This one will be short and sweet.

First off, go see ‘Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs’.

Fun, fun stuff. For the kids and adults. It was a ‘cartoon-cartoon’ and one heck of a ride.

I went out of my way NOT to see it in craptastic ‘Real 3D’ and I have to say, there was not one second when I thought “Hey, I wish this was blurrier and stuff was flying at my face.”

Not once.

Between this and ‘Surf’s Up’ (love that one), Sony Pictures Animation has earned my total respect. They are making some great stuff over there. Thank you Sony Animation people!

Maybe I’ll write more of a review thingy on ‘Cloudy’ soon. In the meantime, go see it.

Second, I can’t wait for the Princess and the Frog!

2D classical animation is coming back. I’m all giddy about it.

Just sayin’.

Third, I’m starting a new season of ‘Kid vs Kat’.

Like today.

Should be a fun season. Lots of work ahead. Lots of late nights. But it’s cool.

I even splurged (i.e. racked up credit card) for my own Cintiq 21UX (insert rapid inhalation of breath here). Kind of scary. But it’s purrrrrtty. I will be drawing my boards digitally this time around. And I’ll be writing about the process in the Production Journal to keep you up on the madness that is working on an animated TV series.

Fourth, the Mini Storyboard Critiques are going up!

In price.

It was supposed to be today. But I felt I should give the people ‘on the fence’ a little more time.

So there’s a slight delay in the price increase. It’s now Wednesday, October 14th. Yeah, in TWO DAYS.

Then the $32 Mini Storyboard Critique goes up to $54 and the Mini Critique 3-Pack goes from $89 to $149. (Do the math on that one. Smart people are scooping up the 3-pack.)

You can use these ANY time, so no worries if you don’t have work to send me right away. We’ll just tuck it away until you’re ready. Or set a date in the future and use that as accountability to get your butt in gear if you need it!

We artist types tend to do that ‘procrastination thing’. Accountability is a good cure for that.

So if you’re on the fence, now is the time to hop off and snatch up one (or three) of these suckers. Because the price certainly won’t go down in the future.

That’s it, that’s all, c’est tout.

For now.

_._._._._._._

Sign-up for the Storyboard Club Mailing List and get a Free Storyboard Template Pack!

Get your own Mini Storyboard Critique here before the price increases on October 12th 14th!!!

Read the Storyboard Blog by RSS Feed or by email for some KvK madness in the future.

Oy.

What the heck happened there? How long have I been absent? Way too long, apparently.

Funny how time can slip away from you when you’re working 16 hour days, huh? Sorry about that, but I just couldn’t summon up the brain power or the time to write anything.

But I have returned! (If anyone cares.)

And yes, that photo is totally silly.

So here’s a couple of things.

I’m teaching again. Yes, I am once again the storyboard instructor at the Vancouver Film School. If you are planning on attending there in the near future, it will be I who whips you into storyboarding shape and crushes your dreams.

Wee! Fun times.

I’m also working again. I know I haven’t really talked about it, but this past year has *sucked* work-wise. Everyone has been feeling it in my neck of the woods. And a lot of them still are. Ick.

Then it all came tumbling at me at once (which is how it always goes). A rush development board this past month which turned out rather well. Happy clients make it all worth it. (And money helps. I had forgotten how to press ‘deposit’ on the bank machine.)

Then I’ll be working on the next season of ‘Kid Vs Kat’. So the Production Journal shall live on! Which means more late nights and all around insanity for the next seven months. Eep.

But it’s all in the name of going back to Hawaii, right? RIGHT?

Don’t worry, the blog shall prevail. I promise. I may have to skip a week here and there, but I’ll do my best.

Plus I’ll still be offering my One-On-One Storyboard Consulting and the Mini Storyboard Critiques. And hopefully a few little learning products.

And please note:

I will be raising the price of the Mini Critiques on October 12th. It’s going from $32 to $54. Yup. So if you’ve been on the fence thinking about getting one, now is the time! You don’t have to use it right away either. You can tuck it away and use it anytime you like in the future.

Now, the next post will be the follow-up to Aidan’s revised storyboard. Really! It will! Honest Aidan, honest!!

Thank you all for your patience. : )

_._._._._._._

Sign-up for the Storyboard Club Mailing List and get a Free Storyboard Template Pack!

Get your own awesome Mini Storyboard Critique here before the price increases on October 12th!

Read the Storyboard Blog by RSS Feed or by email because I *will* be back. Again.

Okay, this is a cop-out. I admit it.

I’m really working on a post (or series of posts) with an interview I did with Anne Denman of Studio B Productions about resumes, portfolios and applying to studios and stuff.

We recorded the interview during lunch on an audio cassette and I’ve transcribed it. But digging through it all and actually *writing* the article is inflicting all sorts of procrastination-ish stuff on me.

