Fred O'Rourke Storyboarding Children in Need

Many congratulations to Escapee Fred O'Rourke who has recently started a new position as a storyboard artist working on a feature film for Children in Need.

Fred took our evening class in Storyboarding earlier this year, and polished his portfolio during the aftercare stage of the course. We asked him a few questions about the project, how he got the job, and what advice he might offer other students hoping to break into storyboarding.

Fred O'Rourke

Escape Studios: Tell us about the new job!
Fred: The new Job is working with Screen Northants, a production house and charity that help teens and young adults who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The studio goes to schools and hold workshops on film production and aspects of working within the industry. They allow the kids to get involved with the film making process as well.

The job I will be working on a feature film that is a modern interpretation set in a not so far off dystopian future of Macbeth. They want to keep the language true to the Shakespearian tongue so the text isn't any different to the original.

The theme of the feature film is about gang culture, and was commissioned and funded by Children in Need. It's something we are all excited about working on.

What will it involve
My role within the production of the film is to provide some or all of the storyboards that will be used for the film. I have been given 3 months to produce the boards, as principal photography (the live action shoot) will start in January. I am hoping to be able to spend some time on set if I can.

How did you get the job?
My time studying storyboarding at Escape Studios allowed me access to information that I would not have found on my own. Our tutor told us about job websites like Indeed.com and Mandy.com. The job I now have was posted at Mandy.com; I created a profile through the website and within a few days I got a reply. Within a week I was sitting in a café with the Director chatting about the film.

What advice would you offer to other students at Escape looking to break in to storyboarding?
I would definitely advise students to abuse their resources. Ask questions, show interest and really put the work in. If you are lucky enough to have Chess [Francesca Adams, our storyboard tutor] I would recommend asking as many questions as you can, show her your work, and get involved with lots of online groups.

I would also recommend looking for animation events if you want to get in to boarding for animation. There is one called Festivus and I would really tell students to go along if they can. Festivus is all about working on your own things, showing interest in your work and that of others and network, network and network.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To find out more about our new BA/MArt, now recruiting for September 2018, follow this link.  To apply, visit the offical page here.