Pre-production, in filmmaking and animation, refers to the design process that begins with the initial concept or idea that becomes moulded into a pitch, beat boards, first treatment, final script, storyboarding, character design, set design, animatics etc- right the way through to the moment where ‘production’ begins, this being the actual animating or filming. In the pre-production pipe-line alone there are a vast number of factors to take into consideration, with an equally as large amount of specific job elements one can find themselves specialising in. This stage of the process is the most important, and acts as the backbone throughout to the very end of post-production. Without a script, there can be no story to animate and film, without a storyboard there can be no visual narrative, without any character designers there can be no characters. Specialising in any one of these aspects requires an over-all universal understanding of filmmaking and the language of film. A storyboard artist needs to understand how to frame scenes, and may often be dictated by the director, which all aids in the practicality of shooting on sets, and the restrictions that come from the set designing can dictate how the shot is framed- the list of cross pollination in each of these specialised areas is endless. Team-work is essential, even at this early stage.
http://indieauteur.com/2009/08/25/film-pipeline-overview-pt-1-preproduction/
Due to the nature of designing and producing films and animations, pre-production artists tend to remain relatively incognito as opposed to , for example, the directors and cinematographers who gain widespread recognition for their work. However, there are certain sought after designers who often find themselves circulating around the industry working on various projects. One of the latest stop motion animation films to come out, in itself a wonderful departure from the pure CGI trend, called The Fantastic Mr Fox. I found an interesting interview with the storyboarder who discussed his approach to designing the sequences in relation to the restrictions of stop motion animation.
http://drawn.ca/2009/11/09/an-interview-with-fantastic-mr-fox-storyboard-artist-christian-devita/
Its quite evident that the director’s preference in composing shots and art style was clearly the dominating factor in how Christian went about storyboarding the script. There were quite some detailed aspects to the interview that intrigued me too such as:
‘’It was complex to adapt to Wes’s style initially, as doing storyboards you’re always looking for interesting angles, nice positions to place the camera and cutting back and forth between characters to get a narrative going, so the first thing was to get accustomed to playing long shots in one camera position.
I think I adapted quickly to the style and I worked closely with Wes so I got first hand direction from him any time needed.’’
I love how his own style clashed with the director’s and he had to alter his mindset in order to accommodate, which would have been an amazing learning curve for him. This shows how important the relationship between a storyboard artist and a director must be in order to successfully realize the narrative visually.
‘’I was heavily involved in the animatic production. There was a small team working solely with Wes in Paris which included myself, 2-3 editors who cut all the storyboard panels together with sound and Jeremy Dawson, one of the producers and long time collaborator of Wes. I spent about a year working in different hotel rooms and apartments in Paris, taking direction from Wes and drawing like a demon so that the editors could take my drawings and work their magic. As I come from a traditional 2D background I drew the panels as I would a 2D animation, and had my notes for the editors regarding animation timing, but Wes was involved throughout timing the whole thing, from length of shots to timing of actions, and even sound. He was very hands on.’’
This offers a wonderful insight as to how Christian’s traditional background had its advantages and disadvantages during the pre-production process. On the one hand his knowledge of 2d drawing, and his teamworking with the editors meant that they could pool their ideas and experiences together to help make the animatic, however the downside to this could have been that his traditional style of drawing, and having to scan in could have been very time consuming, something that could have been avoided if, for example, he had been trained in photoshop and other digital drawing programs that could be manipulated instantly. Perhaps with the filmmaker’s desire to become more streamlined, that is where it may go, but then his traditional knowledge and background clearly proved invaluable on a stop motion production such as this. Another thing that intrigued me was to learn of his heavy involvement with the animatic, something that I assumed was logical but never actually found proof of it happening, until now!
Going backwards in time slightly, a prominent storyboard artist named David Russell was famed for his concept work on films such as Batman, Terminator 2 right up to modern day productions such as X-men Wolverine, and even the new Chronicles of Narnia film. In contrast to Christian’s adherence to the director’s vision, David speaks of how some storyboard artists become their own directors:
http://www.storyboardart.com/media.php
"Some directors know from the outset exactly how they want their film to look," says Russell. "For these "Some directors know from the outset exactly how they want their film to look," says Russell. "For these individuals, the storyboard artist simply realises on paper their ideas for shots. Others, however, set out only rough guidelines, and give the storyboard artist more creative freedom. The storyboard artist then must rise to the task of essentially directing on paper"iduals, the storyboard artist simply realises on paper their ideas for shots. Others, however, set out only rough guidelines, and give the storyboard artist more creative freedom. The storyboard artist then must rise to the task of essentially directing on paper"
This again enforces the idea of having to have a sound understanding of how the entire language of film works, because it would seem some storyboarders have the ability to direct the imagery for themselves, and push it even into the animatic stage, or they can be dictated and adhere to the director’s specific style who may have their own artistic flair. Either way, it would seem all illustrators in the film industry have to be adaptable and prepared for any kind of change in their work style.
There are constant changes and adaptations in the pipe-line, often caused by a new need in filmmaking that the current methods cannot cater for. One early example was during the making of attack of the clones. When the design team set about making the animatic for their battle sequence, they quickly realised that utilising CGI to loosely bulk out the entire flow was needed, rather than to animate using 2d as was often the norm.
CGI animatics have since become frequently used, alongside the still existing 2d method, to make these storyboards come to life, helping with managing sweeping shots and odd angles that couldn’t truly be communicated as effectively with drawings. This also adds an entirely new fluid way of editing too, something not normally taken into consideration at quite the same level so early on in the process.