I will get it done though!

So to fill in the gap, I’m going to pimp out a few artists.

This is what happens when you sign up to the Storyboard Club Mailing List Which Is Really Kind Of A Newsletter Thingy on your right.

Some of my ‘list people’ wrote to me and gave me a link to their sites. And they’re very good, so you should look at them and learn.

There are some good examples of making a blog a half-decent portfolio. And some are just really nice drawings.

Take it away Eric the orchestra leader!

(Name that reference and you get a cookie.)

Aidan Casserly has two nice sites. Aidan’s portfolio site is clean and easy to navigate. Aidan’s blog is full of more storyboard goodness. Check them out.

Drew Blom. After reading my series of posts on making a portfolio site, Drew made a very nice site on Weebly.com. Watch and learn folks.

>>continue reading>>

OK, this is an experiment.

One that I may regret. I’m not sure yet.

But I feel as though I’m in a bit of a ‘posting slump’ and need to shake things up a bit. And since I started using audio in my Mini Critiques, I realized that audio and video really are a godsend to a lazy ass like me.

Sorta.

Because I can talk a heckuva lot faster than I can type.

And I’m a bit of a ham.

So I went to see Pixar’s ‘UP’.

And I was going to give it one of my ‘tri-perspective’ reviews and all. Much like my Coraline review, I was going to focus on the experience of seeing the movie.

Well, this was my experience.

Sorry if the video is too long. Sorry if it’s not loud enough. Sorry that there is no real review at this time. When I see the movie again, I’ll give one (the short version is: it’s fabulous).

But there were ‘technical difficulties’ that I need to rant about.

So in the name of “putting myself out there” here is my ‘UP’ experience.

My apologies. : )

(Judging from the still frame on the video, I assume the video Gods are punishing me already.)

If you can’t see the video in your feed reader, click through to the post.

_._._._._._._

Sign-up for the Storyboard Club Mailing List and get a Free Storyboard Template Pack!

Read the Storyboard Blog by RSS Feed or by email to see if I ever video-blog again.

Lookie! New stuff in the sidebar!

(If you’re reading this in a feed reader, head on over here and take a peek.)

I’m starting a little club.

The Storyboard Club.

At this point, it’s just a free mailing list. But it will turn into more.

With this list, I will occasionally keep in touch with you by email. I might send out a monthly ‘blog round-up’ of the month’s posts with some extra insights. Or a newsletter-ish thingy. Or give you a link to something cool I won’t necessarily post on the blog.

When I make an eBook or host a webinar, you will hear about it first. And you will get it for less money than the general public. First dibs, baby.

Because when you’re part of my ‘club’, you’re all special and stuff.

If this appeals to you at all, I’d love you to sign up!

To top it off, you get a cool free thing when you do. A big ol’ Storyboard Template Pack and Short Film Tip Sheet.

If you like the free templates I already offer, you will love this thing. Head on over to the Download Page for all the juicy details.

>>continue reading>>

I took my little ten year-old companion to see ‘Coraline‘ last weekend.

So why not give my two cents about it? (Plus, I didn’t know what else to write about this week.)

Much like my little review of ‘Igor‘, I won’t be going the normal ‘movie review’ route. As in, no story synopsis and naming all the people involved and all that. You can search that stuff on Google.

I prefer to talk about the experience of seeing the movie. First impressions. My impressions. Story stuff.

But not give it all away or anything.

I have not read the book or the graphic novel. I went in cold with no expectations.

And I have only seen it once. When I watch a movie for the first time, I’m all in ‘viewer mode’ and not thinking too much like a storyboard artist or industry person. I like to let that go and just watch.

And hopefully enjoy.

I enjoyed.

While I can name a whole whack of things that stink about going to a matinee full of kids with a kid, sometimes it’s a delight.

This time was a delight. Yippee.

>>continue reading>>

Well, I was really going to put up the next Wall-E post this week. I really was.

Then I got work.

So I’ve been working.

Funny how I always seem to snag a new gig at the beginning of December, so I have to do work over the holidays.

Oh well. Said work will pay for those holidays, so it’s all good.

Then I had to do ‘holiday stuff‘. So I didn’t get it done.

Then, lo and behold, it actually IS the holidays, so there you go. No Wall-E post.

I know it’s not that big a deal because many of you are doing some sort of ‘holiday thang’ anyway.

So Wall-E is still coming with the Close-Up lesson.

Fear not.

It just might happen next week. Or a bit later. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I just want to wish you a very happy ‘whatever you celebrate’ (if anything) and one flipping fantastic 2009!

At the very least, have a very nice weekend.

I appreciate each and every one of you who stops by to read the storyboard blog.

Thank you soooo much!

Now let’s have a drink and eat something totally bad for us and enjoy.

Cheers to all!

