Well, well, well. Look at me.

I’m writing a post! No lazy-ass video this time! Because I have one awesome interview for you!

I bring you Paul Briggs, Story Artist on Walt Disney’s ‘The Princess and The Frog’.

(UPDATE & CLARIFICATION: Oops, my bad! Paul was not, in fact, the Head of Story on ‘The Princess and The Frog’. He was a Story Artist. But he *is* Head of Story on a current, untitled project at Disney at this time. Sorry everybody! I’ve made corrections to this post since publishing it.)

How cool is THAT?

I feel all special and stuff.

And there are original thumbnail and storyboard drawings from him! Feel free to drool on your screen.

But before we get to it, I want to wish all of you a very HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON! Whatever that holiday may be for you.

If it’s nothing…well have a great weekend or something.

This interview is a juicy one, so I’ll be splitting it up into two parts. You get this one now to read at your leisure till 2009 is over. Then you’ll get the rest sometime in January 2010. (2010? My word, where does the time go?)

And the way I’ve been posting in my ‘Kid vs Kat’ haze, this could be the last thing your hear from me till June or something.

I kid, I kid! (Maybe.)

So without further ado, I bring you Paul Briggs, current Head of Story at Disney and proud new Daddy.

Enjoy!

What is your background, education and how did you get started in the animation business?

In 1984 I was 10 years old and I was in a mall at a Walden’s Bookstore and came across ‘The Illusion of Life’ by Frank and Ollie. Even though there was no way we could afford it, my Mom bought it for me and I spent the rest of the day slamming into people, benches and planters because I couldn’t take my face out of that massive book.

That was the day I fell in love with wanting to do animation.

I went to college at the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri but I wasn’t focused on animation at the time (even though I found out later that Walt himself as well as the great Marc Davis both went to KCAI!) I was focused on doing sculpture, ceramics, painting, and really solid drawing.

I was busy experimenting, having fun, and making a million mistakes and learning from them. A lot of my classmates were talented draftsmen so I was constantly focused on learning and trying to better myself as an artist. We had some amazing drawing classes –including one where we went to a medical university and drew from cadavers for a week!

One of my instructors pressured me to submit a portfolio to the Disney Internship but I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do. He pestered me enough that at the last minute I threw a drawing portfolio together in a week and mailed it off. To my surprise and disbelief they called me a couple of weeks later to tell me I was accepted! I was 20 and packed everything in my Jeep and moved to Orlando to work at the Florida Animation Studio.

I trained under Pres Romanillos (supervising animator Shan Yu for Mulan) and David Tidgwell (Head of Effects.) At the end of the program they were hiring in special effects to work on Mulan and I was brought on as an inbetweener!

How did you end up as a story artist? Was that your original plan?

It was great being in special effects animation but I always wanted to do story. I always loved the development of characters and journeys to another world. In effects I saw how a sequence traveled from beginning to end through the animation pipeline and I was constantly examining why those sequences were in the film.

There were some sequences that I was really frustrated with and thought – “This isn’t working at all! I could do better than this .” So I decided “that’s it, either get into story or shut up!” So I really started to focus my learning. I started analyzing film, reading books, and showing my story tests to people I respected and admired.

click to continue reading>>

I’m still here!

And I’m still a lazy ass about my posts because I have made yet another video post. Even though it took me three attempts. My apologies to the folks with slow internet. I tried to keep it short, but I rambled, so it ended up at almost eight minutes.

Sorry.

If you can’t watch it easily, here’s the readers digest version:
- I survived my first Kid vs Kat board (barely).
- My blogoversary is this week! My online baby is two years old (yikes!).
- And I’m switching software from Sketchbook Pro to Flash for various reasons. I’ll report back how that went.

I also said that if you have any requests for blog post ideas, just throw them in the comments. Because my slight writer’s block continues. I guess my brain can only handle a few things at time.

But I hope videos will suffice for the time being.

Because look! I have another stupid expression on my face! (I give up. Truly.) And in case you noticed, yes I throw the same black shirt on for shooting these videos. Rest assured I do, in fact, own other shirts.

If you can’t see the video, please click through to the blog and take a look.

Thanks for your patience and have fun looking at my goofy expressions. I’m a walking cartoon.

UPDATE: If you still can’t see the video, try over at Vimeo here http://www.vimeo.com/7811852

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Get your own Mini Storyboard Critique or One-On-One Consultation! Click here for more info.

