Module Evaluation

With specialist study 1, my aim was to become better acquainted with the theories and philosophy of Storyboarding and its practices. Whilst I found that there were no strict 'principles' to adhere too, my initial step was to generate my own version of a guideline to counter this, so that I could then tailor my work to prove these principles in theoretical terms.

With specialist study 2 my first and only main objective became pretty clear; Put my principles into the working environment that the industry demands, no matter how benign the project. And so, this entire body of work has been the culmination of my baptism of fire into Storyboarding under industry conditions.

Along the way I've discovered how wildly different each storyboard and conception/idea that fuels them can really be, and I learned to figure out many ways to make my principles work when logistical, design and collaborative obstacles came in the way- and almost always to positive effect. Some projects required me to be technically skilled in theory and practice, adhering to somebody else's preset vision, and being able to sophisticatedly communicate that vision. This lead to the interesting challenge of convincingly placing my principles into their tastes and demands for a certain commission. Likewise, other projects were wholly vague in conception and offered the opportunity for me to step in and to collaborate and generate many ideas that would later contribute to the final vision. This lead to more free room to allow my principles to breath within my drawing and planning.

Through this I've also had to become well versed in the use of industry standard, or similar level programs to streamline my work into a much faster production. Adobe after effects and photoshop are now, more than ever, invaluable tools. Further more, my branching out somewhat into the creation of Animatics has helped to reaffirm my principles in storyboarding, and ultimately prove whether they work or not. The principles that I created for myself are listed;

Communication- The ability to communicate visually is the basis for all drawing, especially when a story is crafted specifically around this method of narration. Each image must be able to do its job, which can be creating emotions, visual eye-candy or keeping the pace and flow of a story arc fluid and intact.

Solid Drawing- beat boards, storyboards and animatics rely on strong solid drawing. Without clear economy of line, effectiveness of poses and readable performances, your boards will remain incoherent and therefore fail to tell the story.

Colour and Tone- The addition or deliberate omission of colour and tone of the images further aim to evoke an emotion or visual sensation from the viewer, aiding in the mood of the narrative.

Composition- To carefully and meticulously position frame ‘clutter’, such as objects, architecture, lighting or people to be aesthetically pleasing, emotive and effective to the given moment in the story.

Effective Framing- To decisively frame your image and all of its components-composition and framing walk hand in hand- to further enhance the composition to aid in the communication of the scene, and the final impact the finished product will have on the viewer.

Pace- Understanding the flow of a sequence or story as played out in several frames is key to ensuring a smooth transition from one scenario to the next.

I feel that in one, or many ways or another, each of my commissions and personal works go some way to identify- and more importantly- to prove their benefits and relevance within industry condition practices.

Now that I've got a building portfolio ever growing, a CV with commissions to show, and some experience with industry conditions, I feel that I've finally addressed beyond the theoretical approach to storyboarding, and have furthered my sell-ability as a functioning storyboard artist, and in general the pre-production process.

Final commission boards

With the design work still in progress, I began work on developing a scripted sequence for one edition of their episodic animated web comic to be launched. The first of which was a sequence involving the confrontation with the tentatively designed Green Man via the appearance of thugs in his forest domain. From the script I broke down the board into key beats and spent a significant amount of time discussing with them how, visually, they wished for this to appear. Though I had once again much room to breathe, it was clear they had a vision that they wished to stick to, right down to the very framing, and so I focused heavily upon the execution of drawings for a more professional finish.

Below are the final rendered boards for this sequence. To do these I also digitized the images, polishing them in Coral Painter for a better finish.

Scene 1. Thugs enter the woods. Wide angle.

Scene 2. Mid-close up showing the three, appearing to be crossbowmen.

Scene 3. CU of the thug leader. He senses something.

Scene 4. Establishing shot of the forest. Ethereal lights dance among the boughs.

Scene 5. The thugs espy a silhouette in the distance, appearing like forest-game.

Scene 6. Leader orders the alert, crossbows are armed.
Scene 7. Leader halts the two.

Scene 8. Mid-wide of the antlered being, remaining shadowy.

Scene 9. Lead thug approaches. A wide-angle shot portrays the distance and opposition to one another- plus revealing the fallen tree-bridge as the cause of the confrontation.

