storyboarding 101.

by

I'm find myself a little overwhelmed. There is much to do; so much, in fact, that it's difficult to see where I should start. Should I take some drawing lessons? Maybe learn a thing or two about composition? Backgrounds? When you don't know much about visual art, it's likely that you'll find yourself feeling lost.

I started watching the tutorials of a brilliant artist called Daniel Gies, who explains the creative process of his animation studio, e.d. Films. It's faschinating stuff to me, and I whenever I watch his videos, I feel like I'm seeing some kinf of stunt performance where I turn to Stefan and I exclaim: "Oh, man, did you see that? Did you see what he did there?". Anyways, he emphasized on the importance of storyboarding before you begin your animation - something I hadn't even considered before he mentioned it. Gies recommended a book called "Directing the Story" by Francis Glebas. I just started it yesterday and it truly is very informative - you never think about how much work goes into the entire process of animation and this gives me a lot of insight into what I have to do in order to present my story effectively. I'm still in the beginning and I'm already getting all sorts of new ideas that I hadn't considered before, which is excellent.

I decided to start learning about storyboarding because 1. the book is really interesting and I just kinda wanna read it anyway, 2. because I can't draw. I really can't draw, you guys. And it goes beyond being able to make a horse look like a horse (which I regularly and hilariously fail at), I lack the skills required to make an image compelling and interesting - that's why I probably should get a book on composition and read that, too. I also believe storyboarding will help me not feel like there's an enourmous amount of work that has to be done - there will be, don't get me wrong, but a visual script of my movie will give me a sense of direction that will keep me motivated.

So this is where I start from. And since the book mentions preparation as a vital step towards creating a successful storyboard, this is what I will put my energy in in the next time.