Sometimes it seems as if all I do is work on pitches that go nowhere. Not true, as I do get paying jobs also!
Brain Zoo Studios contacted me to ask if I'd like to pitch storyboards for the Star Wars: Knights of the Republic video game cinematic presentations. I've successfully pitched with Brain Zoo before, turning a spec job into a paying one. And since Brain Zoo is an excellent studio with a top-notch reputation, it was a no-brainer to give this a try.
Star Wars video game projects are highly sought after by animation studios, so we had our work cut out for us. I was given treatments of each storyboard concept, then I drew up my thumbnail storytelling. I was given 3 boards to work on, and it was decided that I was only to go to finishes on 2 of them. It was also suggested that I keep the frame count for each board to about 17, so I wouldn't do way too much on a pitch that didn't succeed. This results in the storyboards becoming more like 'key frames' rather than the fully fleshed-out storytelling that is usually done with fully finished storyboards. I did a few more frames anyway, to better flesh out the storytelling.
When I do my 'first pass' on a job, it's usually done in what are called "thumbnails", which are proportionately smaller versions of frame compositions. It's a good way to plan a storyboard project without spending all that extra time drawing full-size, only to make mistakes that you have to correct later. There's no sense in making your mistakes on all that 'real estate', when you can get everything right in a much smaller form, which you can enlarge later when you're ready to go to finishes. Not all jobs require or need this approach, but it comes inpretty handy.
TIME... MARCHES ON!