K

This one will be short and sweet.

First off, go see ‘Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs’.

Fun, fun stuff. For the kids and adults. It was a ‘cartoon-cartoon’ and one heck of a ride.

I went out of my way NOT to see it in craptastic ‘Real 3D’ and I have to say, there was not one second when I thought “Hey, I wish this was blurrier and stuff was flying at my face.”

Not once.

Between this and ‘Surf’s Up’ (love that one), Sony Pictures Animation has earned my total respect. They are making some great stuff over there. Thank you Sony Animation people!

Maybe I’ll write more of a review thingy on ‘Cloudy’ soon. In the meantime, go see it.

Second, I can’t wait for the Princess and the Frog!

2D classical animation is coming back. I’m all giddy about it.

Just sayin’.

Third, I’m starting a new season of ‘Kid vs Kat’.

Like today.

Should be a fun season. Lots of work ahead. Lots of late nights. But it’s cool.

I even splurged (i.e. racked up credit card) for my own Cintiq 21UX (insert rapid inhalation of breath here). Kind of scary. But it’s purrrrrtty. I will be drawing my boards digitally this time around. And I’ll be writing about the process in the Production Journal to keep you up on the madness that is working on an animated TV series.

Fourth, the Mini Storyboard Critiques are going up!

In price.

It was supposed to be today. But I felt I should give the people ‘on the fence’ a little more time.

So there’s a slight delay in the price increase. It’s now Wednesday, October 14th. Yeah, in TWO DAYS.

Then the $32 Mini Storyboard Critique goes up to $54 and the Mini Critique 3-Pack goes from $89 to $149. (Do the math on that one. Smart people are scooping up the 3-pack.)

You can use these ANY time, so no worries if you don’t have work to send me right away. We’ll just tuck it away until you’re ready. Or set a date in the future and use that as accountability to get your butt in gear if you need it!

We artist types tend to do that ‘procrastination thing’. Accountability is a good cure for that.

So if you’re on the fence, now is the time to hop off and snatch up one (or three) of these suckers. Because the price certainly won’t go down in the future.

That’s it, that’s all, c’est tout.

For now.

_._._._._._._

Sign-up for the Storyboard Club Mailing List and get a Free Storyboard Template Pack!

Get your own Mini Storyboard Critique here before the price increases on October 12th 14th!!!

Read the Storyboard Blog by RSS Feed or by email for some KvK madness in the future.

Oy.

What the heck happened there? How long have I been absent? Way too long, apparently.

Funny how time can slip away from you when you’re working 16 hour days, huh? Sorry about that, but I just couldn’t summon up the brain power or the time to write anything.

But I have returned! (If anyone cares.)

And yes, that photo is totally silly.

So here’s a couple of things.

I’m teaching again. Yes, I am once again the storyboard instructor at the Vancouver Film School. If you are planning on attending there in the near future, it will be I who whips you into storyboarding shape and crushes your dreams.

Wee! Fun times.

I’m also working again. I know I haven’t really talked about it, but this past year has *sucked* work-wise. Everyone has been feeling it in my neck of the woods. And a lot of them still are. Ick.

Then it all came tumbling at me at once (which is how it always goes). A rush development board this past month which turned out rather well. Happy clients make it all worth it. (And money helps. I had forgotten how to press ‘deposit’ on the bank machine.)

Then I’ll be working on the next season of ‘Kid Vs Kat’. So the Production Journal shall live on! Which means more late nights and all around insanity for the next seven months. Eep.

But it’s all in the name of going back to Hawaii, right? RIGHT?

Don’t worry, the blog shall prevail. I promise. I may have to skip a week here and there, but I’ll do my best.

Plus I’ll still be offering my One-On-One Storyboard Consulting and the Mini Storyboard Critiques. And hopefully a few little learning products.

And please note:

I will be raising the price of the Mini Critiques on October 12th. It’s going from $32 to $54. Yup. So if you’ve been on the fence thinking about getting one, now is the time! You don’t have to use it right away either. You can tuck it away and use it anytime you like in the future.

Now, the next post will be the follow-up to Aidan’s revised storyboard. Really! It will! Honest Aidan, honest!!

Thank you all for your patience. : )

_._._._._._._

Sign-up for the Storyboard Club Mailing List and get a Free Storyboard Template Pack!

Get your own awesome Mini Storyboard Critique here before the price increases on October 12th!

Read the Storyboard Blog by RSS Feed or by email because I *will* be back. Again.

Okay, this is a cop-out. I admit it.

I’m really working on a post (or series of posts) with an interview I did with Anne Denman of Studio B Productions about resumes, portfolios and applying to studios and stuff.

We recorded the interview during lunch on an audio cassette and I’ve transcribed it. But digging through it all and actually *writing* the article is inflicting all sorts of procrastination-ish stuff on me.

