Thursday, February 17, 2011

Here goes nothin!


Righto, well here are my storyboards. First attempt at doing them, so I know I still have a reeeeeeeeeeally long way to go especially stylistically, and also I really had to force myself to start thinking about different angles etc, but didn't want to go too overboard at the same time. Another thing that I know I didn't do enough of is research - looking at billions of western trailers and stuff like that - although we didn't have heaps of time to do research in anyway. One thing I was pleased about was that I got a LOT faster at drawing up the boards by the end of the week so time wise it didn't take me too long to draw (although my very wise tutor did tell me that I still need to be more rough - which doesn't come naturally to me). 

So if there is anyone out there who would care to give me some good old fashioned critical feedback I would love you for it! Especially because we have our assessment next week!

So as a little bit of a background - we were given the script and character designs. The script we were given was an actual one that my school used for a TV commercial. So it's just short and sweet, but quite a cool idea I thought. Cheesy, but cool. And what would life be like without a bit of cheese right? : )















 (There is a pan here from right to left of the above drawing to the below one)







So yup. Not as awesome as I would have wanted. Stylistically especially. But hey - first attempt and at least I know what I need to work on. Big thanks to my tutors who are amazing - Hat Lieberman for his fantabulous tutorials on storyboarding - and also Nancy Beiman's book 'Prepare to Board' which is invaluable on the subject. 
One day, maybe, I will be almost as amazing as these people. : ) 
(maybe)

7 comments:

  1. hey! Amazing job! I have very little experience in storyboarding but I do agree with the note on making it rougher. Then for some reason it becomes more about the story then the brilliant drawings.

    possible story idea- maybe when they are reaching for their guns show the build up on just their faces, then the struggle to pull it out (still just faces) then go to the body trying to pull it out.

    I love this though, amazing again!

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  2. Cheers Ramona, thanks heaps for your feedback. : )

    I had my exam last week - we were given another script for a TV commercial and again I wasn't as rough as I should have been (or perhaps even could have been), but we kinda had enough time to make the drawings better... so I used it.

    I must admit tho I have become a LOT more rough than I ever used to be and I have been enjoying it heaps. Will keep you posted as to whether or not I passed the exam!! : )

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  3. cool!
    These are great for a first attempt. You were paying attention to your screen sides, maintaining left and right with respective characters. You have some very fun composition ideas. Very impressive for a first go at boarding.

    I have a few suggestions on things to work on as you move forward, but talking about storyboarding is hard, it's easier to show you what I mean by actually drawing. So I did, I drew over one of your panels to illustrate a few principles and pointers.

    Would you mind if I posted them on my blog? If not, I could always just send you the jpgs. But I think it could be a great learning experience for you as well as for others, to see and discuss storyboards.

    Let me know what you think. But don't worry, no pressure, if you don't want me to put them up it's not a problem.

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  4. Mate! You can DEFINITELY post the feedback on your blog. I am highly stoked that you would take the time to give me the feedback, so thanks HEAPS. : ) I know I have a looooooooong way to go so lead away - any feedback and advice is hugely appreciated. : )

    P.S. I had my storyboarding exam the week before last, and passed after having to make one continuity change - so *phew*. We've been working on layout for the past coupla weeks so that has been... a challenge. : )

    Thanks again Hat!

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  5. Hey Han

    The post is up.

    Thanks! It's not easy to have your work put up and critiqued, especially on the internets! So I appreciate you allowing me to post my notes on my blog. But it is a good exercise because as a board artist, you have your work scrutinized every single day.

    Please let me know if there is anything in the post you want me to change and I will do so immediately.

    A couple other notes that I didn't put on my blog;
    Be careful of crazy long truck-outs or truck-in. Chances are, if you are trucking over that amount of distance (unless it is for a specific story reason) you could probably just cut .

    Don't be concerned with style, don't even think about style. Style isn't important. Learn the basics, and build on it. Boards don't need to be stylized (drawing wise that is, there are cinematic styles of course, but it shouldn't matter what the drawings look like). Storyboards are rough and loose, not meant to be finished pieces of artwork. It's about getting ideas down quickly, efficiently and effectively.

    This is a great start! If you keep working on boards I'm sure you'll only get better and better!

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  6. Thanks again Hat - yeah in particular what you said about style and looseness of the drawings really stands out. I know that I need to loosen up A LOT. And that I think will help in relation to all the drawing that I do. It's awesome to see your boards, coz your work is loose, but the line is still purposeful and you (from what I can tell) have a confidence in where to place your lines. That is what I need to work on in particular I think. And your words echo those of my tutors - ha ha! so I need to start working on that for sure.

    Awesome feedback - thanks again. : )

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  7. i found this blog trough Josh's blog. i just wanted to thank you both for sharing your works in a very informative way.

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