Having studied martial arts, Warren Drummond understands how to draw action and exactly what is needed when shooting a scene. He’s worked on over fourty feature films including The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Bourne Identity.
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Daily Blog
January 7, 2010
For the last five weeks, I have been working on a movie called “FASTER” for director, George Tillman.
I’ve been working lots of hours, as I want and need to get everything just right.
As this is an action film, George is very exact and detailed with each and every shot. He wants the angle to be right, the possible lens, as well as unique ways to see the character.
I’ve never had the chance to draw Dwayne Johnson in a film before, so I have gotten my money’s worth, as he is the star and is in all the scenes I have drawn.
The key is to not to do heavy a first pass when you show it to the director of a project. Show just enough so they can see what’s going on, but never get bogged down in detail.
You might not get the feel right. Shots get cut and changed. You can have a great shot, but it may need to be tighter or wider. If you put all your energy into beautiful drawings at first, and then you have to do a number of passes, you’ll burn yourself out.
Get feedback from the director, make changes, then, you can add detail if needed. Also, if you don’t know the director well, try to find out the level of detail or finish they need. If you have a lot to do in terms of frames, you’ll have to economize.
October 23, 2009
It is really slow folks, for everyone. I’ve gotten a few gigs. Did some boards for my buddy Maurice Marable who directed a promo for H.B.O.’s BIG LOVE. Mo is always greatttt to work with. He’s a true friend and a great artist. I’m also doing boards for my buddy, Malcolm Lee, a talented director and another good friend. They’ve come thru, and help helped me take off the rust.Meanwhile, I am still looking for a feature. My friend Josh hipped me on to some Bollywood people about to do a super hero film. They were set on an artist who had done super hero films. What they should have done is look for an artist who is a greta storyteller, knows angles, lens and action. Too bad.
September 23, 2009
Well, in the last month I have been working with my buddy, Erik White on his first feature film, THE LOTTERY TICKET. I’ve gotten a few very needed weeks of work.
This year has been extremely up and down with HUGE valleys of no work at all.
Most of my work has been long distance. Erik will come back to LA from Atlanta, where the film is being prepped, and we’ll go over a scene at his place or a Starbucks.
Then, I go home and do a quick sketch.
My work on this show has only been sketchy, as they have a limited budget and have a number of extended scenes Erik would like boarded.
It took a week for me to stop being anal and to loosen up the storyboards. Being neat and fine can work against SPEED.
I found just the right “brush” in my Storyboard Pro program that made the drawings a LOT faster. This “brush” has the thick and thin feel of an actually brush, so I was much more relaxed while drawing.
My work wraps in a few days and I need to get a long term feature.
My mind has been on work, money and writing. Not blogging. Sorry folks.
July 30, 2009
I was on hiatus from the Fox movie for three weeks. During that time, the money got real dry, and a bunch of athletes started getting murdered. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died the day before the lay-off. It’s been weird.
During my time I looked for work. Came up snake eyes, went camping with my son in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains (fun) and finished working on a script, which I hurriedly sent off for a friend to read.
My first week back on the movie was brief, as I started on a Tuesday, and took off the Friday to go to the San Diego Comic Con.
Per usual, we went to Carlsbad as well.
The Con was fun. I don’t pay, thankfully as I get the “professional” pass. If you have never been to the Con, it is a sight to behold. Simply thousands of people walking around and so many dealers of art, comics and sci-fi paraphernalia. Yes, this includes grown people in stormtrooper costumes, but God bless them. If you feel free enough to dress up and you are in no way harmful to others, go for it!!
I got to meet LOST IN SPACE’s Billy Mumy and ENTER THE DRAGON’s Jim Kelly.
As for boards, my job is a fun grind. The director, David Dobkin is a fun guy and smart. He really lets me come up with shots and I’ve done pretty well with him so far.
I used STORYBOARD PRO’s slideshow/Quicktime feature early on, but I’m sticking with just storyboards for now until I need otherwise. It’s enough time to arrange JPEGS in Photoshop, make a contact sheet and then make a pdf from that, then print everything for David.
That’s the hidden time killer with boards. The presentation!!!
July 7, 2009
I was in a meeting with a director when my phone went off. It was on silent, and I let it go. The director was in the bathroom. When he came back, I “wowed” him in the meeting with some animatic I made from the STORYBOARD PRO program. He was able to feel actual emotions from the characters as I can push in, tilt and pan with the program. The meeting was perfect until I saw the text on my phone as I left. It said “Michael Jackson is dead”
All of the good feelings from the meeting were gone, and I was left with a huge, “WTF???” Once confirmed and with the added news that I was being put on “hiatus” really put a damper on things.
I had just gotten two Michael Jackson CD’s for FATHER’S DAY as well. Major bummer. Really bad timing, eh?
