Storyboard 101

Hayao MIYAZAKI

2005-11-27T19:41:00.000-05:00

The following information about Hayao Miyazaki, is posted directly from the Nausicaa website:

Hayao MIYAZAKI is one of the greatest animators and directors in Japan. The entertaining plots, compelling characters and breathtaking animation in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan. Disney's commitment to introduce the films to the rest of the world will let more people appreciate the high-quality works Miyazaki has given us.

A Brief Biography

Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo on January 5, 1941. He started his career in 1963 as an animator at the studio Toei Douga, and was subsequently involved in many early classics of Japanese animation. From the beginning, he commanded attention with his incredible ability to draw, and the seemingly-endless stream of movie ideas he proposed.

In 1971, he moved to A Pro with Isao Takahata, then to Nippon Animation in 1973, where he was heavily involved in the World Masterpiece Theater TV animation series for the next five years. In 1978, he directed his first TV series, Conan, The Boy in Future, then moved to Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first movie, the classic Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.

In 1984, he released Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, based on the manga (comic) of the same title he had started two years before. The success of the film led to the establishment of a new animation studio, Studio Ghibli, at which Miyazaki has since directed, written, and produced many other films with Takahata. All of these films enjoyed critical and box office successes. In particular, Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke received the Japan Academy Award for Best Film and was the highest-grossing (about US$150 million) domestic film in Japan's history until it was taken over by another Miyazaki work, Spirited Away.

In addition to animation, Miyazaki also draws manga. His major work was the Nausicaä manga, an epic tale he worked on intermittently from 1982 to 1994 while he was busy making animated films. Another manga, Hikoutei Jidai, was later evolved into his 1992 film Porco Rosso.

Sketchcrawl this Sunday!!!

2005-11-09T18:59:00.000-05:00

If you are intrested in some sketching this Sunday is the day to do it. Go global and get out there and start drawing!

For those of you in New York, there is a group meeting at Washington Square park.

For myself, I will be hanging in New Jersey and sketching around Montclair. Have a few people, including my wife, that will be joining. If you're in the area and intreseted, drop a line and I'll let you know where we'll be. If your planning on your own crawl, go to the forum and let everyone know!

Looking forward to seeing your sketchs. Make sure you post them on the Sketch Crawl Forum.

Interview with Dean Wellins

2005-11-09T15:49:00.000-05:00

The Spline doctors recentley posted an interview with Dean Wellins the Head of story for Disney's "American Dog".

Dean Wellins interview

Find your vanishing point:

2005-10-30T16:44:00.000-05:00

Simple examples, but they work!

The basics of perspective...
studio chalkboard

Quiz yourself...
Olejarz perspective

Corpse Bride Storyboards

2005-10-30T00:36:00.000-04:00

Storyboard Artist Dean Roberts, recently started his own blog and was kind enough to post some of his work on Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride"...

Storyboard post 1

Storyboard post 2

Yacin the Fawn, from Spain

2005-10-28T17:46:00.000-04:00

Here I present to you the work of Man Arenas, the very gifted production artist from Spain (or at least located, orignal orgins uncertain, for sure). Came across these beutiful drawings on his blog. I drop him a line to ask about using some of the materials he had posted. Man Arenas is a genius at setting mood and staging a theatrical productinon sauch as this, "Yacin the Fawn". Man Arenas informed me, "the thumbnails staging storyboard you've seen in my blog were made for the feature named "Lars2, der Kleine Eisbaer". It's a production Thilo Rothkirch / Warner Bros europe." As you can tell by the work he has earned the postion of "visual development, production designer and Art director". The movie has been released last september in Germany. Be sure to keep an eye out for this film.

"my only joy when I design locations
for movies or when I work on storyboards, is the
compositions of the scenes...also the work of lights
and shadows." -Man Arenas

What a great color study!

More info on the artist and on other productions within Dodecaden are worth investing your time.

All images are copyrighted and credit should be given to the artist Man Arenas.

Polly Pocket Thumnails

2005-10-16T12:01:00.000-04:00

Here are some work in progress Thumbnails, packed full of action, direction, and scribbles galore. Remember, this is the time to think! The thumbnail stage is very malleable and it's the time to explore what works and what doesn't. Don't be afraid to draw outside the lines!

