Pretty frames that cannot cut together are not a storyboard. They are a moodboard with shot numbers. Continuity is the difference.
Eyelines
If character A looks camera-left at B, character B looking at A must look camera-right, at a matching height. Draw the eyes, or draw an arrow. “Both facing us in MCU” is how you invent a conversation that cannot intercut.
The 180-degree line
Pick a line between the two subjects and keep the camera on one side of it. Crossing it in coverage reverses screen direction: a character walking left suddenly walks right, and geography collapses.
You may cross the line on purpose (a reveal, a new master). You may not cross it by accident because a generator suggested a pretty angle.
Screen direction in motion
A car exits right in shot 4; it enters left in shot 5 if we are following it. Matching direction is how the audience understands travel. Mark it on the frame (→ DIR).
Wardrobe, hands and the product
The practical continuity problems on commercials are not theory:
Lock characters, locations and props as reusable elements. CineoBoard’s library exists for this, not for decoration. Update the pack once; every frame that uses it follows.
- Watch on the wrong wrist
- Pack copy that changes between hero and insert
- A glass that refills itself
- Daylight in one setup, practical night in the reverse
A review pass that catches this
Before you send to client, play the animatic and also flip through stills in order asking only: can these two frames cut? If you have to explain geography, redraw.
FAQ
Do I draw eyeline arrows on client boards?
On internal boards, yes. On client boards, only when the drawing is ambiguous. The shot notes should still say “looks camera-left to Ben.”