I will get it done though!

So to fill in the gap, I’m going to pimp out a few artists.

This is what happens when you sign up to the Storyboard Club Mailing List Which Is Really Kind Of A Newsletter Thingy on your right.

Some of my ‘list people’ wrote to me and gave me a link to their sites. And they’re very good, so you should look at them and learn.

There are some good examples of making a blog a half-decent portfolio. And some are just really nice drawings.

Take it away Eric the orchestra leader!

(Name that reference and you get a cookie.)

Aidan Casserly has two nice sites. Aidan’s portfolio site is clean and easy to navigate. Aidan’s blog is full of more storyboard goodness. Check them out.

Drew Blom. After reading my series of posts on making a portfolio site, Drew made a very nice site on Weebly.com. Watch and learn folks.

>>continue reading>>

OK, this is an experiment.

One that I may regret. I’m not sure yet.

But I feel as though I’m in a bit of a ‘posting slump’ and need to shake things up a bit. And since I started using audio in my Mini Critiques, I realized that audio and video really are a godsend to a lazy ass like me.

Sorta.

Because I can talk a heckuva lot faster than I can type.

And I’m a bit of a ham.

So I went to see Pixar’s ‘UP’.

And I was going to give it one of my ‘tri-perspective’ reviews and all. Much like my Coraline review, I was going to focus on the experience of seeing the movie.

Well, this was my experience.

Sorry if the video is too long. Sorry if it’s not loud enough. Sorry that there is no real review at this time. When I see the movie again, I’ll give one (the short version is: it’s fabulous).

But there were ‘technical difficulties’ that I need to rant about.

So in the name of “putting myself out there” here is my ‘UP’ experience.

My apologies. : )

(Judging from the still frame on the video, I assume the video Gods are punishing me already.)

If you can’t see the video in your feed reader, click through to the post.

_._._._._._._

Sign-up for the Storyboard Club Mailing List and get a Free Storyboard Template Pack!

Read the Storyboard Blog by RSS Feed or by email to see if I ever video-blog again.

Lookie! New stuff in the sidebar!

(If you’re reading this in a feed reader, head on over here and take a peek.)

I’m starting a little club.

The Storyboard Club.

At this point, it’s just a free mailing list. But it will turn into more.

With this list, I will occasionally keep in touch with you by email. I might send out a monthly ‘blog round-up’ of the month’s posts with some extra insights. Or a newsletter-ish thingy. Or give you a link to something cool I won’t necessarily post on the blog.

When I make an eBook or host a webinar, you will hear about it first. And you will get it for less money than the general public. First dibs, baby.

Because when you’re part of my ‘club’, you’re all special and stuff.

If this appeals to you at all, I’d love you to sign up!

To top it off, you get a cool free thing when you do. A big ol’ Storyboard Template Pack and Short Film Tip Sheet.

If you like the free templates I already offer, you will love this thing. Head on over to the Download Page for all the juicy details.

>>continue reading>>

I took my little ten year-old companion to see ‘Coraline‘ last weekend.

So why not give my two cents about it? (Plus, I didn’t know what else to write about this week.)

Much like my little review of ‘Igor‘, I won’t be going the normal ‘movie review’ route. As in, no story synopsis and naming all the people involved and all that. You can search that stuff on Google.

I prefer to talk about the experience of seeing the movie. First impressions. My impressions. Story stuff.

But not give it all away or anything.

I have not read the book or the graphic novel. I went in cold with no expectations.

And I have only seen it once. When I watch a movie for the first time, I’m all in ‘viewer mode’ and not thinking too much like a storyboard artist or industry person. I like to let that go and just watch.

And hopefully enjoy.

I enjoyed.

While I can name a whole whack of things that stink about going to a matinee full of kids with a kid, sometimes it’s a delight.

This time was a delight. Yippee.

>>continue reading>>

Well, I was really going to put up the next Wall-E post this week. I really was.

Then I got work.

So I’ve been working.

Funny how I always seem to snag a new gig at the beginning of December, so I have to do work over the holidays.

Oh well. Said work will pay for those holidays, so it’s all good.

Then I had to do ‘holiday stuff‘. So I didn’t get it done.

Then, lo and behold, it actually IS the holidays, so there you go. No Wall-E post.

I know it’s not that big a deal because many of you are doing some sort of ‘holiday thang’ anyway.

So Wall-E is still coming with the Close-Up lesson.

Fear not.

It just might happen next week. Or a bit later. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I just want to wish you a very happy ‘whatever you celebrate’ (if anything) and one flipping fantastic 2009!

At the very least, have a very nice weekend.

I appreciate each and every one of you who stops by to read the storyboard blog.

Thank you soooo much!

Now let’s have a drink and eat something totally bad for us and enjoy.

Cheers to all!

K