As 2013 kicks off, we’re preparing to get back to work on
our feature project, All That Remains. We've got several months of hard work ahead still, but we’re really pleased
with how it’s shaping up so far.
Just before Christmas, we posted on the film’s official blog
and Facebook page, a scene we’d recently been working on. With over half of the
film still to shoot we wanted to post an update showing a little more than the
usual stills we post.
Check it out below.
And talking of stills….. here are few more from scenes we
shot in December.
Alongside all the work on the feature, we’ve been pretty
busy with client work – that is, our bread and butter work, including filming a
series of TV ads for Derby County council. The ads are due to be screened on TV
mid-late January. In the meantime, you can check out the storyboards we created
for the ads…
When it comes to client work, storyboards are even more
important than usual, as they convey your vision and ideas so much more clearly than
anything else.
And while we are on the subject of storyboards – over Christmas, we came across a chapter on storyboarding, in
a book on digital film-making, where it was stated by the author, that digital storyboards (that
is boards created with 3D software as opposed to hand drawn ones) tended to be
bland and lacked individuality – well, yes, that can be true – but it certainly doesn't have to be. To prove it, here are few more of our storyboards.
All
of these were created with Poser from Smith Micro, iClone from Real Illusion and of course, PhotoShop and they all look very unique. because the above mentioned software allow you to customize their content as well as import other 3D models. PhotoShop allows you to mix in photographic or hand drawn elements as well as composting different renders to make a single image. It just means putting in a little hard work, but guess what? The beautiful hand drawn boards often used as examples of the true art of storyboarding, are also the result of hard work.
We're big fans of hand drawn boards too, and we both have backgrounds in traditional art, but the reason we opt for digital boards is the ability 3D software such as Poser has of allowing you to manipulate virtual lights and cameras in a 3D space, so we get to work out lighting schemes and play with different camera angles long before we arrive on the set.
The point is, just because a book says so, doesn't mean it
is so. The comment that all digital storyboards will look the same and lack a sense of individuality (assuming it's based on some of the terrible examples of digital boards that are out there) is a lot like blaming Steven Spielberg for Jaws 3D. It's not the tools that make an artist. Besides, as film-makers we have to have the vision to look beyond potential limitations, to
have the guts to go against the grain, if we have to.
For more examples of our storyboard art check out this earlier posting...
For more examples of our storyboard art check out this earlier posting...
