“Of COURSE the storyboards will be on time”

When you freelance as a storyboard artist your client will frequently ask you, “how fast are you?”

This goes into how many frames can you do in “X” amount of time. You’ll only really find this answer after actually being in the field and doing different types of jobs.

Storyboards that are mostly “talking heads” or dialogue are a lot easier to do than an assignment consisting of camera moves, lots of characters and action.

Feature boards are something that you can work yourself into a rhythm. Commercial and music video boards are always on a strict deadline. They usually shoot within days of the completion of your work.

Feature films can have their own restrictions. A scene may have extreme pressure on getting done do to filming schedule or that the director just wants to keep a brisk pace of getting scenes done so they are prepared as possible upon filming.

While being honest with yourself, how fast are you? I say, when pressed on to can you get the job done, say “yes”, unless you are sure you can’t do it. If you are a little bit behind, the director will usually be all right with knowing the boards are on the way to being done. Note, I say this for a long term job. Commercial people will cut your throat if you make them miss the next days’ pre-pro meeting.

I am saying, if you think you can push yourself, and you need that gig, take the job and get it done!!!

I just did a week long job and busted my ^%$ dong detailed drawings and working ten to twelve hour days. The last day was about sixteen hours or so, but I got it done and made people smile.

Often, an intense gig will make you work more quickly and economically than you ever thought you could. I had to do a “steam punk” work and distinct body armor and clothes. I was tired, but my mind was racing in ways of getting the work to look nice and clear.

I made sure to spot blacks to add weight to the art and to add a healthy dose of direction arrows for screen direction. I “dutched” angles and added mang style speed lines to increase the arts’ energy. I guess it worked. My client was very happy with my storyboards.

Details…. not yet!

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.

HANGING IN LIKE JIM KELLY ON HAN’S ISLAND

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.

BACK SO SOON?

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.

Hiatus ends

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!!!

GOODBYE, MJ

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? 

 

NEW STORYBOARD JOB…THOUGH, A BIG ONE

Let me see now.

In the last week and a half, I have been hired on to do some pre-pre-production work on a film called NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH.

The director is a very cool guy named David Dobkin who did THE WEDDING CRASHERS. Everything has gone fine so far.

Once again, I can’t discuss the film as I WILL GET FIRED, but it looks to be fun.

David likes to start with thumbnails and work from there. He has a good sense of story and character arcs and is quite open to contributions. David made me feel relaxed as soon as we met, as did his assistant, Seth.

I had to go home to NYC, as my Uncle, a great man named Rueben Holder passed away. I really loved him. He married my mother’s first cousin, and we all just called him “Uncle”. The exact relation never mattered, which is just as I believe.

Family is who loves you and whom you love.

After coming back from the funeral, I am grinding away on the boards. I am very happy not to be using paper as when you work digitally, you can reuse shots and make some wider or tighter.

After approval, I can either draw on another layer or just add detail to the sketches. Tomorrow, I hope to get in a quick workout, take my son to school and start drawing. I have three scenes to do by this coming Monday.

Yes, I am having a lot of fun, I might add.

 

SPARE TIME

I just went through the always-fun interview process as I look for a new gig.  The interviewer was a very nice producer named David Crockett.

If I get the gig, I’ll give a little more detail.

Meanwhile, as work is extremely slow, I did a few “freebee” frames for a director friend and did a LOT of writing whenever I could to finish a script.

I’ve also been doing a little animation design work to flesh out a concept I might try to sell.

When work is slow, you really have to put your time to creative use, especially if you are married with a kid and you don’t know when you might have this kind of time.

Not that I love a lot of time off, as I don’t. As a freelancer, I am always in fear of not working for too long. As I am not single, I can’t piss away time. There is always something to do around the house. I actually try to straighten my home office a little. Dust is ALWAYS a problem. Always.

