A Kind of Language: Storyboard and Other Renderings for Cinema

Words can be confusing, sometimes even misleading. Most of the time their interpretation is subjective. Take for example when you read a book: we all have a different image in our minds of the spaces, the characters, and the atmosphere. Even when described in the most detailed way, each of us creates a personal version, which often leads to that subtle disappointment when a film adaptation finally appears because, most of the time, it’s not quite how we imagined it. 

When it comes to filmmaking, storyboards are the most accurate way to explain our creative thoughts and communicate them clearly, bridging the gap between imagination and reality. They don’t have to be perfect — most of the time they are sketches, something simple and effective, often accompanied by brief written notes to better describe the vibe, the mood, where you want the camera to look, what kind of visual effect you want to achieve. The aim is always the same: to communicate an idea. 

Take for example Ingmar Bergman’s Persona from 1966, and the iconic frame where the faces of Liv Ullman and Bibi Anderson overlap. The director, who didn’t really work with storyboards, sketched his vision in a few, almost childlike lines, perfectly translating the emotional core of the scene through those rough drawings. Similarly, it’s interesting to see how the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (maybe you’ve seen it in the new Monster series inspired by Ed Gein) was built from simple sketches that outlined each shot, step by step. Storyboards, in this way, become almost like the embryo of the final product: the earliest, purest visualisation of a director’s idea. 

We usually experience films as complete, polished products, perfectly edited and framed, but we rarely see the long and complex process that leads to that final image. Featuring more than five hundred items created between 1940 and 2024 by over thirty authors, including storyboards, sketches, production drawings, and visual notes, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to witness how some of the world’s most iconic films were born. It invites us to reflect on the use of different kinds of language and to look behind the finished frame, exploring the visual tools that filmmakers use to shape their stories before the camera even starts rolling.