Storyboarding Read, Set, Action!

 I have to say after a month of watching Master Animators like Aaron Blaise and then finding my next SHout-out artist Mark Simon. I began to see a massive benefit turning thumbnailing practices into storyboarding instead, since it was just adding additional skills to be practiced simultaneously, thus being effective for muscle memory control. Aaron Blaise's fluid animations of a flour sack were something to aspire to. My fundamental perspective blocks were no match for a well-armed flour sack! Storyboards use all the fundamentals and incorporate other exercises such as sequencing and gesture sketchings. I saw it as a way of moving from one big Idea to another without being tied down to its permanency. Just as the chalk was to the pacific northwest rain. It demanded me to be brave and forgiving of every stroke I made. If I was to ever make the “perfect” routine course to maximize my life potential in this profession. It’s clear Storyboarding needs to be an Artistic Ritual.

    Around this time I realized all my studies may not if I didn't have had the credentials to at least prove I have been properly Instructed. It made me laugh a few times and Shake my head, as my skills would surely prove themselves worthy (My ego tried to kick in), but in the end, I thought it best to be more marketable if the day were to come and I needed it. Plus Homeschool dad and homemaker can start making an unemployment gap that’d probably bite me in the rear later down the road. Maybe not, I don’t know, I am still new to this all.  Anyway, ADD brainwaves subsided, I remembered LinkedIn Learning and Upon subscribing for premium I found a godfather of storyboarders named Mark Simon. Not only has he amassed over 3,500 production credits but he offered courses covering the Essentials of Storyboarding, and making it a full career. He covered the difference between live-action vs animation, storyboard language (Terminology, Jargon, Industry Terms, Form, Layout, and actual Cinematography), and how to make pitches and deliveries of your work.

    Some Ironic things he covered were how to storyboard if you can't draw, as I was looking at this as a way to improve my drawing. It still was extremely informative in understanding the storyboard shot language. He also covered in separate courses how to use Storyboarding Programs like Advanced Storyboard Pro, and Toonboom. This leads me to one last shout-out from linked in learning is Dermot O'Connor who covers adobe animate cc a few more details and never hurts to overlap knowledge, Ben Bishop teaches the graphic novel side of storyboarding which has its way of laying out stories. Key takeaways from storyboarding have been as follows.

Composition In what draws the eye and in film animation or live-action. There is a specific language of shots that read from scene to scene. ( I will never see movies the same again)

Introducing a Camera within the 4P playground exercises can open up a variety of Shots and angles to understand.

The movement of the camera adds a new layer of perspective just by tilting, zooming, and panning from the horizon. Reintroducing the basic perspective we first learned about. The first, second, and third perspectives.

Aspect Ratio Matters. Maybe because I have been a traditional Amateur street artist so far, but it hasn't occurred to me until now how much aspect ratio matters when moving illustration across mediums. This will affect all future work if I mess up something as simple as a design commission. So it was good learning this early on.

    Overall during this time, I am just grateful to have learned so much from these guys and excited to be taught more and advance my techniques.