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.

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…)

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

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.

Well it looks like people are digging watching me rip a storyboard to shreds before their very eyes.

I mean, can you blame them?

We’ve been following Aidan Casserly along his little journey of creating a storyboard for his portfolio. He purchased one of my fabulous Mini Critiques and is letting us all take a peek.

You can find the introduction post here and his brainstorming and thumbnailing process here.

Then It Got Really Juicy

If you look back at the previous post, you will find his original storyboards and my critique of the first half of them. All in their red-scribbled glory.

I now bring you the conclusion of said critique in more red-scribbled glory.

(Click on the images to enlarge and get a better look.)

PAGE 5

• Panel one, have him walk IN and let’s see him holding the bag.

• Don’t rely only on words for gags. This could (if a real cartoon) be seen in other languages, so use visuals to support it where you can. So adding an ‘eye’ graphic on the screen will help drive home the message here.

• Third panel. A bit more acting here would be good. How does he feel about this? Was he expecting this? Annoyed? Confident? Have some fun here with another panel or two.

• Fourth panel, have the jar come IN to shot and the screen still with eye/required message. THEN screen changes to approved (give it the before and after poses). But we can’t SEE “approved” on that tiny screen. Consider changing this to a big check-mark (that could be green in a finished film).

• Panel six, same thing. Maybe add a hand graphic. But hook it up by starting with the check mark, then it changes to this next request.

click to continue reading>>

Before I begin I just want to mention this is my 100th post! Hurrah! *throws confetti*

We’ve been following Aidan Casserly along his little journey of creating a storyboard for his portfolio. We saw the introduction post here and his brainstorming and thumbnailing process here.

Now we get to the good stuff.

The first pass of his storyboard and what I had to say about it in a Mini Critique.

But before we get to that, here’s his storyboard as it was sent to me. And yes, it is quite clean for a ‘first pass’. Which is fine and dandy.

But you can be much rougher at this stage of the game with your own boards.

(Click on the images to enlarge and get a better look.)

click to continue reading>>

Here’s the second post in the little series I’m doing with Aidan Casserly. He’s creating a storyboard from scratch for his portfolio and documenting it on his blog.

I’m reposting it here along with my ‘two cents’ that will turn out to be a full blown Mini Critique of his work by the end of it.

Basically ripping him to shreds for all to see. (I kid! I kid!)

You can read the introduction post here.  I now give you his second installment. Take it away, Aidan.

************  ************  ************

Part 1: Brainstorming and Thumbnails

This is, without doubt, the best part of the entire process. I love it. I reeeeally love this part.

Now that we have our ’story seed’, we go about brainstorming. I grab a stack of paper (just junk paper, since this is a rough and messy stage). This is the part where, no matter what, you NEVER limit yourself. Ever.

Be as stupid as possible.

Any idea, no matter how irrelevant or pointless, gets jotted down. Anything. Even if it has remotely no tangible connection to the story at hand, everything matters. There’s a reason.

click to continue reading>>

I guess I kind of missed a week there, didn’t I? Oh well.

I’ve been tackling a whole whack of pain in my shoulder that is tendinitis, but could be worse than that. So if I wasn’t up all the hours of the night writhing in pain, I was trying to sleep on the couch propped up with pillows for a week.

Not the makings of much creativity, I’ll tell ya that. And I couldn’t tolerate sitting in front of the computer at all.

But after much Ibuprofen and much ice, I’m now mobile. And can finally dress myself without screaming. Yay.

Anyhoo, we’re going to try something neat here.

A very whacky and all around nice-guy reader of mine, Aidan Casserly,  has started a series of blog posts on his own site about the process of making a storyboard for his portfolio.

Then he bought a Mini Critique (smart boy) because he knows how valuable feedback can be. He wanted my permission to post my feedback on his blog which I had no problem with.

But then I thought it could be cool to post it on my blog too. Partly for the great learning experience for you and partly for the easy content…me being a lazy ass and all.

click to continue reading>>

I now give you the third and final article of my interview with Anne Denman of Studio B Productions.

She is the Head of Recruitment/HR at the studio and is giving us her advice on what she likes to see come in the doors when she has to do some hiring. You can find the first article on making a good resume here and the second on portfolios here.

Today she talks about applying to studios and getting the job. Cause I just know you want to hear about that. Right? Right?

As before, she’s giving us that glimspe from the ‘other side of the desk’, which is awesome.

Enjoy!

Anne’s advice on getting the job:

When visiting or applying to studios, find out the culture of the studio and what the studio does.

Do your homework.

Find out all the recruiters in town. Google the studios.

What have they worked on? Who are the owners? Get information and write it down or put it in your Outlook.

If the studio does mostly ‘family stuff’, then show them family stuff in your portfolio. Research the studio and research the person in HR who does the hiring.

Know their name!! And spell it right. I have gotten letters addressed to “Hi Competing Studio (that studio by name)”.

Not the best way to make a good impression.

(Karen’s note: And it makes you look…you know…stupid!)

click to continue reading>>