---
number: "006"
slug: "006"
title: "Storyboard to animatic, with a scratch voiceover, in an afternoon"
summary: "Midjourney V8.2 draws consistent key frames, Runway animates each shot, ElevenLabs' new Eleven v4 reads the script, and Descript assembles a 30-second animatic you can show a client before anyone books a shoot."
chain: ["Midjourney", "Runway", "ElevenLabs", "Descript"]
for: "Creative directors, agency producers, indie filmmakers and brand designers who need to sell an idea in motion before there's budget to make it"
time_to_set_up: "About 3 hours (estimate) for a 30-second animatic"
cost: "From $31/mo (Midjourney Basic $10 + Runway Standard $15 + ElevenLabs Starter $6), with Descript Free"
last_verified: "Oct 2026 (desk-checked, not run end-to-end)"
date: "2026-10-14"
---

# Storyboard to animatic, with a scratch voiceover, in an afternoon

**Chain:** Midjourney → Runway → ElevenLabs → Descript

## Why now

An animatic used to be a storyboard artist, a sound booth and two days in an edit suite. Three recent releases make a convincing rough version an afternoon's work:

- **Midjourney V8.2** became the default on Jul 24, 2026. It brings a new Edit Model that replaces Omni Reference and Character Reference, and 2K HD images without upscaling. Both help when the same character has to appear in six frames. ([Version docs](https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/32199405667853-Version))
- **Runway's unified pricing** (Sep 18, 2026) puts Gen-4.5, Aleph 2.0, Veo 3.1 and Kling 3.0 on one credit balance, so you can pick the best model per shot. ([runway.com/pricing](https://runway.com/pricing))
- **Eleven v4** (Sep 28, 2026) is ElevenLabs' most expressive text-to-speech model, aimed at voiceover and dialogue. ([ElevenLabs blog](https://elevenlabs.io/blog/eleven-v4))

## Who it's for

Anyone pitching a film, ad or brand video who knows a static deck undersells it: agency creatives, in-house brand teams, directors applying for a grant, founders storyboarding a launch video.

## What you get

- A **6-shot, ~30-second animatic** (16:9, 1080p) with a scratch voiceover, captions and temp sound.
- A **shot list** with the exact prompt behind every frame and clip, so the real production team can see intent.
- A rough you can show *as a rough*. This is a pitch tool, not a final.

## You'll need

| Tool | Plan you need | Current price (Oct 2026) | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midjourney | Basic works (3.3 fast GPU hrs/mo). Pro or Mega if images must stay private (Stealth Mode) | Basic $10/mo ($8 annual); Pro $60/mo ($48 annual) | [Comparing plans](https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/27870484040333-Comparing-Midjourney-Plans) |
| Runway | Standard (625 credits/mo) | $15/mo, or $12/mo billed annually | [runway.com/pricing](https://runway.com/pricing) |
| ElevenLabs | Starter (30k credits, commercial license) | $6/mo | [elevenlabs.io/pricing](https://elevenlabs.io/pricing) |
| Descript | Free works for a rough (1 media hr/mo). Hobbyist for watermark-free 1080p export | $0; Hobbyist $16/mo annual or $24 monthly | [descript.com/pricing](https://www.descript.com/pricing) |

## Setup

### 1. Write the shot list (any doc, 20 min)

Six shots of about 5 seconds each. One row per shot:

```text
#  | Shot (what we see)                         | Camera            | VO line
1  | Wide: lighthouse keeper climbs stairs, dusk | slow push-in      | "Every night for forty years..."
2  | ...                                        | ...               | ...
Style line (for every prompt): <e.g. "35mm film still, muted teal and amber, soft grain">
Character line (for every prompt): <e.g. "a woman in her 60s, cropped grey hair, yellow oilskin">
```

The style and character lines are the trick. They go into every prompt verbatim.

### 2. Lock the look with one hero frame (Midjourney, 30 min)

On the Midjourney website, generate shot 1 with:

```text
<shot 1 description>, <character line>, <style line> --v 8.2 --ar 16:9
```

Iterate until one image is right. Then use it as the reference image for every other shot, editing with the **Edit Model** (or add a **Style Reference** code), so the character and palette stay consistent. Turn on **HD** for the final picks. Download all six.