Scene 10. Both remaining thugs glance at each other warily.

Scene 11. Mid-CU of the Antlered being, revealing more human characteristics.

Scene 12. Lead thug openly challenges the antlered being.

Scene 13. Antlered being stirs at the challenge, a human hand visibly gripping on a support.

Cont. Staff comes into view as the cloaked form of the man recedes, rising.

Cont. Eventually rises to his full height. Low-angle selected for intimidating view point.

Scene 14. Lead thug looks at the rising man in horror.

Scene 15. He orders an attack, receding.

Scene 16. Both thugs raise their crossbows in unison and fire.

Scene 17. Dramatic angle following the trajectory of the bolts.

Scene 18. Antlered man thrusts his staff our horizontally, blocking the bolts.

Scene 19. Lead thug counters, poising his crossbow for a point blank.

Scene 20. Dramatic close up, slow motion release of the bolt from the chamber.

Scene 21. Antlered man changes stance quickly.

Scene 22. He thrusts the staff outwards, the end blocking the bolt's trajectory.

Scene 23. Triumphant, brief hero shot.

Scene 24. Lead thug unsheathes his sword threateningly.

Scene 25. The other thugs follow suit.

Scene 26. Canted framing, lead thug charges.

Scene 27. Low angle, the lead thug approaches with a swing. Antlered Man holds his ground.

Scene 28. Antlered man prepares himself. Quick cut.

Scene 29. Antlered Man launches a devastating swing with his staff, crippling the oncomer.

Reverse angle, quick cut. Lead thug topples.

Scene 30. CU of fallen thug.

Scene 31. Comrades run over him into the fray.

Scene 32. Antlered Man raises staff threateningly. Extreme low-angle (Perhaps worm's eye view distortion needed)
Cont. Birds eye view. Staff slams onto the bridge.

Quick cut. Oncomers briefly halted as the staff makes contact.

Scene 33. Wide-angle. Bridge collapses and splinters, knocking the opponents back.

Scene 34. Antlered man watches half the bridge collapse and his opponents plummet.

Scene 35. Closing frame, Antlered Man looks on, bemused.

Here ends the first sequence in its original pass. Currently, I'm developing more scripted sequences as apart of my commissions with them, however due to their unpresentable state, they are absent as of this posting.

Commission design

With the success of the Comix initiative, I was introduced to a group of fellow animators through the recommendation of John Mcrea, who arranged a meeting with us. These guys turned out to be looking to launch a new web comic series, based predominantly in Leicester, with the use of 'animatic' style animation in the comics, with the predominant use of the Abobe Flash program. These guys appeared to have written a basic outline for short stories and their own fantasy mythology, revolving around a predominantly Tolkien-esque themed comic medieval fantasy titled 'The Green Man'.

Initially, I came onboard as a storyboard artist once again, and began work on one of the initial stories revolving around their proposed Vampire-hunter called 'Halthorn'. Below were some of the original passes and beat boards I made of the introductory scenes of him showcased as a man of the wild.

Ultimately these became rejected, and after much renewed discussion this story was put on hold. In the mean time I started to offer my drawing abilities to much more of their work, ultimately leading me to enter into character designing.

From here we selected to design a major character in their story, the alleged 'Green Man' himself. I drew inspiration from the pagan folklore god of the same name, whom this character was inspired, albeit with now comic book style powers. My initial designs focused on a character more grounded in reality, looking gruff and weathered in years, as any common man who may find himself living in the wild.

After another review and feedback, suggestions were made to pull the character back to a more fantastical approach. This time I decided to really draw on the pagan roots, even adding druidic runes into the cut of his now larger beard.

A further (And ultimately rejected design) was me designing the character into more of a humanoid creature, offering another allusion to the name 'Green Man'. I drew inspiration from reptilian features and continued the druidic patterns, this time as bodily 'scars'.

Lastly, the capital city of the inhabited fantasy world of 'Ea'- as the guys call it- called 'Te Rah' was described much akin to a sprawling shanty town with many levels and tiers. Also functioning largely as a gigantic market, this city is a melting pot for all races. Below are the first few designs to come.

Currently this commission and work placement with these guys is still ongoing, and so further design work is still pending and therefore in no fit state to present so far, despite this module's deadline!