Get a spare 30 minutes and WATCH THIS:

 All these clips are entertaining, I recommend THIS ONE ABOVE in particular to this course subject; it highlights why episode 3 in particular of the Star Wars prequels does not work- in this clip's case, it discusses the central protagonist to the story, and the storyboarding/shot selections in the film. Insightful, hilarious, it is strongly recommended you listen/watch this. (Thanks for the find, Andi :D)

 It basically boils down to a discussion on the three things I mentioned yesterday that you must try to achieve when telling a story in film, animation or comic book:
 CLARITY, EMPATHY and ENTERTAINMENT.

Original link, and the other two parts are here. All extremely funny, and trust me, you don't have to be a Star Wars fan at all to get what it's saying. 

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith/

Week 2: Recap on Tute film clip examples

Nothing too in-depth here, just talking briefly on some of those examples from after the lecture yesterday :)

Chuck Jones's "Feed the Kitty":



Storytelling through storyboarding strong character poses and expressions, clever framing (particularly towards the end of Act 2, where he is locked outside, and forced to look in through the window), timing, editing, and all without any dialogue from the main protagonist (Marc Anthony) at all. Remember my 'Rain Man' example? The Kitty never changes. But with the escalating conflicts that occur, Marc Anthony the Dog  experiences a full range of emotions until the final resolve at the end. Narrative storytelling 101 :D

Inglourious Basterds: Chapter 1



Couldn't find a clip that included the entire 15 or so minutes, but at least this clip above shows a snippet, and the clip below shows the shoot out- the only selection of shots in this scene that changes the plane on which the camera was sitting at, apart from the vertical pan into the floorboards in show the people hiding (which also stands out from the conversation, where the camera's angle is consistent.) The killing is particularly highlighted by not only the music, operatic/tragedy sounds, but also the "bird's eye view" diagonal gun barrels and house beams as dust flies up from the bullet-riddled floorboards. Boy, didn't that conversation change o_O



Think of the chosen low angle shot of the nazi jack boots walking into the house: similar to the imagery from the film "Battleship Potemkin" which no doubt Peter Moyes may have shown you.

Not all the shots I wanted to remind you of, but at least it's something. Lighting, composition (earlier shots where a nice conversation is going on within the house, except the highlighted area of the frame is a open window with SS officers waiting outside by their car. Adds visual tension to an otherwise seemingly friendly conversation about meeting the daughters, and milk.

Dirty Harry:
Storyboards- establishing the scene, and the position of the characters in relation to each other, shots used during the conversation etc.



Take note that you don't have to have the camera on the person talking- in this instance, it shows the thought process of the protagonist/his reaction to what's being said.

This is the first scene in which 'Harry' speaks. Interest and empathy in the character is created very quickly, which seems to comes from the dry humour/attitude, and he exudes a confidence which suggests he's the "smartest", or is someone which the best skillsets to solve the case (no nonsense, lines that shows he cares for the safety of innocent people, despite the gruffness of delivery). Think of why it is that we side with these characters in the first place when watching a film, and how to show this when story boarding a scene, or writing for our character/s. Anyways, more on this point next week when talking camera conventions, and juxtaposition etc.

Dirty Harry: shootout snippet.



Again, take note of the conventions of shots used- similar background/compositional considerations made to  a western for instance. And, the power/submissive roles shown by simply angling the shot, showing Harry in an up shot, and the bankrobber in a down shot.

Unfortunately, we miss out on that frame showing the small pile of cigarettes outside the getaway car- a (at the time) different way to show a passage of time than wasting seconds, film (and ultimately money) on showing the guy checking his watch etc.

High Plains Drifter:
Do you know, almost every friggin' scene of that film is up on Youtube, and yet I can't seem to find the opening credits where he rides into Lago, and trots into town, with the townspeople watching?

Anyway, plenty of traditional western-style shots using plenty of storyboarding rules (composition, rule of thirds etc.) great example of Establishment shots, following the 180 rule, even from POV shots from people watching him ride by (right to left), neutral shots when they (invisibly) switch sides, so not to confuse, and interesting camera position choices (such as from a window in a barber shop etc.)

At least some of the shots from the opening are briefly shown in this cheesy trailer ;P



See you next week! Remember, I want to check out the bulk of your 'Fill in the Gas" progress, and I want to hear about your final assessment idea. Cool :)

Character Design: Marvel Now!

With all my commitments, I find myself at least 6 months behind story line -wise with the latest comic book releases by the Big two (Marvel and DC), so I'm not 100% up to speed with Marvel's new launch "Marvel Now!", suffice to say it's sounding a little bit like the whole 'DC New 52' launch from last year, without the blanket wiping of character/story continuity, a somewhat "necessary evil" in the comic book world....

