Below is a very quick and simple comparison from my work on the television series HiHiPuffyamiyumi. The top panel is an example of a page of my rough thumbnail boards. This is the phase and style in which I work out the staging, acting and continuity of the show. I show these to the directors or producers of the show (if I a directing the show) to get approval of the writing, staging, gags and dialog. Once I get the go ahead, I do the final boards, such as in the second set of panels under the rough boards. These cleaned up boards are about twice the size of the rough boards and offer much more detail, background information and even animation and camera notes.

I have always found this to be a very efficient and productive way to work because I could quickly and easily explore a number of different staging or gag ideas as well as work out potential problems in the show in a loose but clear manner. Working in a very rough manner such as this also allowed me to put out a finished show, from script to cleaned up boards, in 2 to two and a half weeks, a full week ahead of schedule on nearly every show with very few, if any, notes because the work had been approved before I put in all the laborious drawing, you see? Feel free to examine the boards below and note the influences and changes from the rough phase to the cleaned up phase.