Many of my illustrator colleagues are looking for work. A chosen few have moved on to new features. They deserve it. I do as well, but until I land one, I must move in a forward direction.

Through Facebook, I have re-connected with a number of my HIGH SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN classmates. Some of them (yo, Terri Bracchi, Vilma Alvarez, Steve Carr etc) are still in the arts and even have there own businesses.

I’ve been working out a lot as well. I’ve always sucked at pull-ups, as I never had a chin up bar.  I bought one this spring.  Now that I have been on the PX 90 (one month in and counting) workout program, I’ve pushed myself to ten pull/chin ups. The Kempo karate dvd workout that stopped half way when I started, I can now finish.

Thankfully, I always took care of my body with weights, so my climb isn’t as massive as it could be.

If only there was a PX GET A JOB workout, too.

HUSTLE TIME

The last few weeks have been spent finishing boards on the Adam Sandler film “GROWN UPS” (the 2nd A.D. Mark just called me as I was writing this blog) as well as trying to get some writing done. The original plan for me was to do maybe 2 weeks on the show, but my friend and the movie’s director, Dennis Dugan got me a lot more work than than.”DD” or “Doogie” as he is known by many, likes to have me to bounce his visual ideas off him, and he knows I can pull some good gags and concepts out. This film has not been as stunt heavy as “YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN”, but I’ve had CGI moths, prat-falls and a  comedic impaling to illustrate. Good stuff.I have one more scene to do, but we don’t know when it has to be done, so now is the time I look for more work, as the bills never stop coming. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my dream jobs on the “GREEN HORNET” or “GREEN LANTERN” films to follow this gig up, so I better start hustling now.In the mean time, I am doing some pro bono boards for another director friend, which is not something  I usually do at all, but he isn’t rich at all, and the project isn’t back yet financially. Plus, this director was great to work with on a low budget horror film a few years ago.Again, I WILL take money if you have it. I’d love a job, so I can by more Alan Hughes sketchbooks. If only, 

Chris Rock, Dennis Dugan, Adam Sandler and My Wife, Betty K. Bynum!!!

Helloooooo….

Well, I am wrapping up work on my current Adam Sandler project (“Untitled” so far) and will be hitting the streets looking for some gigs.

The money must keep flowing.

The director, a very cool gentleman named Dennis Dugan has given me additional scenes to do than the original plan.  Thank God, as another film I had going fell apart (for the time being) and I need the income.

Dennis often has to “sell” his vision and ideas on scenes to Adam, who is a smart businessman and knows what he wants. Dennis knows how many frames he needs to sell his point.  Some people want to see a lot. Adam and his crew have so much going on that little is good and filling.

I’ve been working on boards for mostly gags.  Certain scenes in this movie have mild to mid stunts attached in addition to C.G.I. or “practical” or on the set special effects.

Just last Friday, Dennis let me sit on a meeting with he, his first A.D. and a C.G.I. company vying for a job on the show. Very informative.  The company was previously sent a copy of my boards for the scene that needs C.G.I.

From there, they can plan their bid and figure out how long the shots would take to produce.

I am still storyboarding on the STORYBOARD PRO program and then turning the frames into JPG’S.  From there, I can set the frames up as I wish, add type or any use of PHOTOSHOP or PAINTER.

If I get some more down time, I will get back to my passion, screenwriting. BIG IF. I want time, but not TOO much time.

I visited my wife, BETTY K. BYNUM on the set of my previous film, DEATH AT A FUNERAL. It stars Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracey Morgan, James Marsden, Luke Wilson and others. The director, another friend of a few years, Neil LaBute gave Betty a few lines in the film and her one day of filming turned into three.

Betty got to know Chris Rock a little and from what I have seen and heard from many, Chris is one of the NICEST and down to earth people in the business. Eats with the crew, DOESN’T cut the line, and never plays the “star” role. He, Will Smith and George Clooney probably have the best reputations in the business.

So, I must now get back to cracking.

 

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