(...now that I've lost half of you, let's get you all back with my point ;P)

So, in this instance, and much like the DC characters, the launch seems to show re-imagining/new concept designs for costumes. Now I have a few images postings I'm saving until we get closer to the referencing classes in a few weeks, but in regards to this, I thought I'd at least share the article talking about the relaunched Captain America outfit, as it shows some great pencilled design work, which has obviously referenced modern US army combat gear.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=40080

http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/171979-comics-see-captain-americas-all-new-look-for-marvel-now

Karen J Lloyd's Storyboarding Blog

http://karenjlloyd.com/blog/home/
 Just drawing your attention to this site :D I also put the templates for the storyboards/thumbnails (PDF) on the right ---->

There's some great interviews there too.

Enjoy :D

What if? Pixar meets DC Comics...!

Character Design/Concept art. Beautiful 'Incredibles'-looking DC Comic Characters and Concept art by artist Daniel Araya.
http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/6/13/pixar-style-justice-league-characters.html

And the DeiantArt page for those inclined: http://danielaraya.deviantart.com/

Curses, Spam Filter!

Hey guys, I'm interrupting all the proceedings here for a special news bulletin ;P

I just found a student's email in my Gmail Spam Filter...funny, because he was neither from Nigeria, or offering me large sums of money for exchange of my bank account details....

Anyways, I have no idea why it ended up going there instead of my main inbox, but hopefully it was just an anomaly. If you do find it's been a day or two since you've sent something, and I'm yet to reply, feel free to send again, and/or make a comment here. I'm usually on top of stuff like that.

...we now return you to our regular broadcast :)

"PASS"- Brutal, but true!

http://www.illdave.com/comicbooks/history/toth-critiques-rude.htm

We might take a better look at this during classes based on Camera selection, Composition, Referencing etc. because it's so right on what we're trying to achieve as animators/filmmakers/storyteller- clarity and empathy for the audience to understand and "get" the story. Poor choices in conveying this affects the interest of the audience.

{It is important as a side note to mention that just because Alex Toth says it's fake, doesn't make it so...Steve Rude claims he did in fact use referencing, but you can still see Toth's point, particularly on the overhead shots (weird perspective etc.)}

That's all for now :)

Toy Story - Storyboarding

So I think the majority of us are on the same page re: Toy Story, and thanks to the guys at Pixar, here's another Storyboarding lesson, using said film ;)

Who is 'Jack Kirby'? This is a good start ;)

'Street Code' double page spread by Jack Kirby. If I could still draw like this when I'm 66, I'll be very happy!

Based on the initial feedback from the class today, here's a brief bio on Jack Kirby. As a comic book fan, or a fan of films like 'The Avengers', 'Thor' or 'Captain America', you'll start to wonder why you've never heard of him :) http://kirbymuseum.org/biography

A great source of his comic book art, from 1940's to 1980's. Notice the change in structure and composition between his early work, and his twilight years. Also, though predominately known for Superheroes, he worked in virtually every genre in comics, including co-creating the 'Romance' comics. http://whatifkirby.com/gallery

As a storyteller, concept artist, character designer, creator in general, he's an artist you should know :) And will prove interesting segways throughout the semester

"Galactus" full page spread from an issue of 'Thor' circa mid-late 1960's.

Here's my blog...now where's yours? Hmm?

Hey, it was great to meet you all today in the first 'Visual Story' class. Hopefully, you don't feel like you're drowning in assessment items from this an the other courses on your plate- these in-class exercises should help not only alleviate a little bit of the workload outside the contact hours, but also train your brain to tackle what needs to be done for the final assessment item relatively quicker and easier than just going in cold,  based only on a lecture or theory.

Anyways, my post is to prompt you guys:

Ok, I have to admit, up until 2nd year, I never blogged. Why? Who knows. Probably never considered it. Ironically, it wasn't until the 'Animation Pre-production' class (which is now called 'Visual Story'), that I began blogging my work-in-progress images, reference images etc. onto a blogger site. OK, so it was a course requirement that I still thought was lame ;P (I rebelliously called "Shove a pen in your eye, ya freakin' nerd") but I learnt what a valuable sharing and organisational tool it can be.

Officially converted.

So, for my comic project in honours that spun into a series published by Australian publisher Black House comics, I have http://www.pm-comic.blogspot.com.au/, which basically chronicles the thought process right through to the first deliverable comic, then to the continuation, publisher pick up, the TV commercial announcement...these are milestones I wouldn't have kept track of without the use of a good, simple blog. So, what's yours? Whether you use blogger, Tumblr, a Facebook page, Wordpress, Deviantart... whatever! Send me your link either as a comment here, or email at pmason83@gmail.com, and I'll add it to the list on the right -------->

Plus, anything cool you want to share with others, do the same as above, and I'll post it up :) Today's "finding out what you like" was more so just to get an idea on what everyone is in to, and admittedly I wasn't aware of all of it. So, share :D

All the best.

