My first storyboard meeting. Working on a cover for my wife’s book. Conan trailer.
June 23, 2011 in ART, THE SIMPSONS NEWS, VIDEOS, WRITING
THE SIMPSONS NEWS
Well, this week I managed to finish the first pass of my assignment. On Tuesday, we had a board meeting with the director and the head director. It was scheduled from two o’clock to five. We finished at seven. Personally, I don’t think it went well. There was a lot of things changed. It felt to me as if 80% of what I did was changed. In reality it was more like 60% or 70%. As I revised the boards after the meeting, I realized that a lot of the discussions of what to do felt like they where changing more than what was actually changed.
I’m no stranger to getting my boards revised but for some reason it was really difficult this time around not to feel disappointed my shots where getting changed. I guess because I wanted so badly to get everything “right” the first time. The truth is, there are just sooo many ways a sequence can be composed. Sometimes what I had worked, and sometimes it just needed reworking. I wish I’d gotten more things right. That way the meeting wouldn’t have taken so long.
I definitely think I was just getting too fancy with my shots, for my own good. Instead of drawing clear shots, I drew fancy shots. Next time, I’ll keep myself in check. I did learn a lot though. I’ll do better next time (if there is one).
When I first started doing board revisions I had the same fancy shot problem. My first revision meeting pretty much went the same way. Nothing I drew was used. As I started get more comfortable with the process and the directors became more used to me, the changes became less and less. But in storyboarding, there will always be changes. It’s part of the job.
There’s something special planned for my section that I can’t really talk about yet. Because of this, I have to finish it a week earlier than usual. This is actually making the work a bit more stressful than it should be for my first time boarding an Act. I’m doing the work at a faster pace than I would normally do it. This has actually caused me to start getting a bit burned out.
I’m going to need to take a tiny break soon. All that said, I can’t deny the fact that I’ve been having a great time in spite of it all.
ART
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but my wife Alesha has rewritten an e-book. She finished it and began sending it to agents, but in the end, no one wanted to give it chance. Publishers aren’t really looking for the type of story she’s written. So she decided to just publish it herself. The book is pretty much ready to go. All it needs is a cover which she has commissioned me to do. I promised her I’d do it and since the only thing she’s doing is waiting for me, I need to get it done.
Below is my preliminary rough of what the picture on the cover will look like. The final piece will be painted. It will be red and gray. The banner, her tie and perhaps her lips, will be red and the rest gray.
Perhaps in a future post, as the cover reaches completion, I’ll let you know what the book is about.
What do you think?
VIDEOS/WRITING
I saw this trailer for the upcoming CONAN THE BARBARIAN movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptC_KlAP_KoI thought it looked like fun and it rekindled my desire to finish my project. Especially since, my project is very much an homage to Conan and Robert E. Howard.
This weekend I managed to get in a few hours to edit my treatment again. Unfortunately, with what’s going on at work and trying to finish up my wife’s book cover, it’s getting more difficult to get things done. I’m going to try to keep working on it this weekend as well. It’s just getting more difficult because I’m so burned out that I’d much rather relax by reading something than to sit down and work on a rewrite.
For more comic and stories written by me, CLICK HERE.
If you like what you read, please consider signing up to my rss feed.
Comments are appreciated as well.
I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.
If you would like to have a text ad on my site, click on the red BUY LINKS button under the Archives list.
And while you’re at it, please Digg me too.
Writing this blog is almost a part time job for me. Tips are most welcome.
Hello! I’m sorry your ‘fancy shots’ got sniped. I always like the more inventive and cinematic shots in The Simpsons, and I thin kthis is very unfortunate.
Thanks Zartok. To be honest, I think the shots that got cut should have been cut. Clarity was better than what I had. Fancy shots should have a purpose. The directors ADDED fancy shot in places I didn’t have them too. They placed them there because they were more appropriate. Knowing where fancy shots are necessary and appropriate and knowing where NOT to put them is part of being a good board artist.