Ronnie del Carmen

2005-10-15T11:47:00.000-04:00

Ronnie del Carmen is a great storyboard artist that works at Pixar studios, before then he worked on boards for the Batman animated series. You can see his work on the following links:

Batman Storyboard

Ronnie's Blog

Paper Biscuit

TIp of the day..

2005-10-14T10:45:00.000-04:00

Are you struggling with your backgrounds? Can't find you horizon? Try using a grid to help ground you characters and place your elements. Todays drawings and helpfull tip are brought to by John Nevarez...

Telling a new story...

2005-10-13T17:13:00.000-04:00

Sometimes a story can be told in :30 secs.... by bunnies?!

...and sometimes it can be told in a new "Shinning" light.

Use your creativity and tell me a story!

Great reference materials...

2005-10-12T18:43:00.000-04:00

Jon Hooper, and Steve Kellener have given us a gift on-line. At Animation Meat. These two guys have put together a great reference library for the animation industry to download and use to educate, learn, and share. There are a few materials that have floated around our industry for some years, handed down and over and back, these little treasures include the Walt Stanchfield notes, "Storyboarding the Simpson's way", and various model sheets to name a few. Well no more 10th generation Zerox copies, you can download these notes and many templates and other notes on Animation, plus a good selection of links.

Jon Hooper:
Ex-Disney/Bluth Animator, with 20 years professional animation experience in both 2D and 3D.

Steve Kellener:
Professional Visual EFX and Animation Artist with 15 years of live-action feature & animation effects work, as well as animation production management.

The art of Mary Blair

2005-09-25T19:22:00.000-04:00

Mary Blair

(the following was provided from the Bob Staake website)

Born on October 21, 1911 in McAlester, Oklahoma, Mary Browne Robinson graduated from the Chouinard School of Art in 1933 and soon became part of what was dubbed the 'California School of Watercolor'. Her career as a fine art watercolorist was effectively derailed by the Depression -- as well by her admiration of Walt Disney.

In 1934, Mary married Lee Blair. While both Lee and Mary worked at the Disney Studios, Walt developed an unusual affinity for Mary's artistry.

Over the next 37 years, Mary worked on and off for Disney. She is best known for her color stylings and design work in such Disney classic as 'Alice in Wonderland', 'Peter Pan', 'Saludos Amigos', 'The Three Caballeros', art directing 'It's A Small World', ceramic tile murals in Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and (regretably few) children's books.

Mary Blair died in 1979.

Mary Blair's contribution to contemporary design is sweeping -- and impacted the worlds of animation, publishing, institutions, products, advertising and even fine art.

Blair's lush, minimalist and lyrical gouache-based work echoed the simpler times in which the art was created (ate 1940s to the mid 1970s), yet her design reverberates today for those appreciative of the simplicity and innocence she communicated through color, shape and form.

Blair is perhaps best known for playing an integral part in the animation design (right) of the Walt Disney films, 'Alice in Wonderland'...
...'Peter Pan', 'Cinderella' and 'The Three Caballeros'...
...as well as children's books and corporate advertising.

She is also the designer behind the infamous Disneyland attraction, 'It's A Small World'.

The following is excepted from a 1958 article in American Artist Magazine:

Design is, or should be, an indespensable concomitant in every kind of picturemaking, even in magazine illustration which is primarily concerned with naturalism. But when an artist enters the world of fantasy, discarding practically every vestige of anatomical verity, as in Mary Blair's whimsical creations, design takes over one hundred percent. Well, not quite; the fanciful world, albeit in the realm of decorative art, must not be completely divorced from reality, it's inhabitants cannot be pure abstractions even when they are essentially devoid of natural attributes.

A Mary Blair horse, though quite unlike a horse, is yet a horse. The same tenuous reference to human beings is seen in her delightfully impossible girls with moon faces, pipelike necks, and legs which dangle helplessly without bone or muscle even when skipping in a field of daisies.

It is axiomatic that living creatures fancifully re-created by the artist are infinitely more useful for the dramatic expression of ideas than photographically rendered actors; witness the irresistible impact of UPA's Mister Magoo and Milton Muffet, animated exponents of human purility.

Many artist continue to be inspired by Mary Blair's body of work. Here are just a few evedent signs...