Doe Mayer Guest lecture Wed 24th UPDATE

In case y'all haven't seen this on Learning@Griffith:

" 2107GFS_3125_SB: URGENT change of DAY for Doe Mayer guest visit 
apologies to all - the day has been changed for the GUEST LECTURE component with DOE MAYER giving a seminar about creativity et al, 

AND a very special opportunity to see some exclusive in-house Behind the Scenes and candid discussion from Animators of How To Train Your Dragon    .

This will be AWESOME!

day is now WEDNESDAY 25th from 1pm - 5pm...

looks like it will either be in the GFS Cinema OR room 5.04 level 5

Will keep you posted.

Class will be in normal 5.29 room at 1pm tomorrow TUESDAY 24th (a shorter intro class ;) "

...which you would probably already know, but at least the room numbers here might help :)

"Scale" storyboarding example: Star Wars Opening Scene

In a short space of time, the opening sequence of Star Wars sets up two very important things within 1 main "Establishing shot": One, it dramatically establishes the "setting" of the story- Space. Two, it creates an instant "good guy/bad guy" scenario- empathy for one over the other, simply through the use of "scale". The small ship is dwarfed by the massive ship in pursuit, creating an underdog scenario, simply by sheer size.

It is also a great example of composition and perspective, as the simple planet setting aligns within the eye-pleasing "Rule of Thirds" concept, and depth is created by strong utilization of perspective. We forget that our screen is a 2D surface, and yet we are drawn into this 3D world and story.

A comic book penciler in particular uses scale to create depth, and where applicable to story, empathy and impact, such as Walt Simonson's "Thor" #380, where the usually massive Thor is dwarfed by the Midgard Serpent in a battle taking place in a series of full page spreads.

Oh, and a nice thing about this clip? No CGI aliens cluttering the screen! Thanks for not touching this bit, Lucas ;P

Jack Kirby: Familarise yourself with this guy if you're not up to speed ;D

If you're enrolled in this class, get use to hearing about this guy ;P. Watch a few minutes and you'll see why he's an unsung creator and storyteller that has influenced the artists and writers and directors of comic books, animation and film.

Wally Wood's 22 panels that always work!

If you're unfamiliar with the great Wally Wood, then click here to get an overview of one for my favorite comic book artists, particularly on his short -lived 1960's Marvel work, and his inking on Jack Kirby in the 1950's: http://psychosaurus.com/frames/wwgallery.html or http://wallywoodart.blogspot.com.au/

The above image is the comic book famous "22 Panels that always work": comic book storytelling panel tricks. Though these panels don't quite translate exactly to the aspect ratio of the film screen, some minor retooling, (keeping in mind composition and staging) should be able to give you a little "pepper' to those talking head scenes. Notice the use of light/shade to create depth, and the change of camera angle adds to not only the variety in a scene, but also assist the character acting and emotion you are trying to convey to your audience.

Remember: try not to throw them in arbitrarily- make sure your camera choice/composition serves the story/mood that you are intending.

Pixar- Storyboarding in a nutshell!

Pixar - Storyboarding Mini Doc from Darren Wall on Vimeo.

Storyboarding process to screen in a nutshell, by some of the best in the business, Pixar animation.

The art of storyboarding with Ridley Scott- "A sophisticated comic strip..."

Hollywood directer Ridley Scott shares some thoughts on storyboarding, including his process, including "thumbnailing".  What I particularly want you to take note of is his comments about light: "Performance of light on objects", and his point on "talking heads".

"Articulate exactly what you're going to do". This is more prevalent as an animator, as you are creating a world from nothing. A blank page or screen. Planning ahead saves time and headaches in production/post production.

Welcome!

Hi Guys,

The reasoning behind this blog is I wanted a quick and easy way to share with you interesting articles, video clips and examples that related to our in class discussions/lectures on Visual Story. Though there is a wealth of jargon, textbooks and knowledge out there, I am a believer of learning via exposure and application in your own practice, and also via examples that you yourselves can find and/or relate to. There are textbooks out there that seem to gloss over the principles that are actually important to us animators/filmmakers or sequential storytellers, or use examples that don't connect with us, as they seem outdated or no longer relevant.

So, from time to time I'll be throwing up images, blog posts, video clips, and articles for academic use/example, take from them what you will. Feel free to share comments, links or email me if you want to throw up something here to share with the others.

OK, that's the intro, go draw or something, and I'll see you all in class ;D