds, so that you have your go-to SFX ready when they’re needed.

Figma - storyboard, presentations, mood boards

Figma is one of my favourite tools in this list, because of it’s versatility. Mainly used by designers, it’s a collaborative platform that really can be used for creating anything visual.

I use Figma for creating presentations, mood boards, storyboards and even camera plans. The possibilities are endless.

There are plenty of tutorials on how to use Figma online, and I may do one of my own someday - but if you’re interested in any of my templates be sure to check them out in the link below.

Frameset - visual inspiration

Finding visual inspiration for your mood boards is often time consuming. Thankfully, there are many tools available to help creators find inspiration.

Frameset is one tool that I like to use for finding visuals. It’s particularly useful because of it’s huge library of content and the ability to filter your search by very specific visual parameters.

For example you can filter your search by colour temperature, shot type, time of day or even contrast ratio - this make finding super specific imagery for your mood boards so much easier. You can even find some cool preset searches, like Motion Blur which gives you some amazing visuals to source from.

So that’s it - 5 storytelling tools I can’t live without. I’d be curious to know what tools you guys are using, be sure to share your in the comments below.

Peace!