Seonna Hong

Tim Biskup

Amanda and Michelle

The Art And Flair Of Mary Blair
by John Canemaker

MB5 thumbnails...

2005-09-18T21:43:00.000-04:00

Here are the thumnails I did for the "Mighty Bug 5" storybook. This was a pitch being developed for Nick jr.

Thumbnail...

2005-09-18T21:24:00.000-04:00

John Nevarez thumbnail phase...

The following two pages of thumbnails are drawn by the illustrious Guy Moore, Storyboard Operative and Assistant Director for KND.

Pixar at MoMa

2005-09-13T14:54:00.000-04:00

Here is your chance to see the art of Pixar's films in person. From Dec. 14th 2005 till Feb. 6th 2006, the MoMa will be displaying art work and screening the works of Pixar animation. Be sure to mark it on your calendar as it will be a great opportunity (especial for those here in NYC).

Pixar at MoMa

Hans Bacher: Film Designer

2005-09-11T20:57:00.000-04:00

Joe Ranft

2005-09-10T22:30:00.000-04:00

Joe Ranft, was one of the heads of story on both "Toy Story" films, as well as the voice of Heimlich the Caterpillar in "A Bug's Life" and Wheezy in "Toy Story 2". He also worked on "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Beauty & the Beast", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", and many other films. Joe Ranft died from a car accident Tuesday August 16th, 2005. He was the very first Head of Story at Pixar, feature animation.

"...Joe Ranft is part of the fabric of your life, and your child's. His work has become a part of your life, without you even realizing it. Many of those films Joe didn't just contribute to, he put his soul into. When you were laughing or being touched, it was often Joe's doing.

You should care because you've lost something significant without even realizing it."

Actor - filmography

The Incredibles (2004) (voice) .... Additional Voices
... aka Hum Hai Laajawab (India: Hindi title)
Extreme Skate Adventure (2003) (VG) (voice)
... aka Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure (USA: complete title)
Finding Nemo (2003) (voice) .... Jacques
Finding Nemo (2003/II) (VG) (voice) .... Jacques the Shrimp
Monsters, Inc. (2001) (voice) .... Additional Voice
Monkeybone (2001) (voice) .... Streetsquash Rabbit
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000) (V) (voice) .... Wheezy
Toy Story 2 (1999) (voice) .... Wheezy the Penguin
A Bug's Life (1999) (VG) (voice) .... Heimlich
A Bug's Life (1998) (voice) .... Heimlich
Toy Story (1995) (voice) .... Additional Voice
The Brave Little Toaster (1987) (voice) .... Elmo St. Peters
Filmography as: Actor, Miscellaneous Crew, Writer, Himself

Miscellaneous Crew - filmography

Mike's New Car (2002) (V) (special thanks)
Monsters, Inc. (2001) (additional story material)
Toy Story 2 (1999) (additional story material) (story supervisor)
The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue (1999) (V) (character designer: other characters)
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (1998) (V) (creator of additional original characters)
James and the Giant Peach (1996) (storyboard supervisor)
Toy Story (1995) (story supervisor)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) (storyboard supervisor)
... aka Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (USA: complete title)
Drop Dead Fred (1991) (title designer)
... aka My Special Friend (Philippines: English title)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (storysketch)
The Brave Little Toaster (1987) (directing animator)

Filmography as: Actor, Miscellaneous Crew, Writer, Himself

Writer - filmography
(1990s) (1980s)

Fantasia/2000 (1999) (story)
A Bug's Life (1998) (story)
Toy Story (1995) (story)
The Lion King (1994) (story)
Beauty and the Beast (1991) (story)
... aka Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition (USA: longer version)
The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
Oliver & Company (1988) (story)
The Brave Little Toaster (1987) (also story)

Pixar intranet employee listing for Joe Ranft lets you know that he was Born on March 13, 1960 and was hired at Pixar on October 5, 1992. Under this he writes in the generic getting-to-know-you questions:

What do you do at Pixar?
I draw storyboards

What did you do before you came to Pixar?
I drew lots of storyboards

What do you do when you're out having fun?
I try not to draw any storyboards, but sometimes I can't help myself.

What is your favorite quote?
"Developing a picture from back to front is a work habbit which, once aquired, becomes one of the artist's most valuable tools.
-Don Graham

Articles:
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LUXO
Pixar: Artist corner
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