Storyboard Summer School Starts 5 July 2019

Iliana Franklin - Storyboarding at Escape Studios

Mark your calendars - we're running a four week intensive storyboarding class at Escape Studios next summer, starting on Friday 5th July 2019.

Story board artist Iliana Franklin, whose production credits include The Tale of Despereaux, is returning to Escape Studios to teach the art and craft of storyboarding, a vital part of the pre-production process.

Why storyboarding?
Storyboarding is a skill that is much in demand - industry tells us that we are currently experiencing a skills shortage here in the UK, as a growing number of animation studios search for talent to bring their stories to life. The course is aimed at anyone who wants to learn storyboarding, whether for animation, live action, commercials, (or even your own personal projects).

Tale of Desperaux

Course Design
The course has been designed with industry in mind; industry engagement is the heart of all of our courses and students will work on a live industry brief as part of this course.

Course Tutor
Iliana Franklin is the lead tutor for this class. Iliana is a veteran of many animated film projects - you can see her extensive IMDB profile here.  Iliana also runs her own production company Mediaframe.  You can see more about her work at her online portfolio.

Course Dates
The Storyboard course runs for four weeks from Friday 5th July until Thursday August 1st.


Why choose this course 

• Summer study - spend your summer honing your artistic skills with this full-time short course
• Developed with industry - you'll get hands on experience and the chance to work on a live industry brief. 
• Online mentoring will continue for a further 8 weeks. Students will be set a series of projects for delivery, using a Facebook Group as an online virtual classroom. Tutors will provide online mentoring and individual feedback. 
• Our small class sizes ensure that we deliver a personalised, student-led approach to learning.

Module information
Part One - Introduction to Storyboarding

• General Introduction to Storyboarding: Introductory Exercises. Creativity, ideas and inspiration for stories. Gesture drawing, fast sketches, and research.
• Creating images which tell a story: Single images that tell a story. Gag drawings. Situations and character-driven ideas.
• Standard industry storyboarding process: Script, beat boards, story reel and animatic. Movie structure analysis. Camera and Layout. Reverse-storyboarding a pantomime sequence.
• Character Design and Art Direction: Introduction to principles of design and visual development.

Part Two - Storyboarding Technique

• Structuring a Scene: How to break down script pages. Progression and punctuation in a sequence. Staging.
• The Performance: Story beats, narrative structure, pacing, cinematography.
• The Animatic: How to edit, cut and time storyboards in Premiere, to create a storyboard animatic. Music, sound effects, voice over and dialogue.
• The Pitch: How to pitch your storyboards. Acting, performance and delivery.

Part Three - Online Mentoring
Online mentoring will continue for a further 8 weeks. Students will be set a series of projects for delivery, using a Facebook Group as an online virtual classroom. Tutors will provide online mentoring and support.

How to apply
Part-time courses can be purchased directly via our online shop - just click the ‘Buy Now’ button.
Alternatively you can call our admissions team on 020 7348 1920 or email admissions@escapestudios.com.

Course Requirements
To study an Escape Studios part-time course you must be:

• Over 18
• Have a good understanding of written and spoken English
• Feel comfortable using a computer. A basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop would be an advantage.
• Following your application you will need to agree to our terms and conditions. Your place on the course will then be secured.

Fees and funding
Course fees: £2,000

Get in touch
We can help with any problems or questions you have with course fees and funding. Speak to one of our Applicant Advisors via phone or email today! Call us on 0207 348 1920 or email admissions@escapestudios.com

To see more about the art and craft of storyboarding, and get a feeling for what the industry is like, watch this Pixar video below, featuring the late great (and much missed) story genius Joe Ranft.



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 2019, follow this link.   To apply, visit the offical page here.