Read the Storyboard Blog by RSS Feed or by email for probably more video posts. Cause I’m lazy.

Oh, dear blog of mine.

How I have neglected thee.

Yes, I’m kinda busy with that ‘work thing’ and all. (Damn that rent and eating thing!) But I figured something out. Like in my Mini Critiques where I’d rather record my feedback to an MP3 than write it out, I’m going to do the same here. Better some kind of post than no post, right?

Plus, you get to mock me in the process.

So I present to you: a new video post!

And look! I have another stupid expression on my face. *sigh*

It’s kind of long (almost ten minutes) so those of you with slow internet connections should go clean your toilet (you know you need to) and come back when it’s cued up.

I talk of working on Kid vs Kat, the new (oooo…ahhh) Cintiq I have and my own stupidity.

Oh, and those of you on the fabulous Storyboard Club Mailing List (see sidebar) will be getting your own little video early next week in the newsletter thingy. No, it won’t be posted on the blog. Sorry!

See? Membership has its privileges.

Without further ado…click play and enjoy! (If you are in a reader, click through to the blog to check it out.)

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

Get your own Mini Storyboard Critique or One-On-One Consultation! Click here for more info.

Read the Storyboard Blog by RSS Feed or by email for probably more video posts. Cause I’m lazy.

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.

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

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I’m here! I’m here!

It’s the long-awaited Aidan storyboard revision follow-up. With my comments and everything.

TA DA!

Since it’s been a short lifetime since I started this series, feel free to refresh your memories with the introduction post to Aidan Casserly’s storyboard he has created for his portfolio.

Then you can check out his brainstorming and thumbnail post, his first pass storyboard and my feedback on them in part one here and part two here.

Then he took my notes and made some revisions. He didn’t do every single thing I suggested and that’s cool.

Though…he should have. Because I’m, like…*ahem*…right and all. ; )

But I digress.

So now we have my final comments about his revisions. Enjoy!

(You can click on the images to enlarge them.)

Page 1

I had suggested he add a pan on the first panel of the exterior of the jailhouse and he chose not to. Which is fine. But I can’t help but notice the total lack of camera movement in the board. I think it’s done more to keep the panels “nice and neat-like”.

And I say, if you want to storyboard for animation, you’re going to have to show some camera movement and not let the template dictate your story. I see it with students too. They make their camera movements to fit in nicely within the storyboard template.

Don’t do that. Tell the story the way you need to and you dictate what the panels should look like. So what if it ends up uneven? It’s all done for the TV screen, not the paper.

Without any indication of ‘cuts’ and transitions, it’s hard to tell when he wanted to cut and when it’s all one scene. As it looks now, they all look like cuts. And I don’t think they’re supposed to be.

For actual production boards, you have to show pans and truck-ins/outs. So if you are doing a storyboard for your portfolio…to get work…add some camera movement indications when appropriate.

Page 2.

This is an area where he could do some cutting since Aidan has indicated he wished the board was a little shorter. To trim it down, I would use the last panel on page one (guard at monitors) and combine it with the second panel on page 2 (guard still at monitors and legs walk past).

Then I’d get right to the close up of the guard and him getting whacked in the head. Four scenes (and seven panels) gone.

click to continue reading>>

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. : )

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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.

So I know I was going to post up Aidan Casserly’s revised storyboard a week ago and my comments on them to finish off the fabulous series of  ‘One Artist’s Process’.

Which can be found at the intro post, the brainstorming and thumbnails, the first pass storyboards and my feedback of them as part one here and part two here.

But I didn’t, did I?

I’m sure Aidan is off grumbling in the corner wondering where the heck his revision post is.

Well here it is!

Kinda. Sorta.

Unfortunately, it’s just the revisions of his storyboard. Not my comments on them. Because that crazy thing called “work” happened all of a sudden-like.

Now I’m busy as all hell for a few weeks and this is about all my feeble brain can cough up at the moment. So look back at the other posts and take a look here and see what Aidan has changed after I ripped them apart.

See if you can see why he did what he did in the revisions and if you agree or disagree with his choices. I’ll pop into the comments to give some of my two cents, but I promise I will give them their own post when I get the time.

So my apologies to you and Aidan.

But duty calls! (And so does my bank account…)

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

Get your own awesome Mini Storyboard Critique here!

Read the Storyboard Blog by RSS Feed or by email because I *will* finish this sucker.