In the previous assignment we created an outline to our story using Microsoft Word. Doing so, allowed us to learn various skills and techniques regarding file storage, setting up folders, Discord communication, cloud file sharing, and MS Word's formatting tools. However, to enhance our computer skills to a professional level, we must learn more than one application and a few organization methods. In this pathway, we will duplicate what we did with our movie outline project using Excel to build on our skills.

What is Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application and part of the Office product family for business applications. Users are able to format, organize, and calculate data in a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel. By organizing data with software such as Excel, data analysts and other users can make information easier to view as data is added and modified. Excel contains a large number of cells organized in rows and columns. These cells will contain data. Excel is compatible with other Office applications (i.e., Word, PowerPoint, Access) and it is included in the Microsoft Office and Office 365 suites. The spreadsheet application is compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

Why Excel?
Because Excel makes our outline document functional for our team when breaking down our story into elements for production. That simply means that an Excel document makes it easier to break down the outline into components, which could be distributed to and tasked to various team members, contractors, or producers.  In this assignment, we will learn about Excel's user interface, formatting cells, and saving your files within the Storytelling context.

After completing our second outline, the first one from last week, and now our Excel outline, we can convert the outline into a script.

In the previous assignment we created an outline to our story using Microsoft Word. Doing so, allowed us to learn various skills and techniques regarding file storage, setting up folders, Discord communication, cloud file sharing, and MS Word's formatting tools. Now it is time for us to move our project to the next level by creating a storyboard of our script. This pathway will get your story closer to becoming a finished product (i.e., animation, movie, game, apparel).

What is A Storyboard?
A storyboard is a visual tool used to plot out a story. Because of the linear orientation of the cells, storyboards are an effective means of graphically presenting information, especially when narrating a story, describing a process, or illustrating the passage of time. Storyboards are essentially a series of illustrations that are meant to be read in order to tell a tale. A finished storyboard looks like a comic strip. Storyboards can be simple or complex. They're usually hand-drawn, although some people prefer to use storyboarding software to create their images. A storyboard is similar to a script, but the two aren't quite the same – storyboards are visual, while scripts are text-based. By segmenting a longer piece of writing into smaller, more manageable pieces, the writer may devote undivided attention to each cell. Increased use of storyboards can be traced back 80 years or more. Ad agencies make use of storyboards for commercials, theater directors use them for scripting, and comic book artists use them for layout. All of these uses have their origins in the world of animation and filmmaking. The corporate world has also adopted storyboards as a tool for predicting clients' reactions to new offerings. No matter where you are in life — at work, in school, or at home — you will eventually need to make a plan. Even if it's simplified, drawing out your desired outcome on paper can help you anticipate problems, confirm that your plan is solid, and/or explain your thinking to others. Storyboards have many applications in practically every industry.