During Pixar’s production process of making The Incredibles. This film dates back to 2000 in production and director Brad Bird found that his ability to communicate to his team became hampered due to his drawing edits over roughs but being unable to apply that digitally. A new software was specifically developed for this new method of the director communicating with his team which enabled him to digitally draw edits directly onto the works of his collegues so they could visually understand what he was trying to get across. Also an interesting quote from the above article describes how much of an improvement story reels went through:
http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/07/14/conversation-with-michael-b-johnson-of-pixar-part-1/
‘’The Incredibles really set a new bar for the effectiveness of story reels. I think that had to do with particular leadership in place on that film – director Brad Bird, head of story Mark Andrews and director of photography Andy Jimenez.’’
This clearly shows that the combined effort of the team, pooling their ideas together, is the key to how they succeed in progressing the art of fine tuning many of the elements of pre-production. Their story reels were edited and drawn to an impressively high standard, showcasing their enthusiasm to do the best job they can and also how collectively the mindset of creative people can produce bar-raising works.
http://digitalcontentproducer.com/dcc/revfeat/video_tool_time_pixar/
As the article describes, this new technology has now been employed by all the pixar team, and has been used subsequently in all of their productions to date. This is a clear example of how visual communication at the very heart of the pre-production aspect played such a pivotal role in their work-force that they actually catered for it by adapting their existing technology and methods.
“Brad's always giving a pen to someone and saying, ‘Well, draw it,’” says Johnson.
Another example in the development of pre-production is the hiring of talent that is OUTISDE of their normal industry, for example rather than roping in a specific storyboard artist, the Iron Man 2 production team decided to employ a well known animator and illustrator.
http://www.ugo.com/movies/genndy-tartakovsky-storyboarding-iron-man-2
This speaks volumes to me as to where the industry could very well be heading with such methods, pooling ideas from outside and unusual sources to lend their imagination and flare to proceedings. Iron Man 2’s actions scenes certainly gain a much needed boost and zing to the imagery and sequences, especially to the composition and framing. I would imagine the future of pre-production is essentially to be pushed into being as streamlined as possible, for economic reasons and also for creative satisfaction, knowing that ideas and concepts can be better realised, especially when its quite clear being able to communicate any theme and concept visually is the key to a successful piece of filmmaking. As camera angles become more ambitious, so too will the storyboard art have to evolve, most likely merging with the story reel/animatics using modern technology.
Over the course of the year I have taken part in several briefs, live and module ones, with the focus upon my pre-production knowledge, more often than not I have found myself as either the character designers or storyboard artist, often both and even on the rare occasion as the maker of the animatic. During the Rountrees group project my main emphasis became the character designer, whilst another took on the role of storyboarding. It was a very useful experience to be put outside my normal area of practice and actually have to work with someone else’s ideas and imaginations about composition and framing. The most rewarding parts were the times where he and I would sit down with our sketchbooks and compare ideas, discuss concepts and inspire each other in our own area. His suggestions for some of the camera angles and dynamics of the shots did actually have an influence on how I created the characters, and vice versa.
In another group project, a live brief this time, I once again became the character designer however I was given much more freedom with my group as they encouraged me to draft up the storyboard too. As we were designing it became increasingly apparent that I needed to talk to my entire group for every shot, in particular a moment where I had envisaged a wide panning shot revealing many signs and posters all across a street. I had to sit down with one of my group members who were in charge of creating the banners and the street layout and discuss what exactly would be shown and how much there would need to be done.
On the narrative brief this required me to work alone and to apply my skills in visually telling the story via the scene boards using body language, in this case I had much more freedom to act and decide at my own will and the story featured predominately the characters with next to no backgrounds, however I do wonder how the storyboard may have turned out had I been in a group. In particular the most satisfying aspect of that brief was turning the written word into images, knowing how to send the same message in a totally different medium. Drawing inspiration from outside sources was also key, such as cinematography and defining trademark camera work from certain directors- but rather than shoe horning them into the storyboard for the sake of an homage, I had to understand the intent behind the shot in order to place it in my own story logically so it ensured the narrative was being served.
For my own understanding of pre-production, and in particular the storyboarding aspect, I’ve realised that you need to understand how production and post-production works. Having that awareness of the entire pipe-line ensures you know exactly where you stand within that, and what it is you have to achieve. To storyboard you need to be a cinematographer, on some levels, and also an editor and mini director, however your work can only function with the guidance of the aforementioned creative minds, a blend of team work and your own self-suficiency then. A sound understanding of movement, lifedrawing, perspective and ‘energy’ in your images are also needed to compliment the script. These are the basic skills, however in light of the changing environment around pre-production, I would imagine learning to use such programs as photoshop, coral painter and illustrator are useful mediums to employ, all helping to streamline your abilities. The more streamlined the process goes, the more money is saved on the budget. So wherever technology can aid that, that is where artists and creative minds alike will find themselves having to adapt to. It could well be less people are used in the design teams, due to streamlined methods cutting out alot of the middle-men, and so each member would have more than one skill? Perhaps a storyboarder could also be a proficient editor- having a knowledge of both enhances your abilities in both section etc. For me, I think the best bet is to gain a broader understanding of the entire pipe-line, and to pick up skills that compliment each stage. That way, when I come to storyboard I have the foreknowledge of how this certain frame or scene is going to be shot, and my pre-emption and make some creative choices early on before certain bumps come and disrupt the flow of production. The wider your knowledge in a broader field, the better you can narrow your skill to compliment one small aspect.
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