Hi, 

LoliRock is somewhere between a script driven and a storyboard driven show.

We got full script written and the lines were recorded (either with scratch voices or final voices) BEFORE starting the storyboard. We couldn’t go too far from the script and the lines because of that : big changes often need to record many new voices, and our budget is limited. ^^’ 

It doesn’t mean there are no change at storyboard stage, though, far from it ! We try to adapt the storyboard to the actings and what’s written in the script first. Then, we see what we can add, and fixes what doesn’t work.

See the kiss scene at the end of the shanila episode ? Well, it didn’t exist in the script. The storyboard artists and supervisor felt this scenes would add something important, so they added it by themselves. 

Or see Dark Iris, in the episode where Iris loses her memory ? In the original script, she only lost her memory, but there was no mention of a dark transformation. Again, it’s at storyboard stage that we thought there was an opportunity to do something cool !

These are two of the many things we changed / fixed / added at storyboard stage on LoliRock. 

I won’t mention all the far-too-many plot holes that were in the scripts and that we fixed (or at least tried to fix) at storyboard stage… (it’s not really the most pleasant part of the job, but someone has to do it if you want a good show… otherwise… <_< …).

Anyway, in a fully “script driven”, we wouldn’t be allowed to make all these changes : we would have to follow what’s written, period. 

On the opposite, in a “storyboard driven” show, the script would only be a guide, and we would be encouraged to go further ! Sometime, there isn’t even a full script before the storyboard : only a pitch, and all the dialogues are written during the storyboard, and recorded afterward. 

Now, to answer the classic question “what system is best ?” : neither. Really. What’s good, is to have a good team. That’s what you really need firsthand. Good writers, and good storyboard artists, preferably working together and in continuity… and, as you can guess, it’s a mess when they don’t, or even worse : when one of the two is very talented while the other is very… not. 

Of course, the writer and storyboard artist can be the same person : it makes things easier for everyone, so that’s really the best. However, finding someone who’s both a talented writer and storyboard artist is difficult, because they’re rare… as rare and precious as good directors, to me. 

PS : You mean, this guy ? ;)