### 3. Animate each shot (Runway, 60 min)

In Runway, start an image-to-video generation for each frame. Gen-4.5 is a sensible default, but choose whichever model in the picker accepts an image input and suits the shot. Set the length to 5 seconds and use a motion-only prompt:

```text
Slow push-in. The woman climbs two steps; her coat moves in the wind. Camera steady.
No new characters. No text.
```

Describe only motion and camera. The image already carries the look. Generate 2 takes per shot and keep the better one. If a take is nearly right, edit it with **Aleph** ("remove the second figure", "make it dusk") rather than regenerating.

### 4. Record the scratch voiceover (ElevenLabs, 20 min)

In ElevenLabs' text-to-speech, choose **Eleven v4**. Pick a library voice (don't clone anyone without written consent) and paste the VO lines as one script, with a blank line between shots. Generate, listen, regenerate lines that land wrong, and download the MP3.

### 5. Assemble (Descript, 40 min)

Create a project and drop in the six clips in order, then the VO. Ask **Underlord**:

```text
Align each video clip to its VO line in order (one clip per paragraph). Add
burned-in captions from the VO, a 0.5s crossfade between shots, and a 2-second
title card at the end: "<project> — animatic, not final".
```

Add temp music if you have a license for it (Eleven Music works; see [Drop 001](/drops/001)). Export 1080p.

### 6. Package the pitch (5 min)

Share the MP4 with the shot list as a one-page PDF beside it, prompts included. The "not final" card and the prompts make it obvious what's AI scratch and what the real shoot will improve.

## Time to set up

About 3 hours for a 30-second animatic (estimate, not timed). Runway generation time is the most variable part.

## Cost

- **Minimum:** Midjourney Basic **$10** + Runway Standard **$15** + ElevenLabs Starter **$6** = **$31/mo**, with Descript Free (watermarked export).
- **Clean export:** + Descript Hobbyist $16/mo annual.
- **Client work under NDA:** Midjourney Pro ($60/mo, $48 annual) for Stealth Mode.

**Runway credit math:** Gen-4.5 is listed at 12 credits per second, so 6 shots × 2 takes × 5 s = 720 credits. That's more than Standard's 625. Either take one try on easy shots or step up to Pro (2,250 credits, $35/mo). Aleph edits cost more per second than plain generation. Check the in-app price before you run them.

Prices are list prices as of Oct 14, 2026.

## Gotchas

- **Midjourney images are public by default.** Stealth Mode is Pro and Mega only. Anything you generate on Basic or Standard is visible in Midjourney's gallery. Don't put an unannounced client brand in a Basic prompt.
- **Companies over $1M revenue need Pro or Mega** under Midjourney's terms.
- **Consistency drifts by shot 5.** Re-use the hero frame as the reference every time, not the previous shot, or the character slowly mutates.
- **Runway credits don't roll over on Standard or Pro** (Max has one month of rollover). Don't buy on the 28th and start on the 1st.
- **Voice consent.** Use library voices, or clone only a voice you have written permission for. ElevenLabs Starter includes a commercial license, but that covers the output, not someone else's likeness.
- **Label it.** Clients and festival juries increasingly ask what's AI-generated. Say so up front.

## Remix

- **Vertical cut:** generate at 9:16 in steps 2–3 and you have a social teaser alongside the pitch.
- **Live-action reference:** shoot phone footage of the blocking, and use Runway's video-to-video tools to restyle it instead of animating stills.
- **Figma-first teams:** do the frames in Figma Weave and the cut in Figma Motion ([Drop 001](/drops/001)), and use this drop's ElevenLabs and Descript steps for VO.

## Freshness log

- **Oct 14, 2026:** First published. Desk-checked against Midjourney's version and plan comparison docs, Runway's pricing page and model credit costs, ElevenLabs' Eleven v4 announcement and pricing page, and Descript's pricing page.

---

*Last verified: Oct 2026 (desk-checked, not run end-to-end). We checked every step, setting and price against the vendors' current docs. We have not yet run this chain live. If a step doesn't match what you see, reply and tell us. It'll be fixed in the next refresh.*