Tuesday, July 18, 2006

STORY BOARDS BABY!!!!!

Hey, it just hit me... I should post some boards. Its what I do everyday, why not? Well because i can't really show off what I'm working on because its all top secret and stuff. Don't want to spoil the surprise. BUT!!!! I have dug through my huge flat files and found some good stuff that I can share. The following is part one of a sequence I did a while back for a friend of mine who was getting a project going. It didn't take off sadly but the bit I worked on was a blast to do.

Set in the 20's-30's gangster era, its about three brothers "the Rossos'" who are italian hit men. In this scene their is an ambushed planned to take them out. Well the Rossos' are just too good.

I use this sequence when I'm teaching as well, to show economy in boarding, how reusing shots keeps the audience clear on where we are. Look for the visual clues in the sequence that identifies the particular enviroment or setting we're in from shot to shot.

The sequence was totally created. I had no script just the formentioned idea of it. Then I was left to my own devices.

enjoy. And be advised there is dialog and there is language and violence. I'd rate this sequence 'R'

Rosso sequence part 1

read left to right then down a line repeat-


(scroll down to clear text on right)

























































21 Comments:

Blogger Thomas Huxley said...

Awesome stuff there! That would have been great to see, pity though. Can't wait to hear, when announced, what you are currently working on at Pixar.

4:10 AM  
Blogger C.Deboda said...

Awesome boards! Looking forward to seeing more of this kind of work.

1:00 PM  
Blogger Man of the House said...

Mark, your so good it makes me sick.

-Ricardo

9:00 PM  
Blogger MANDREWS said...

Luxo jr.----- me too keeping a lid on it is hard.



cdeboda---- I'll put up part 2 of this sequence in a short while. keep your eyes peeled.


Man of the house----- like wise brother , likewise.


Shine----- when I teach, I pitch this sequence all the time. Its fun, especially the cursing. heh heh

7:54 AM  
Blogger Rohit Iyer said...

Great stuff, Mandrews!

It's been quite some time. I'm working on a project for an animated short film (my second student project) and I'm finding it pretty challenging boarding out just a 1.5 minute story.

But your boards rock! I guess it'll take some practice. I have a Visual Scripting course coming up later this semester.

Just a quick question though, how does boarding for live-action and for animation differ? Or does it?

2:04 PM  
Blogger MANDREWS said...

Rohit---- Good question. Its tough to answer. Sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it does. The trends in 'live action boards' are usually less drawings to illustrate motion and are more focused on the shot conmposition and movement continuity. 'Animation boards' are more about motion and character business so tend to require more drawing-ie- several poses of the character moving through the frame or acting or expressing.

These are trends. (to those who do one or the other or both like me) For me there is NO difference between live action and animation boards as far as film making is involved. Film is film the language is the same wether or not its CG -live action -stop motion-traditional- When I sit down to block out a shot or determine what the shot is its about character and whats happening in th estory. So no differences.

It all depends on your point of view.

Mandrews out

8:53 PM  
Blogger Amelia Lorenz said...

I was sucked in. I want to see more of that...


a

11:18 PM  
Blogger Dave Dick said...

These are great - thanks for posting them!

10:06 AM  
Blogger MANDREWS said...

amelia----- its all there now the whole sequence, enjoy



Dave----- No problem i like sharing. Enjoy the rest of the sequence


M

10:26 AM  
Blogger J said...

JEEEEEZ MArk, these are great. Man alive....you make difficult action seem effortless.
Thanks for posting these.

11:41 AM  
Blogger MANDREWS said...

J---- yes, "seem effortless" is actually a lot of hard work and many attempts.


Idiot circus boy---- sorry there is no commentary... and yes I have the Spiderman boards. heh heh


Mandrews out

8:06 PM  
Blogger Meesimo said...

Beautiful, fluid stuff! Makes me short of breath as the action heats up there. Especially imagining the difficulty of making a complex shot appear so clear and simple.
How many attempts,for instance, did you make before getting this sequence to this point?

-Meesimo

9:43 AM  
Blogger Perry Linton Joseph Osuna said...

Mark these are so beautiful and easy to read they seem to be alive already your handling of line and tone to tell the story is superb it's been a while since I left a comment just workin on my own skills cause I still wanna make some killa art with you and your endless talent well hope you've ok other wise great of u to keep up the blog and sharing of your boundless skills take care!!!

11:58 AM  
Blogger Rohit Iyer said...

Hey Mandrews,

Thanks for the in-depth reply to my question.

I just saw "One Man Band" with Cars, and I have to say, I was really surprised!

I loved it, especially because the ending was something I hadn't expected, and yet it was immensely satisfying.

After the great work that you and Andy did on The Incredibles, it's great to see you guys finally making a short film together.

One question - is it just me, or are Bass and Treble, ahem... "inspired" by you and Andy?

Keep up the great work, and I hope you make another one soon!

-Rohit

PS - Michael Giacchino's music is perfect, as always.

4:04 PM  
Blogger Ted M said...

You're the man, Mandrews.

9:53 PM  
Blogger OV! said...

awesome boards mark, hey you never signed my copy of afterworks2


ovi

1:28 AM  
Blogger MANDREWS said...

Miseemo--not that many. in fact only two passes. I did most of the thinking about the sequence in my head. Once I knew exactly what was to happen- when I could "SEE IT" then I started boarding. After the initial pass it was a matter of trimming boards, combining shots and fniding better shots to explain the action. I was done with this sequence in two-three weeks.



St John Street--- Thanks for dropping a line. Someday man... someday. The industry is small we may work together someday.


Rohit--- yeah Ronnie Del Carmen our Production Designer designed the caracters to look very similar to Andy and I. The tricky bastard. The funny thing was Andy and I never caught on. We just kept hearing giggling from our crew.

TSM--- no! you're the man.


OV!--- sorry man it'll get signed don't you worry.


Mandrews out

5:56 PM  
Blogger Scott Morse said...

Nice stuff bruthah. But you already know what I think of this sequence. Too bad...maybe someday...

8:10 AM  
Blogger Marmax said...

Damn! That was great! I'd love to see it in film...

3:08 PM  
Blogger Ali said...

This is amazing.

6:28 AM  
Blogger Dan Shefelman said...

Just sat looking at these boards (procrastinating boarding a sequence of my own I might add)... each time I went through looking at the clean easy (looking) drawings, great shots etc. All I could say was "F#%K --- F@*K!"

Inspiring.

2:24 PM  

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